✨Weekly Insight
Alcohol didn't just numb the pain—it dimmed everything.
The highs, the lows, the full spectrum of what it means to be alive. For years, I chose comfortable darkness over uncomfortable brilliance.
With sobriety, learning to hold your own light is awkward as hell at first. You squint. You stumble. You want to dial it back down. But each day you stay with it, something shifts. The brightness that once felt blinding starts to feel like home.
And that discomfort you were avoiding? It transforms into the most alive you've ever felt.
This is the work—not just removing what dims you, but learning to stand fully in what illuminates you.
✍🏻 Essays
I didn’t have a problem with drinking.
I had a life that included drinking. Tailgates. Kegs on the back porch. IPAs after eighteen-hour days on set. Miller Lite in the fridge where the rotten milk used to be.
This wasn’t concerning. This was just normal.
I didn’t think of myself as someone who drank too much. I thought of myself as someone who drank. The same way I was someone who played fantasy football or worked in film. It was a fact. Neutral. Unremarkable. Woven into the fabric of how I moved through life.
There was never a question of should I be drinking? Not because I avoided it, but because it didn’t exist. There was no alternative self to imagine. No other version. I was this person. The person with a beer in his hand at the cookout. The person who drank until seeing double was the cue for bed.
The loop felt complete. Work, unwind, repeat. Show up, perform, recover.
I didn’t know the recovery was counterfeit. I didn’t know the unwinding was actually draining me.
That was the trap.
🎙️Clear Conversations: Creative Minds in Sobriety
This past week, I sat down with Georgia Kohlhoff, a registered nutritionist and trainee therapist who could have passed a nutrition exam years before she became a nutritionist. She knew about protein. She knew vegetables mattered. She knew that drinking less alcohol would help.
She knew what to do. She just couldn’t do it.
Here’s what Georgia teaches: as women enter menopause, alcohol tolerance plummets. Estrogen helps metabolize alcohol. When it declines, alcohol hits harder, amplifying every perimenopause symptom—hot flashes, brain fog, anxiety.
We use alcohol the same way we use food. To regulate. To soothe.
Georgia spent two decades trapped in food chaos—a disordered relationship starting at age ten. She calculated she was spending 730 to 1,095 hours per year just thinking about food. Not eating. Just thinking.
Here’s what she finally understood: “knowing what to do and being able to do it are two completely different skills.” Years of trying to solve a psychological problem with nutrition solutions never worked because none of it addressed why she was doing what she was doing.
Her framework—the 3 U’s: Understand, Unlearn, Unlock—addresses the psychological patterns driving behavior rather than just providing another meal plan.
Georgia’s work reminds us: knowing what to do and being able to do it are two completely different skills. The thinking problem underneath is what keeps you stuck.
You can listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts as well:
My Next Guest(s) on🎙️Clear Conversations
This week I’ll be fortunate to have 2 guests on the show!
Episode 038 with Inge van de Graaf on February 3 at 10a EST
What happens when you’re a trauma therapist living above a bar and you decide to get sober? Inge van de Graaf spent decades hiding behind professional titles and safe business names, terrified of rejection, keeping herself small.
Then she did the work she guides others through—facing the fear, stepping over thresholds, reclaiming her real name. Now she calls herself Medicine Woman, Guide, and Gatekeeper. She works with regression therapy, plant medicine ceremonies, and deep subconscious healing in the forests of Drenthe.
Her story isn’t about quitting drinking and finding peace. It’s about what becomes possible when you stop performing safety and start living from your center—even when there’s a fully stocked bar on the other side of your bedroom.
Down-to-earth reflections on trauma processing, spirituality, and authentic living. For sensitive people who are stuck in various patterns and long for the freedom to be themselves.
Episode 039 with Elif Ahmad on February 5 at 10a EST
What if recovery didn't look like what you've been told it should? This week's guest, Elif Ahmad, walked away from three years of cocaine use without rehab, without a 12-step program, and without relapse.
She did it her way—and then went on to become a certified Reiki Master Teacher, hypnotist, and recovery support specialist who's spent years helping others rewrite the script from "I am an addict" to "I had an experience with addiction." Now, as a classical pianist and sound healer, Elif is living proof that there's no single path to recovery—and that healing isn't interested in keeping customers.
Join us for a conversation about harmony, autonomy, and what becomes possible when you trust your own way forward.
🎬 Behind the Scenes
The first official Sober Creative Reset has finished!
Here are some quotes from members:
”What am I Carrying forward: I want to carry forward the promise to myself that I cherish and honor this body that I have been given; it is mine to care for and I hope that it will last me a long time. I have plans to do many things with it…and so I best take care of it - and not putting alcohol in it is one of them: the benefits of not consuming alcohol are still unfolding for me. I am eager to know where it will take me and what awaits me there. “
“Thank you all for sharing this journey with me. It has been eye opening for me in a big way. I’m feeling so much more grounded and peaceful. Wishing all the best in next steps - mine will be booze free for now as I intend to continue this journey to see where it goes. Big hugs to all. ❤️”
“My main take aways from this month’s reset are:
Increased awareness of my own habits and why I drink
The relaxed and gentle invitation to explore what not drinking brings and how it adds to my quality of life.
I really liked the interaction and sharing with others who are making the same journey.
As to the future: I am going to continue on this sobriety path, and who knows, I might do this for a very, very long time. And last but not least: Thanks Josh for your kind and thorough approach and your wise input. You’re a great guy!”
“This has been an invaluable month however, and I so appreciate this opportunity to reset and rethink my relationship with alcohol. The clarity and confidence I have right now is exactly what I needed to reframe and also to be available to my mom to my studies and the rest of my life. Josh thank you so much for. Not only the space but you’re amazing support. Blessings to you all.”
“Hi everyone! I feel very grateful to have participated in this challenge! Thank you all for sharing your challenges and wins... it was so inspiring! Josh, thank you for holding this container! I had some powerful insights about my relationship with alcohol. I was able to create space to see why I make the choices I make, and it was extremely valuable!”
I’m a bit speechless to be honest. I couldn’t have asked for this experience to be what it was. Each person showed up incredibly beautiful in their own way.
The next reset is scheduled for April. If you want to be notified when the details become available, click the link below to be put on the list. I hope to see you there!
I want to be sober simply for my health. I want to be healthy.