The Clear Horizon

From oblivion of alcoholism into the light of sobriety

  • Externalising, “I” – Statements and booze – How “manly” habits contributed to my psychic disorders

    “If that stupid colleague hadn’t squealed to the boss, things wouldn’t have just worked out fine and the job would have still been there”, he said, then taking a large draft from his beer. What does this short message (which is made up), tell us? What is so wrong with these forms of dealing with Read more

  • Surfing the emotional Wave – But where to start?

    It’s just one of these evenings on which I used to have a drink after work: Stressful appointments, traffic jams, frustrating weather, dark when coming home. The catch: I don’t drink anymore. So, the gloomy and depressive emotions come, and if you don’t have anything to distract you from them, or you don’t want distraction, Read more

  • Social Media and alcohol

    Sometimes ideas or conclusions or insights strike like lightning or appear a long time afterwards. I want to share one I had today about my own relationship with social media and alcohol consumption. I don’t mean an abusive way of consuming social media after quitting drinking, in which I compensated for my alcohol consumption with Read more

  • Almost Forgot…

    Read more

  • Getting sober without Therapy? – What worked for me and what didn’t

    Sobriety can be like a bullet proof vest The thing that kept me (at least superficially wit the dubious help of the “bad advisor” (what I framed the voice in my head from my alcohol addiction after a tipp from a coach)) from working on sobriety was the common belief in my head “you can’t Read more

  • ADHD or no ADHD, that’s the question

    What kept me up last night was the question whether one of my reasons for diving headlong into an alcohol addiction years ago has something to do with symptoms that are strongly related to ADHD. I don’t know as of now if I have ADHD or not. I simply add together one and one and Read more

  • Am I Re-Nerd-Ing? – Why Reading, Gaming and Podcasts become relevant

    When have I returned to reading, listening to podcasts and gaming? It wasn’t in the same moment I stopped drinking. It started when I realized that replacing my drinking habits with hanging out on social media too much. I realized that falling for filter bubbles and fake news aggravated passive aggressiveness and depression. How did Read more

  • Alcohol or activity – What defines your Masculintiy?

    James Clear writes that you should build habits to define your identity to keep up the habitual routine. The argument goes: If you identify with your habits, the habits become you or at least help shaping your identity. If working is a big part of your identity (which is normal if you are belonging to Read more

  • Outdoor activities to Beat Winter Blues

    Winter Blues. I talked about that yesterday. Especially in the dark evening and morning hours I find it hard to find anything good about the winter time. When additionally there is grey in grey ahead in the sky, the mood goes rock bottom very quickly. Outdoor activities have, since beginning of this year, becoming a Read more

  • Why I hate the winter time – and how to deal with it

    Sometimes it just strikes you down from behind like a thug with a log. From one day to the next, all the decisions you made, all the new habits accumulated, all the good things that have happened to me seem like dust in the wind. Then something like a depression pushes you down, aggravated by Read more