Suzy Morrison is a addiction specialist, peer advocate, educator, mother, grandmother, and she is sober. Click below to watch or listen to my Sobriety Chat with Suzy. We talk about how low she felt at the end of her drinking days, the shame and isolation of living in active addiction, the pain of blackouts, the huge growth that happens in the first 18 months of recovery, living with regret, and the power of keeping it in the day.
Scroll to the very bottom for links to posts Suzy has written for us here at Living Sober.
Audio recording below
Posts at Living Sober written by Suzy:
Sober Story: Suzy
Broken Angel (Guest Post)
My Sober Lockdown: Suzy
Ask An Expert: Suzy (Consumer Project Lead)
I’m 28 days sober today I enjoyed the video and I need all the advice I can get because I have been sober this long and way longer but I’m a alcoholic and out of the blue for no reason the urge can hit me to drink and if I do take a drink I will go on a down hill spiral for many months of drinking and blacking out.
This was a great video. Thanks so much Suzy and @mrs-d
Thank you for the inspiration Suzy and Lotta. I’m only day 1 (again) and my biggest fear and set backs are social occasions. I have a friends 40th coming up (she doesn’t drink anymore) and after listening to you talk I’m excited to face it sober. You’re so right it’s not about the wine in my glass but more about the people and conversations and music. Drinking has just been a habit and routine for so long now, going to dig deep this time around.
Dear Ali – so great you have a day up (maybe more) again.
Congratulations to you
Each day is a new beginning xx
What a wonderful conversation! So much food for thought. Thank you Suzy and Lotta for giving of yourself and your experience. It’s so helpful, these stories. I always find some little nugget of “Oh, I recognize that one. That’s me! I’m not alone!” So important, right?
I love those moments of recognition Just – that connection tells me I’m not alone – SO important yes. Go well x
Thank You for this interview Lotta and Suzy. What I actually took from this was that I need to learn how to be a better parent to myself. Like @tom4500 I would need to be in my late 90’s to make 35 years but I will be more than happy to remain sober for as many years as I have left.
Hi David – glad you enjoyed the chat. And recovery gives us the opportunity to become a better parent and friend to ourselves. Someone wise once said (Ram Das) ‘it’s never too later to have a happy childhood”. Go well.
Really amazing wisdom + insights Suzy, thanks so much for sharing! That line – It’s not what we take, it’s where it takes us.. wow, exactly. Thanks for the great interview @Mrs-D!
Another great line – the creativity, resourcefulness and determination to stay in addiction is transferable to getting sober. I teared up when you spoke of jumping over the dark cliff @Mrs-D. HUGE congrats on 35 years Suzy!!
Yes. All the survival techniques we needed to keep the drinking going are transferable skills. Who knew?? I love that! Thank you JM.
Thank you Lotta and Suzy what a great chat. So insightful and really helps my understanding of the concept of “recovery”. One day at a time.
Thanks Denny. I find it really helpful to remember that abstinence is an event and recovery is a process. And every day we dont pick up, the growth continues. Recovery is a creative process. We are creating our lives one day at a time.
Well I thought that was a fun interview, so my thanks to Suzy and Lotta. Even with my short attention span, it was a quick thirty-five minutes, and I appreciated the comments. Some new to me, many reinforcing. Don’t expect I’ll get to thirty-five years sober, as that would make me ninety eight years old, and that sounds rather exhausting. But I won’t drink tomorrow. Thanks again!
Hi Tom
Glad you enjoyed the interview. It was fun. Go well with your recovery.