Sober in the Country Blog

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Leisel from W.A shares why she chose sobriety in the end.

soberinthecountry

Aug 3, 2019
5 min

Leisel from W.A shares why she chose sobriety in the end.

My first alcoholic drink was a shandy of beer and lemonade when I was 17 at the local pub with a girlfriend. I didn’t like the taste, but with enough lemonade it was just bearable. I didn’t drink for pleasure until my early twenties. Even then, not much. When I did drink a few wines I was usually sick and vomiting most of the next day. I specialised in horrendous hangovers. My friends would call me Cadbury (glass and a half) as that was all I needed to get drunk. As I wasn’t

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1460 days’ worth of sober observations from within rural Australia's booze culture...

soberinthecountry

Feb 26, 2019
9 min

1460 days’ worth of sober observations from within rural Australia's booze culture...

Last Friday, I turned ‘four’ in my sobriety journey. That’s 1,460 days of living completely sober in the country.. which is pretty mind-blowing to me when I consider how once upon a time I couldn’t go a week without a glass of wine or a beer and an inevitable ‘blowout’ (aka, getting pass-out drunk). If you’re new to my page and you’d like historical context on my backstory, and how and why I do what I do, please visit: https://www.soberinthecountry.com.au/blog/how-did-sitc-ev

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delusions of grandeur among us ...

soberinthecountry

Sep 20, 2018
4 min

delusions of grandeur among us ...

As you all know, I am shamelessly very specific about speaking directly in the space of rural Australian that includes my peers, professionals, executives, corporates, etc., whether it be in the form of agriculture, grazing, rural business or whatever. Why? Because I have lived it and known it for my entire life. Simple, really. I get it, know it, understand it. I was reflecting the other day with a mate and just shaking my head, saying that I wonder if young, clueless, privi

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an open letter to my 'knockers'

soberinthecountry

Aug 4, 2018
3 min

an open letter to my 'knockers'

An open letter to my knockers Hey there, A good person was kind enough to pass on some feedback to me today. Included in that was a reference to a quite a few peeps who clearly still have zero clue what I do, and why I do it. Those who like to have a little crack at me behind my back. So to those of you who roll your eyes and talk about me ‘being on my bandwagon again’ and ‘presume to think I regard myself as perfect’ I am gunna' go ahead and help you out with that. First up:

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how did #SITC even start?

soberinthecountry

Jul 27, 2018
6 min

how did #SITC even start?

A gorgeous friend asked me last night how this whole 'thang' started - and since so many new people have joined this page - I thought this might be of interest to you. Okey dokes - here 'tis: #SITC was never a ‘plan’. It happened over time and was born out of a personal wish to see the huge, gaping hole in how we tackle health in the bush more effectively addressed. But let's step back a sec. When I nearly lost my own life, I spent the first year in my own ‘recovery’ focused

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the questions you didn't think you could ask an alcoholic from a country town....

soberinthecountry

Jul 23, 2018
10 min

the questions you didn't think you could ask an alcoholic from a country town....

SO: recently I threw out a question on social which was: ''if you could ask me anything about going through, surviving, and recovering from alcoholism - what would it be?'' As promised - here are your questions answered. Please note: these are purely my own views from lived experience and study and talking to multitudes of others. Some will disagree, and that's fine. This is purely opinion based on having been there, and how it went for me. Healthy debate is totally encourage

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what did alcoholism 'look like' for me?

soberinthecountry

Jul 17, 2018
4 min

what did alcoholism 'look like' for me?

So this one's an FAQ of mine. I should talk about it more often. Literally the first thing I get asked when people realise I am an open book about my past, is ''did you drink every day / during the day / first thing of a morning?' The answer is no. .... well, unless you count the training ground that was uni-life for me.... where you were crowned a ''legend'' if you consumed booze enough booze to kill yourself and ten black dogs through the night AND drank into the morning. (

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non-alcoholic beverages - yay or nay?

soberinthecountry

Jul 16, 2018
3 min

non-alcoholic beverages - yay or nay?

Okay, so today, let’s talk about non-alcoholic drinks. I always get asked ‘can I drink non-alcoholic beer/wine/etc. if I am an alcoholic?’ Let me answer that question with a question: what do YOU honestly reckon? When I was still struggling terribly with denial about my own addiction, I promise you I went through this same question. For a few years I bought non-alcoholic (NA) wine, beer, and mock-tails in lovely glasses. I wanted my party beverage to look, smell, and taste

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