You’re right, Nicole. Alcohol is a painkiller, and building a better life isn’t an option for everyone. Most people don’t get the opportunity to get sober, and if they did, there’s no guarantee there life would be better. But I guess I don’t write for them. I write for the people who are in trouble with their drinking but who can get help, people who can change their life, if they can only believe it is possible and worth the effort.

I hate the fact that there aren’t better services in place to help people affected by structural oppression. And I feel guilt for making use of certain services when people who needed them more were too unwell to be able to benefit from them, but I don’t think I was wrong to use them, either.

Getting sober wasn’t simple for me, and I still struggle with life in plenty of ways. Alcohol addiction is a pretty sane response to living in a society that treats us like machines and pushes us into endless beauty and talent competitions.

We don’t all start from the same place, and life isn’t at all fair. But I have found a way to try and improve things for a particular demographic and I’m glad to do that. I wish I could make more of a difference, but for now this will have to do.

Thanks for reading and commenting.

Chelsey