I own it, a distant, not proud that was me, and when I face it a little dignity, not looking for excuse me, I just want to be free from power.

Weakness head on me.

Free, free, free, free, free, free.

Thank you.

Hi, everyone, and welcome to the bubble hour where real people tell real stories of addiction and recovery.

I'm your host, Jean McCarthy.

I write the blog on Pickles.

I tell my stories there, and I invite you to share your stories here.

And today, in honor of New Year's, let's do something a little different. I'm at the ski hill, about to put my gear on and go out and ski, but I wanted

to take a few minutes and make an episode to help encourage you through what can be a difficult

time of year for a lot of people, New Year's. And whether you're listening to this right on

New Year's Eve and the days following or even in the months to come, this episode is really

meant to be an encouraging time for anyone who's either in early recovery or who's feeling

wobbly and needs to remember what it's like to go through those early days.

So here's what I did.

At a recent retreat, I recorded conversations with women at various stages of their sobriety.

The audio quality is a little varied.

I was just holding my phone up to them in hallways and in dining room and just gathering

their words and their thoughts as we've rounded up, wound up a few days at a retreat.

And even though you may find that there's a lot of background noise, trust me, the content is gold.

Today, I want to share those voices with you.

I chose the ones that were in their very earliest stages to share with you today.

...