The Share Shed: Writing Competition Entries
Sober Awkward
Victoria Vanstone
4.8 • 535 Ratings
🗓️ 8 July 2026
⏱️ 10 minutes
🔗️ Recording | Apple Podcasts | RSS
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Share Shed – Sober Awkward Writing Competition Specials - Bodies Change - By Erin
Every Thursday, we’re handing the story telling over to you.
Over the next few months, Vic will be reading some of the incredible entries from this year’s Sober Awkward Writing Competition. Honest, funny, heartbreaking, hopeful, awkward and beautifully human, these stories come from people all over the world who have experienced the ups and downs of changing their relationship with alcohol.
Whether you’re sober curious, newly alcohol-free, years into recovery, or simply wondering if life might feel better without booze, we hope these stories remind you that you’re not alone.
Writing has a powerful way of helping us make sense of our lives. It can shine a light on things we’ve hidden away, help us process difficult experiences, and remind us just how resilient we really are. Plus, it’s considerably cheaper than therapy and doesn’t require you to wear pants.
So grab a cuppa, get comfortable, and join us for this week’s Share Shed as Vic tells another story from our amazing community.
💛 Resources & Links
📘 Victoria’s memoir – A Thousand Wasted Sundays
A brutally honest and hilarious look at motherhood, anxiety, and ditching the booze.
👉 Buy the book here or head to the website to find out more about writing mentorships with Vic.
🫖 Join The Cuppa Community
Our private, supportive online space for sober folk
📘 Get the Sober Awkward Guide
Our downloadable toolkit for ditching booze the awkward way.
📱 Follow us for daily sober fun:
Instagram: @soberawkward
TikTok: @soberawkward
Facebook: Sober Awkward Community for Women
📞 SUPPORT & RESOURCES
If anything in today’s episode felt familiar, or you’re worried about your drinking, there is support available. You don’t have to do this alone.
🇦🇺 Australia
National Alcohol & Other Drug Hotline
📞 1800 250 015 (24/7)
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/alcohol-and-drug-information-service
Lifeline
📞 13 11 14 (24/7)
https://www.lifeline.org.au
Hello Sunday Morning / Daybreak
https://hellosundaymorning.org
https://daybreakapp.com.au
Clean Slate Clinic
https://www.cleanslateclinic.com
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
Drinkline
📞 0300 123 1110
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-advice/alcohol-support/
Alcohol Change UK
https://alcoholchange.org.uk
We Are With You
https://www.wearewithyou.org.uk
🌍 International
Alcoholics Anonymous
https://www.aa.org
SMART Recovery
https://www.smartrecovery.org
💬 A Gentle Reminder
If you’re drinking in the morning to cope, especially with anxiety or withdrawal symptoms, it’s important to speak to a doctor or medical professional. Stopping alcohol suddenly can be unsafe for some people, and getting support can make a huge difference.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Yep, it's Thursday, which normally means I'll be rifling through your wonderful messages, |
| 0:10.3 | stories and confessions, but for the next few months, we're going to do something a little bit |
| 0:14.8 | different. As many of you know, the annual Sober Awkward Writing Competition has just |
| 0:20.6 | wrapped up and the competition is now officially closed. |
| 0:24.5 | And honestly, the entries have made me laugh, cry, nod aggressively and occasionally snort tea out of my nose. |
| 0:33.1 | So each Thursday, instead of a share shed story, I'll be reading one of the incredible entries |
| 0:39.1 | sent in by our listeners. Think of it as the Sharesheds jolly cousin, who turned up late to the |
| 0:45.2 | party with a bloody, brilliant story. These tumultuous tales are honest, heartfelt and beautifully |
| 0:51.5 | awkward, which is exactly how we like things around here. |
| 0:55.6 | So grab a cupper, settle in, and let's celebrate the brilliant writers hiding amongst our sober community. |
| 1:03.4 | Welcome to the Shareshed. |
| 1:10.5 | Welcome back to the Shareshed and our next competition entry is from Erin. |
| 1:16.3 | It's called Bodies Change. |
| 1:18.9 | That's one of the few things that is certain in this life. |
| 1:23.2 | My weight fluctuated wildly when I hit perimenopause. Along with the weight gain, my self-worth diminished, not only from the inside, but spurred on by outside influences. When I was at a higher weight, people treated me like I didn't matter anymore. Doctors berated me. Friends and family gazed at me, their eyes perplexed and filled with pity. Men either looked through me like I was invisible or looked at me in disgust, sometimes even making an audible grunt. I was now either sexless or non-existent. |
| 2:06.5 | These facts seemingly confirmed how I felt that I was now worth less as a person. I already felt |
| 2:15.1 | like I was losing myself in perimenopause. My mental health had taken a steep |
| 2:20.0 | decline. I suffered from severe anxiety and depression and had numerous stints in impatient mental health. |
| 2:29.2 | Every time I would climb out of the gaping hole that was my depression at its worst. Something would cause me to |
| 2:36.6 | plummet right back to where I started. More often than not, it was a self-defeating body thought |
| 2:44.0 | or an experience of weight stigma. Premature perimenopause hit me like a truck. I was in my 30s and still hoping to have a child one day. |
| 2:56.5 | It was not to be, and that drove me into an even deeper depression. Unexpected infertility is brutal. |
... |
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