Alcohol is the pattern. What happens when we disrupt it? This series explores what happens when we peel back the layers and reveal what’s been hiding underneath—your potential. It may be that your creativity feels blocked, leading to postponed projects. You push past your limits, leaving you drained. Or you stay small instead of taking a risk and trusting yourself. Each episode breaks down a specific moment where drinking becomes the escape and shows you what becomes possible when you choose presence over numbing.
The Moment
The end of the day comes and the house seems a little too quiet.
The silence feels heavier than it should.
You feel the ache of loneliness settling in. That familiar discomfort that makes your chest tight and your mind race to fill the silence.
And there’s the thought: “A drink would help this.”
It would take the edge off. Soften the feeling. Make the quiet feel less heavy.
But what part of loneliness is actually asking to be seen?
Why This Keeps You Stuck
Here’s what’s really happening: Loneliness isn’t just an empty feeling—it’s information. Your body and mind are signaling something important about connection, presence, or unmet needs. But when you reach for the drink, you’re shutting down the signal before you can hear what it’s telling you.
The drink gives you temporary relief. It soothes the discomfort for a few hours. But what alcohol actually does is disconnect you from the presence that loneliness requires. It numbs the very feeling that needs to be seen and felt, not escaped.
This matters more when your work depends on emotional depth and authentic connection. Because the loneliness you’re avoiding at night is the same vulnerability that fuels your most meaningful creative work.
When you numb one, you numb both.
What’s Actually Happening
This is a pattern:
Feel the ache → Loneliness surfaces, the discomfort arrives
Reach for the drink → It promises relief from the feeling
Temporary relief → The edge comes off, you feel less alone
Regret → Later that night or the next morning, you realize nothing actually changed
The drink didn’t address why you felt lonely. It didn’t create connection. It didn’t help you understand what your loneliness was asking for. It just postponed the feeling until the next time it surfaces—which it always does.
What happens when you stay with the ache instead? You stay with the loneliness for a little bit, and you wait for the information to come to you. That’s exactly what your body and mind need.
Because loneliness isn’t the problem. Avoiding it is.
When you let yourself actually feel lonely without immediately trying to fix it or numb it, something shifts:
You stop treating loneliness like an emergency that requires escape. You start recognizing what you actually need—real connection, creative outlet, or just permission to be with yourself.
You discover that the feeling itself isn’t dangerous—it’s just uncomfortable, and you’re capable of sitting with discomfort.
Disrupting the Pattern
Here’s what changes when you stop numbing loneliness with alcohol:
Recognize what loneliness is asking for. When the thought “A drink would help this” comes up, pause. Ask: What am I actually seeking? Connection? Presence? Permission to feel what I’m feeling? The answer isn’t at the bottom of a glass—it’s in the willingness to stay with the discomfort long enough to understand it.
Give yourself permission to feel it. Loneliness isn’t wrong. It’s not a sign that something’s broken or that you’re failing. It’s human. It’s information. And when you treat it like something to be avoided, you’re teaching yourself that your feelings aren’t safe to feel. They are. You just need to stay present.
When you give yourself this moment—when you choose to be with the feeling instead of escaping it—you’re not just avoiding a drink. You’re building the capacity to be with yourself. To trust yourself. To create from a place of emotional honesty instead of numbed avoidance.
That’s where your best work lives. Not in the escape. In the presence.
What’s Next
Reserve your spot: https://reset.thesobercreative.com
Questions? Book an exploration call with me to see if this reset is right for where you are.
This is how we disrupt the pattern: Through structure. Through community. Through 31 days of removing what’s been blocking your best work all along.
Your creative potential isn’t waiting for you to hit bottom. It’s waiting for you to get honest about what alcohol is costing you—and to choose clarity over compromise.
Let’s start January 1st. Together.
See you in the next episode—and possibly inside The Sober Creative Reset.
