Have You Considered Your Ripple Effect?
Meet my friend Kelsey! We first met in Paris running with an international group. She was new to the city and we quickly bonded over connections to North Carolina, art, the growing interest in non-alcoholic beverages and my crazy story of winemaker to sobriety coach. She signed up for this newsletter and we made a date for coffee.
It didn’t work out that morning to meet -- and we ran out of time to reschedule until later that fall in 2024. We hadn't connected since then. So I was thrilled...flattered!...to get a message from her recently, inviting me to coffee after not seeing each other for a year and a half.
We met at a new favorite spot. We chatted about daily life. And then she said, "That's the perfect segue to tell you about a big development that I wanted to share. That day that I missed our coffee date...it was because I was hungover. And I thought about that so much. And I wanted to be able to tell you in person, that I'm one year and three months sober. I feel so amazing. And I’m really grateful to you.”
I grabbed both her hands across the table. And we both choked back big tears. I easily cry each time I think about this moment. And I have thought about it. A lot.
She told me how my work and newsletter had been an inspiration. She said that her own journey has influenced at least six other people around her. And most importantly, she told me that she is having the time of her life, doubling down on nightlife by going to all-night raves once a month in various cities in Europe put on by a particular music collective out of Berlin. For her, it's energizing, empowering, cathartic and life-affirming! I've asked her to please take me with her to the next one!
THIS is what is completely missed and misunderstood in all the articles we read about whether alcohol does help the heart or not, or articles with "experts" saying that younger generations aren't going out enough and they should drink more or else they'll be lonely! What?! That's not what I see from my vantage point and experience. I see younger generations being wiling to question the status quo and being much more discerning about what does and doesn't make them feel good! I see this generation and also my typical client feeling MORE alive and engaged with life after giving up alcohol, not less! Kelsey didn't go AF to be trendy! She just didn't feel like she was acting in alignment with who she wanted to be. And she's sticking with being AF because she feels amazing!
She’s an inspiration to ME! To be this open and discerning at the age of 34?! Fabulous! To take the time to invite me out to tell me about it?! Super thoughtful and has given me fuel to keep writing the newsletter that I’ve been writing for almost 7 years!
YOU are influencing the people around you too!
I have more of these stories…a friend from church who let me share on a hike what I was learning when I was first getting certified and she hasn’t had a drink now in seven years; an acquaintance who quit after reading an article about me in our neighborhood paper; even AirBnB guests who just asked why I had so many non-alcoholic beverages in the house and then told me a year later that they had completely reined in their drinking.
I’m sharing these particular stories because these are people impacted that I didn’t even coach!
And I owe all this to several people who inspired my questioning, especially a neighbor named Lisa! I was so intrigued that she ordered an NA beverage when we met up at the women-owned distillery around the corner for a drink and she later directed me to the work of Annie Grace.
Who might your journey impact? Who will feel permission to question alcohol and the status quo because you are? Even if you’re still on the journey? Please let me know in the comments or by emailing me. And if you think my newsletter or website might be of interest to someone you know, feel free to pass it on! xo