Prompted by a listener question, this week’s episode is about Brooke and Ben’s relationship with alcohol and how it’s changed over the past five years. Brooke shares why she never really wanted to use the word ‘sober’ to describe herself and how healing helped her let go of rigid ideas on drinking vs not drinking.

Ben discusses the role drinking culture has had on his life and why he thinks other countries do it better than Australia. They also talk about wasted days, the toll drinking takes and the flip-side: the high cost of complete restriction. It’s a vulnerable chat but it feels important to share.

They also discuss:

• their respective relationships with alcohol — then and now
• Brooke’s experience with quitting — why, how and what she told people about it
• what was lost and gained
• how learning to have fun sober has been a game-changer
• the physiological effects of alcohol and why Brooke used it as a social crutch
• why moralising could have a negative effect on their family
• how to step back from a restrictive mindset and soften the language we use
• why we still do things we know to be “bad” for us
• the difference between preferences and non-negotiables
• what Brooke and Ben would tell themselves 10 years ago

Thanks for listening!

Links:

• Find everything mentioned in today’s show at brookemcalary.substack.com 
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• Access the full, human-made transcript here

Credits:

• the tortoise & the hare is a McAlary Media production.
• Produced and hosted by Brooke McAlary and Ben McAlary
• Edited by Ben McAlary
• Studio equipment supplied by shot.studio
• Theme music is Edgar Allan Poe by Modern Aquatic