The Strange Safety of Suffering Ask anyone who’s been trapped in a destructive cycle, a toxic relationship, a relapse, a self-defeating pattern, and they’ll tell you they knew it was bad. They knew they were being hurt, or hurting themselves. Yet, they stayed. Why? Because pain can feel safer than […]
Why Clean Living Has Become a Status Symbol
When Sobriety Became Fashion There was a time when sobriety was quiet, something you lived, not something you posted. It was private, messy, and deeply personal. Now, it’s become an aesthetic. The “sober lifestyle” has been rebranded into a marketable identity, polished, photogenic, and hashtag-friendly. Sobriety has gone mainstream, and […]
Healing Fatigue, When You’re Tired of Trying to Get Better
When Recovery Starts to Feel Like a Job At the start of recovery, everything feels purposeful. You’re motivated, hopeful, determined to change. You read the books, attend the meetings, write the journal entries, and follow the advice. You tell yourself that healing will be worth it, that one day, you’ll […]
Addicted to Escape, Why We Run Even When We’re Sober
Sobriety promises freedom, but few people talk about the unease that follows it, the restlessness that crawls under your skin when there’s nothing left to run from. You’ve stopped drinking, stopped using, stopped numbing, yet the urge to escape is still there. You chase distractions the same way you once […]
The Sobriety Gap, When Friends Outgrow Each Other
Recovery saves your life, but it also changes your world. You stop drinking, stop using, stop numbing. You start showing up. You rebuild trust, routine, purpose. You start to heal. But what no one really prepares you for is the quiet loneliness that comes next, the distance between who you’re […]
When Every Feeling Feels Like Too Much
In active addiction, feelings get muted. Substances flatten the peaks and valleys, no real highs, no crushing lows, just the dull hum of escape. But when the drugs, alcohol, or compulsive habits stop, that protective layer disappears. Suddenly, the emotions you avoided for years come roaring back, louder and sharper […]
