How Quitting Alcohol Unlocks Creativity and Changes Everything | Samuel's Naked Life | E846

This Naked Mind Podcast

Annie Grace

Mental Health, Education, Self-improvement, Health & Fitness

4.7 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 18 October 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What happens when quitting drinking saves your life but ruins your marriage? Samuel thought stopping drinking would fix everything, but it actually revealed that his relationship couldn't survive the person he was becoming. His drinking story is terrifying—regular blackouts, waking up in strangers' beds, traumatic incidents that destroyed his wife's trust. But when he finally found freedom using This Naked Mind, he made an unexpected discovery: quitting alcohol unlocks creativity and triggers a cascade of positive changes. Now he meditates daily, journals constantly, and uses writing as his primary coping mechanism. In this episode, Samuel joins Cole to explore how the most painful decisions can lead to the most profound personal growth. TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains discussions of alcohol blackouts, relationship trauma, and divorce that some listeners may find triggering. In this episode, Samuel and Coach Cole discuss: Growing up in a family and culture where drinking was the norm. The scary reality of blacking out and the fear of a "demon inside." Ditching alcohol for the first time out of shame, and then falling back into the pattern of drinking The surprise of how quitting drinking unlocked creativity and a love for writing. How This Naked Mind's teachings on the subconscious mind sparked a cascade of habit changes. The unexpected challenge of a marriage ending after stopping drinking The power of journaling and the written word as a coping mechanism and a tool for self-discovery. Finding new passions like writing short stories, reading philosophy, and meditating. Using James Clear's Atomic Habits to create lasting change. How not drinking allowed Samuel to confront his inner world and grow as a person. And more… Episode links:Related Episodes: Does alcohol really make you more creative?- Reader Question - E310 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-310-reader-question-does-alcohol-really-make-you-more-creative/ What is the deal with blackouts? - Reader Question - E304 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-304-what-is-the-deal-with-blackouts/ What If Your Biggest Regrets Are Actually Your Greatest Teachers? - Alcohol Freedom Coaching - E817 - https://thisnakedmind.com/finding-purpose-and-direction-after-quitting-alcohol-e817/ Ready to take the next step on your journey? Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious! Quince- Find your fall staples at Quince. Go to Quince.com/naked for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too. Hungryroot- Get 40% off your first box + a free item for life at Hungryroot.com/ nakedmind with code nakedmind Shopify- Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial and start selling today at Shopify.com/mind BetterHelp- Get 10% off your first month at BetterHelp.com/nakedmind

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to This Naked Mind with Annie Grace.
0:14.6	Hello, everybody. Welcome to The This Naked Mind podcast. I am Coach Cole Harvey filling in for the amazing anti-grace. And today we have
0:23.2	Samuel here to tell us his story. Samuel, it's good to have you on the podcast. Welcome.
0:28.5	Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here. Awesome. So glad you're able to join us and
0:32.6	share what's coming up for in your life. Why did you take us back to the beginning with your story with alcohol?
0:38.5	I think it starts with the culture, with the family, like what Annie talks about in her
0:43.2	book, that subconscious mind is kind of super activated when you're young and you can soak
0:48.3	in the world around you.
0:49.2	You're normal, your parents, your community, your culture, and everything.
0:52.3	So most people, like, they see their parents drinking and the social interactions and a little bit of curiosity.
0:58.3	I've always been curious about, you know, altered states of minds, you know, substance.
1:04.1	I think sugar is the first drug that everybody take.
1:06.3	They just get hyper, like, we can run through a wall, and it's just a great experience.
1:09.9	It really piqued my interest
1:11.6	at a young age. Yeah, I didn't really start drinking or experimenting with it until like seventh or
1:17.4	eighth grade where, you know, I started seeing my older sister, you know, went to college and she was
1:23.2	kind of managing that gap between being a child and being an adult. She was able to be both at
1:28.1	the same time, I guess. The first beer I had was a keystone light. It was warm, it was disgusting. I was like, why would anybody drink that? How many do I have to drink to feel anything? It was just like forcing it down. I don't even take a drink the whole thing. And so that was kind of my first exposure to it. I think that kind of a common experience where it's like, this is gross. Why would anybody
1:45.1	want to do this? And then, you know, as I got into high school, I got a little bit more curious. I started taking a beer from my parents' refrigerator and then taking a little bit of alcohol every day. I put water in their alcohol and they would put lines on the alcohol because they caught me a couple of times. But I fill it up with water.
2:02.2	So, yeah, I really went above and beyond to get the alcohol or try to manipulate my parents to give me that alcohol without them knowing.
2:09.3	I had some buddies in the backyard.
2:11.3	We went camping and I had a little bit of whiskey that I had stolen from my dad.
	...

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