The Clear Horizon

From oblivion of alcoholism into the light of sobriety

recovery

  • Why sobriety engagement is meaningful

    My first thought was: Great, I have enough time to redirect my energy I used with drinking into something useful: Let’s find an engagement to fill the gap. Well, yes. Partly true, but only partly. In the time of the Pink Cloud, that felt pretty straightforward and it had the shine of something to dive… Read more

  • Art therapy against aggression and procrastination

    There are a lot of things that have crossed my mind since I have reduced or respectively omitted digital devices when I decided to go for a Handsfree February. I wondered in the beginning of the month what I would do with the spare time. It was a bit different when I stopped drinking, because… Read more

  • Redundancies, repetitions and contradictions

    In the course of time, there may be certain posts or passages that seem to be very much not in line with the rest of my thoughts and insights. Well, as I wrote before, these are complex times along the way to recovery. And since I am on the way deeper and deeper into the… Read more

  • Alcoholism is a spectrum. Here’s why.

    Yesterday I reflected on the question when an addiction is actually an addiction, and apart from the “objective” diagnosis you get from a doctor or therapist, it is mostly up to you to define and feel if you have an addiction. I was neither diagnosed nor had I a distinct conversation with people who told… Read more

  • Finding your own way – Or, the inherent power of “No”

    I may have touched upon this topic before, even more or less elaborate, but today is a day where this is more obvious to me than on other days, or at least obvious enough to share my thoughts here: Today we have a Carnival parade in our town, and the kids wanted badly to participate.… Read more

  • Why Body positivity matters

    I don’t mean exercising to look like a top athlete or a poster boy for Men’s Health. And, it’s not for the sake of feeling “manlier” than other men around me. It’s not about body shaming or externalizing on Social Media to compensate for bad self esteem. What I mean is for my own healthy… Read more

  • Helping those in need when I was in need myself

    How was I able to help people in need, regarding disorders, family problems, domestic violence and substance abuse while I needed help myself getting off alcohol? I have been working in a social and education job all my job life. It alway was, s, in one or the other way, related to helping or supporting… Read more

  • Next Level authenticity

    Well, it’s not only about authenticity, but authenticity makes the most important aspect of the next stage of my recovery journey. Authenticity does not mean to me that I need an excuse to be rude to people by saying them exactly what I think or that I am declining anything that doesn’t suit my needs.… Read more

  • Why writing a Blog is good, but not enough

    This is a pretty personal insight, and it may not correspond with other people’s views about how to deal with sobriety or recovery, but my goes as follows: Starting with the Reframe App was a pretty good start, but after two weeks of reducing alcohol intake, I felt it was not enough. I had the… Read more

  • Toxic positivity in consumerism vs real life improvement

    I recently listened to commercials on the radio, and it suggested to “live your dreams” and “be individualistic” and “free your mind”, “be yourself”. It sounded like some sort of lifestyle coaching tips, but in the end it was only an advertisement for a car, an SUV, that superficially suggests an independent lifestyle, outdoors, with… Read more