Recovering Roundup
Y’all, it’s Link Party Tuesday and this week the intro will be short because I’m exhausted and out of oat milk. A reminder: Quitted launches this Thursday. Please help us out by listening, sharing, rating, reviewing, “patreoning”, cosmically aligning, whatevering. Our longer, 20 minute trailer is below (I embedded wrong link on Sunday sorry!) or you can find the show here; or you can find it in the literal hundreds of places people listen to podcasts that mostly know nothing about.
My top five recommendations are at the bottom.
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Link Roundup
“In the last five months I drew the Two of Swords many times, every time thinking - perhaps I should put these swords down and take the blindfold off. Oh but how comfortable the blindfold is. How comfortable to sit in self loathing and low self esteem and constant panic just to avoid the inevitable shift, just to not have to break the waves.” - Marlee Grace”
A reminder: Some days are for the sofa.
The Cut is really doubling down on its sober coverage.
This substack that’s fully dedicated to using psilocybin to heal addiction written and maintained by someone who has done that; a Slate article that reminds us: bad trips are real and plant medicine (aka drugs; remember “plant medicine” is just another way to create a hierarchy of good vs. bad drugs based on who typically uses them!) aren’t for everyone; this article that contradicts the Slate article and then another one that tackles the effects of microdosing on mental health, and this one talks about psychedelics and eating disorder recovery.
In other Schedule 1 drug news: this week, Mississippi became the 37th state to legalize medical marijuana.
Resilience Fatigue! I have it.
Alcoholic monkeys and the new drug that helps them drink less
I really liked the book The Urge which is why I keep mentioning it. Here’s another excerpt.
I feel old but also I definitely took this Nylon article to the salon and said “give me Euphoria nails”
Speaking of Euphoria: I’m not sure D.A.R.E. has actually seen the show? I have. I love it. It hurts to watch but I love it.
The workplace becomes sober inclusive.
I have been the one who stops talking to someone and I have been the someone.
A Medium article on the science of why you should stop drinking but also an article that talks about the Functional Subtype (a new word to me!) and why some drinkers take decades to form dependency.
A history of the TED talk and the birth of the the inspiresting
A book on the history of women and alcohol I can’t wait to read (note: it’s a triumphant history and *I believe* skews pro-drink; still, love me a good book on eth history)
“The greatest increases in alcohol use…were among women with children under 5 years of age, Black and Hispanic women, and Black men.”
The drinks business tells us to not blame defenseless booze ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Responses to Maia S.’s NYT Op-Ed (shared last week), which I found interesting.
A story worth reading about losing your mother to alcohol addiction; and a series on addiction in the Rumpus
Five Things I Loved
I love Suleika Jaouad’s book Between Two Kingdoms and I really love her newsletter, The Isolation Journals, that gives out weekly journal prompts. This week, Elizabeth Lesser (author of Cassandra Speaks, also a v. good book!) gives a beautiful journal prompt on how to help a loved one in their time of suffering.
“If everything is trauma, is anything?” This NYT op-ed on our overuse of some terms rendering them meaningless hit home.
How Anti-Capitalism Has Been Sold Back To Us: This is a great, great article; if you dig it, I also highly recommend Koa Beck’s White Feminism.
This whole video: “The point is that you filter it through your own self-awareness as an adult, and you decide what to do with the information.”
The best thing I read all week: Jackass Made Me the Trans Woman I Am
Sorry! 6! This an older article written by my actual friend, Catherine Gray, on how drinking decreased during the pandemic; it’s a really good article that shows that sometimes, we can’t see what drives the net effects unless we pull them apart.
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Such an amazing wealth of good reads and information. I feel like I'm "cheating" somehow by having this land in my inbox - benefiting from all the research someone else has done! Now I have to peel myself off the couch, head and heart full of amazing thoughts, and begin my actual day! Thank you! <3
So excited! I finally joined. Loving all the material you put out. I've been following you for years. Your work has always been an inspiration. Glad I am able to help support it. 🙏 🙌 ❤