There have been some really great moments recently that I’ve wanted to share with you. I get a pretty steady stream of inspiring messages and comments from people who have found my efforts to be helpful. Since one big lesson in recovery is keeping the ego in check, I am careful to stay focussed on service and gratitude when it comes to the role that UnPickled and The Bubble Hour might play in someone’s else’s life. Still, every time someone touches base it feels special and magical, like a butterfly landing on my shoulder. But those messages aren’t mine to share here, much as I would love to repost them all because every single person has a powerful story.
Here are some things that I can share. Three things I am excited about and grateful for and proud to tell you about:
- Recovery Today Online Conference happening Sept 11-15. I am honoured to be one of the session speakers and I hope you will check out this free series created, produced and hosted by the amazing Sherry Gaba, of Recovery Today magazine and former therapist on Celebrity Rehab.. Go here now:
FREE CONFERENCE SIGN-UP
This is the 5th annual Recovery Today Online Conference, there’s nothing quite like it. The speakers share on topics with deliberate creation and goal setting going way beyond the addiction to aspire to a life you’ve dreamed of and I’m sure all those attending will be impacted greatly. It’s totally free and you can attend from anywhere in the world online. This Online Conference is also for all the parents, spouses, siblings, and children who love an addict.
- Healthline’s Best Alcoholism Blogs of the Year: Again, “watch the ego, amigo”…because who wouldn’t feel pretty puffed up about being included on a list with the likes of Sober Julie, Jennifer Matesa, and Mrs D? I know that this particular listing changes many lives because I can see the volumes of seekers who find their way to this page daily via Healthline. It is a powerful resource and I am glad they have taken notice of this little corner of the “recovery friendly web”. Check out their list here.
 Healthline |
3. Last but not least, I have to thank the organizers of the SheRecovers in NYC Conference who presented me with the “Hope Award” in recognition of my recovery advocacy efforts. I had no idea this was in the works and frankly I would have worn cuter shoes that night if I knew I would be on the stage, but that’s how it goes with lovely surprises: you’re not always wearing the right shoes. 
I joked with the audience that the award was a relapse for me as a former approval addict, and in truth I have been trying for months to figure out how to appropriately share this moment without sounding self-promoting. What I am is humbled, and grateful, and awestruck, and well, I am a much nicer, kinder, better, more settled version of myself which is its own kind of award/reward. Anyway, this pretty award sits on my desk and reminds me daily of that weekend I spent with 500+ women in recovery – in N
ew York City, no less – and how awesome it felt to look out and know that no matter ow lonely I feel sometimes sitting at this desk, I am not alone. None of us are.
UnPickled 
I know this doesn’t have anything to do with Jean but I am sitting here crying and just need to post. I have been sober for over 25 year now and know how wonderful life can be after alcohol. I also know it is a very difficult process to change behavior. I am so worried now about my daughter going through her alcohol addiction for several years now. I have tried to help her as much as I can but she seems like she is only getting worse. She has gone to AA for a about a year and now is seeing a counselor. Nothing seems to be helping her. She says she does have a problem and wants to stop but does nothing that is suggested but gives excuses for her drinking. Her family at this point is a real mess and her children are becoming very angry with her along with her unsupportive husband. I just need someone to listen and if anyone can give me any advice I would so much appreciate. I realize you can’t change what you don’t acknowledge and this can only change with her do so.
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It’s so hard for us as parents to see our kids struggle. My heart hurts for you both. How lucky for your girl to have you as her “lighthouse” – quietly showing how it’s done and ready to help when she is ready to receive. Have you gone to Al-Anon? It sounds like you could really use some support from others who understand.
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Thank you so much for your support. It helps to know someone truly understands. I have not gone to Al-Anon but I will. I need to be strong and nonjudgmental. I know it took me a long time to get where I am today. Thank you so much for your blog to help all of out here.
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Jean congrats! You deserve this and so much more for your generosity, advocacy, and all that boils down to just plain ol’ love! I owe you much, this is not hyperbole, your blog saved my life. It helped me regain control and veered me off a path of slow and eventual self-destruction. In the last months (maybe year) of my drinking I knew that drinking would eventually kill me, and I was ok and quite honestly welcomed that. So that self-destruction train was derailed with your help. So you know, you’re kind of a super hero.
Wanted to share my journal entry for today. This was written before I came to the blog today. It seems appropriate to share as another thank you!
9 months, three days and counting.
This is symbolic of progress: I just “noticed” today that I have been sober for 9 months and 3 days. To those not affected by addiction this might seem inconsequential, but to someone like me, this is monumental. I won’t say that the last three months have not been packed full of days where I didn’t struggle. Afterall summer was my “drinking season” (all seasons were my drinking season who am I kidding?) On the contrary, there was a significant amount of internal negotiating, chorus of voices, back and forth, but ultimately as has been the case these last 9 months and 3 days, my will to stick with my recovery has won out. The difference, as I and I alone see it, is that my will’s voice is stronger than the one that misses drinking, the one that wishes that one day I will be able to have that quixotic “one glass of wine”. My will to be present, to be woke, to give a big fuck you to society and it’s marketing agenda that says to me on a daily basis that I should spend my money on alcohol, that I would be much more fun if I just drank a glass (or bottle) of wine, that I wouldn’t be so angry, hurt, and sometimes hopeless and helpless with all that is going on the world. My will tells me I owe it to myself, I owe it to the legacy of my ancestors, and I owe it to my father most importantly. He couldn’t beat the demons who shouted everyday that he would be so much better with alcohol and drugs, but I will because I am my father’s daughter. I will because I am my father’s wildest dreams and I know his spirit is helping me.
Onward to 9 months and 4 days.
I will not drink today. 99% is a bitch but 100% is a breeze.
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Hi Jean! Thank you for sharing the Recovery Today online conference info – I can’t wait to check this out! Thanks for all you do – your blog was my first glimpse into the recovery world and knowing I am not alone. So much gratitude 💜
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Hi Jean!! You have helped so many people, and as many other people have said, you were one of the first sober blogs I ever read, and it made such an impact on me!!
xoxo
Wendy
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Congratulations, Jean! Toot that horn, lady! 😊 -HM.
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Congratulations you really deserve it
Thanks for all of your hard work and service,you give so much to everyone
You should be proud of your work and achievements, they help and inspire on a daily basis. Thank you so much
Carrie
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Your work continues to inspire because it’s so honest. Congrats on the recognition !
Day 434🌻
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Dear Jean, I have been wanting to write you for 9 months to say thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I have been sober since January 2, 2017, solely because of your challenge to post every day in the month of January (and, sadly, your broken leg). Reading your blog on the morning of January 2nd and seeing the difficulties you were facing as you posted via your phone and right thumb (!!!), let alone just the difficulty and pain of a broken leg and torn up hand, inspired me to let the alcohol go for just that one day. Then on the 3rd I read your next post and found the inspiration to let it go for yet another day, and so it began. Each day i would read your post and it kept me going, kept me motivated to live an alcohol-free life, just for that day. By the end of the month, I realized it was actually possible for me to stop drinking entirely…one day at a time. So, again, I want to offer you all my thanks. You absolutely deserve every accolade you have received for the help and inspiration you have given me and so, so many others. And, by the way, I get the concern about ego but the sincerity, truth, and ‘egolessness’ of your post comes through loud and clear. You are indeed a beacon of hope!!!
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Congratulations and all of these accolades are well deserved. You help so many people with all the work you do. I shall check out the free conference too, thank you for the heads up on that.
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Congratulations, and so very well deserved on all fronts. Sharing your journey and putting it all out there is truly an open door for others to step through and realize that their efforts in their own journey are not in vane and sobriety is attainable (I’m living proof of that).
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Well deserved Jean. You certainly are a beacon for so many of us seeking reassurance that life without alcohol will be ok and seeking inspiration that living as a person who doesn’t drink will be bearable. Eventually we learn we will feel better than ever, that so much becomes possible once we ditch the wine habit, and that we’ll become the best version of ourselves. It is your bravery in being an open advocate for women and drinking that brings so much hope to so many of us. Please enjoy all these rewards as they are well deserved.
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