PLEASE NOTE: This episode is part of our "One

Year On" series, two ESH shares recorded approx. 1 year apart.

Janis's first share can be heard here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1a47cgJOVHXpMczvB287tp?si=jk1kObrKT42eKs0ElwabzA

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Matty shared at AANP in January 2024, and as part of our One Year On series, we thought it was time to check in and see how life has unfolded since then.

What follows is a raw, honest account of a year in recovery shaped by instability, near-relapse, legal stress, housing upheaval, illness, and the daily work of staying sober when nothing feels settled. From getting sober in Las Vegas, to navigating recovery across AA, LifeRing, and online communities, to teaching himself software engineering while sleeping on couches and fighting to hold onto a job that nearly slipped away, Matty speaks openly about what it means to keep choosing sobriety in the middle of real life.

This is not a highlight reel. It is a story about persistence. About building structure where there is none. About using every available tool: meetings, service, therapy, meditation, writing, community, and hard-won self-honesty. About learning how not to pick up, even when the pressure keeps rising.

A candid conversation about staying sober, staying connected, and slowly moving from survival toward something that begins to feel like living.

This speaker-share was recorded during the Collaborative New Year's Marathon 25/26, presented by An All Night Place, Secular Together, and The 505 Secular Marathon Meeting. During one of the 505 hours, Mike shared.

In this episode, Mike takes the mic and brings a share shaped by time, honesty, and sustained sobriety. With a five-digit day count, what AA circles affectionately call a “zipcoder”, he reflects on what actually changes after the milestones stop feeling shiny.

This is not a victory lap. It is a grounded look at long-term sobriety lived one day at a time. Mike talks about early resistance, learning how to stay without believing what he could not believe, and the slow rewiring that happens when alcohol is no longer the solution to everything. He speaks candidly about fear, responsibility, self-honesty, and the quiet work of continuing to show up long after the chaos has settled.

“Zipcoder in da house” lands here not as status, but as perspective. Five digits does not mean finished. It means practiced. It means having enough distance to see patterns clearly and enough humility to know the work is ongoing.

A steady, thoughtful share for anyone wondering what sobriety looks like when it stops being new and starts being real.

In this powerful share, Stacy traces a lifetime shaped by family history, survival, and the long shadow of alcohol. Growing up in Washington DC during a turbulent era, she navigated strict expectations, deep wounds, and moments of unexpected grace. Her drinking spanned decades, taking her from survival mode to collapse, and finally to a moment of clarity that brought her through the doors of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Stacy speaks openly about generational patterns, loss, fear, and the complex family dynamics that followed her into adulthood. She also reflects on childhood trauma, religious disillusionment, and the ways alcohol became both shield and trap. Her story shifts as recovery takes root: finding meetings, finding her voice, and slowly learning hope, accountability, education, self-advocacy, and the essential power of community.

Seven years into sobriety, she continues to grow, create, stand up for herself, and rediscover possibilities she once buried. This episode is a journey through hardship, honesty, and the quiet bravery of rebuilding life one day at a time.

This episode can be listened to in tandem with Episode 85, also featuring Ash K, recorded almost two years later — offering a striking and meaningful comparison of early recovery and long-term growth.

Recorded at the Tus Nua meeting when they were just under 11 months sober, Ash K shares a raw, searching reflection on what it meant to finally get sober for real. Rather than focusing only on not drinking, they speak about learning who they are beneath trauma, masking, and survival — including coming to understand their autism, ADHD, and the long-term impact of complex PTSD.

Ash reflects on a childhood shaped by addiction, emotional neglect, violence, and repeated responsibility for the wellbeing of others, especially within their family. They speak candidly about growing up unseen, carrying adult roles from a young age, and how those patterns followed them into adulthood, substance use, and relationships. Alcohol became both escape and erasure — a way to disappear, numb anxiety, and avoid being fully present.

In early sobriety, Ash describes a turning point that came not from consequences or intervention, but from exhaustion and self-honesty. Through connection in the room, therapy, and learning to unmask safely, they begin to experience something unfamiliar: self-compassion, emotional expression, and the right to take up space. They speak about grieving their mother, losing a business during the pandemic, and the quiet pride of choosing sobriety without external pressure or approval.

This is an intimate, emotionally layered share about unlearning shame, breaking generational roles, and discovering that a sober life doesn’t require perfection — only a commitment to “no matter what.” A powerful snapshot of recovery in motion, and a revealing counterpoint to the person Ash becomes nearly two years later.

In this powerful episode, Tina shares her remarkable journey from a chaotic childhood in Miami to more than 11 years of continuous sobriety. Born in Honduras and raised in a family marked by addiction, trauma, and instability, Tina describes the early experiences that shaped her, the escapism she clung to long before substances entered the picture, and the decades-long cycle of addiction that followed.

Her story spans cross-country moves, dangerous bottoms, near-fatal overdoses, and the painful consequences of living without the tools to cope. But it also reveals the turning points: the sponsor who never gave up, the treatment and therapy that rebuilt her life, the amends that transformed her relationships, and the unexpected joys that sobriety made possible — including becoming a fire-breathing burlesque performer, returning to USC on a full scholarship, and finding purpose in service and special education.

With honesty, humour, and humility, Tina reflects on how recovery continues to surprise her, challenge her, and offer new beginnings. Her message is clear: sobriety doesn’t erase hardship, but it opens the door to growth, connection, and a life far bigger than anything addiction allowed.

A raw, generous, and deeply hopeful share for anyone on the path of recovery.

In this deeply honest share at AANP, Chelsea Hermsen speaks about life with cerebral palsy, sobriety, and learning to accept the reality of who she is and where she belongs.

Born with brain damage that led to progressive physical disability, Chelsea reflects on a childhood shaped by low expectations from medical professionals, fierce advocacy from her parents, and a lifelong struggle against being underestimated. She shares how losing her ability to walk, navigating higher education, and facing mental health crises challenged her sense of identity and independence.

Chelsea opens up about how alcohol entered her life later than many, how heartbreak changed her relationship with drinking, and how quickly isolation and loss of control followed. After being placed in a group home, resisting it, relapsing, and returning, she reached a quiet but decisive realization: drinking could never again be part of her life.

She speaks candidly about recovery without romanticism — about choosing the “best possible” situation rather than a perfect one, finding connection without always fitting in, and discovering secular AA online when she needed it most. Her story is one of resilience, realism, and the courage to keep showing up, even when circumstances limit how much you can give.

A powerful share about disability, dignity, sobriety, and finding community on your own terms.

In this deeply personal and unflinchingly honest share, Andrew reflects on nearly three decades of alcoholism, the chaos it created, and the hard-won clarity he’s found in sobriety.

From a traumatic childhood and early exposure to drinking, to years marked by homelessness, addiction, and repeated attempts to get clean, Andrew traces the winding path that eventually brought him to recovery.

He speaks candidly about the destructive cycles he lived in, the pain of losing family and friends, and the turning point that finally pushed him to put the drink down for good. With raw vulnerability, he describes the anger that fueled his change, the role mental health played throughout his journey, and the profound gratitude he now carries for the people who helped him stay alive long enough to get sober.

This episode is a testament to resilience, community, and the unexpected promise of a life rebuilt. Andrew’s story is heavy, human, and ultimately hopeful — an intimate reminder that recovery is possible, even after years of darkness.