Sober Not Somber Hour

Good afternoon. How is everyone doing this Tuesday, it is Minnesota State Fair time. We are three or four days into the fair extravaganza that lasts for 12 days. And funnily enough, one of the most exciting things I'm thinking about as I go back for a second time in a few days is taking in all the non alcoholic options I missed. So I had a friend today send me something from the urban growler area at the the state Fair tails that he found and sent them to me. So I'm going to be going back there.

It's called the urban glow area and there's like eight different non alcoholic cocktails. And he said, and this is coming from a foodie and someone who really appreciates a good alcoholic beverage he loved. He tried three of the NA options, thought they were great. So that is urban growler at State Fair if you're in Minnesota and heading there. So yeah, that's just a little precursor. Welcome. And my dog's here with me, Copper. He's a goldendoodle. He needs petting on the side sometimes, just some reassurance, like we all do for his anxiety.

We are in sober, not somber hour. My name is Jen Barale and I've been coming at you since February, weekly on Tuesdays. And if you've been following along, this month of August, it's been all about savoring. So today we're going to chat about savoring transitions. And yeah, there's a lot of them, especially with the seasonality that we're in right now. So whoever on the Cadre team who chose trans transitions for this week in particular got it right because there are back to school transitions. There's, you know, the schedules kind of filling up in September and October after maybe your last hurrah on a summer weekend away or Labor Day.

And there's also just what I think is a beautiful thing in Minnesota and if you live in other areas of the country that have more extreme seasons is we get to experience that. We get to, we get to move into fall. Yeah. So before we get started with the real heart of the conversation. Hi Upday. This is what I'm going to be drinking today. So this is a non alcoholic botanical. This has zero calories, which I still don't even get how they do that. It's the botanicals come from South Africa, but the manufacturer of this is in San Francisco and her name is Renwei Chang and the Instagram handle is Abstinence Spirits.

And this one in particular is a Cape Spice. So I believe they have Five different varieties now of botanicals. And for this one, I simply mix it with a little bit of club soda. It doesn't look super colorful or fancy, but the taste is very, I was gonna say refreshing, but that's not it. It is. It's got some depth to it. It's got some spice in here. Allspice, cassia bark, honeybush, cardamom, coriander, clove and orange peel. So we can imagine what that tastes like. That's what I'm experiencing. I'm savoring it.

So savor, savoring the taste of, you know, something special during this sober, not somber hour that is not alcoholic. Yeah. So transitioning into content for today, I am thinking about transition in two ways. And I'm going to ask you to drop in the chat. You know, either where you're, you're coming in from today. Is it Minneapolis? Is it elsewhere? I'd love to hear. And any transitions in your life that you're experiencing. Just a word or two, a phrase, maybe a job transition, a good transition that you're excited about, or maybe a hard transition.

So today, and for those listening after the live recording, I am kind of prompting the conversation and the thought around transitions as being forced upon us and how those feel versus transitions that are intentional and maybe are just a change that's rising up with intentionality and we're moving it forward, choosing to move it forward. So part of what we also do in the Cadre sphere is we talk about these subjects, but we also storytell. And my story that I want to share around transitions today is one of a transition that was rather forced upon me with a relationship ending about four or five weeks ago and a transition that I wasn't expecting and didn't really see coming at the same time.

That one transition in that area of my life, that change forced me to think about some intentional transitions I could make in other areas. And if you've ever noticed, change to me always seems to come in at least three. For example, you get a new job, you move, you decide you want to own a dog, and you got three major new things at once. And it, it is like, it marks timelines and significant points in your life. Like if you think back to how did we navigate change? So I always, I think about Recovery and my 11 year recovery journey in this too, and how some of those forced transitions while in addiction would have set me off drinking, like, just been like, I can't handle this.

I want to sort of maintain my status quo. I don't want things to change. I can't accept that things are changing. And so, you know, alcohol became a source to kind of numb that idea of change because it can be painful. And so I have been thinking about, you know, that forced change that came, you know, with no control of mine, of my own. And what it led to. And what I want to share with you is a reflection at that point as to all of the things that were on my list that I maybe wanted to do but have been putting off.

And this transition out of a relationship opened up all sorts of new ideas and thoughts for me to take action on. And there was just no resistance, nothing getting in the way of visioning, for example, my career or my living situation or my relationships with friends, family, and a significant other. Maybe in the future, like, I can re envision all of that through transition. And while sometimes being in the transition is really messy and it sucks, I'm feeling that heavily. And I. I really don't like the phrase of, you know, just get through it.

I don't like to think of any day in my life as just kind of getting through it, but there is that sense. I don't know if any of you have experienced that, but I'm somewhere in between that, trying to not rush through these days because I know the only thing that heals in relationship breakups is time. Like, some of these changes are only solved through time. So I have the head, the tendency over the last month to just be like, hurry up and kind of get to a point where I don't feel the pain of transition.

And yet trying to savor what this actually means, because it's burning stuff to the ground, it's reinventing, it's building resilience. And one of the most powerful things I've started doing again is daily, like, writing and reflecting, like, what are my thoughts during this transition time and how much does it suck? And I know from past experience that I can go back to this time in my life and be like, I really showed up for myself. I was really brave. I worked through some really uncomfortable and hard feelings, but I somehow survived and I'm in a better place.

So this is like me envisioning my future self, reflecting back on this time. And I think that's just all the ebb and flow of what we all experience in so many areas. Like, I did feel months ago, like I was in this really great, kind of more even, even flow place in my life today is not that. It's not that. And I'm doing things to savor that one of the main things that I'm thinking about is freedom. So even though the transition has sort of sorry about that, has sort of shut that down, I am still able to really relish in the idea that I can create my own life.

My kids are off to college, recently divorced two years ago just out of a relationship in a temporary kind of housing situation. So there's a lot that can be re envisioned for a transition, many transitions. So I am just wishing you all well as you kind of think about what's possible in your life and being able to kind of savor these harder times in transition and knowing that they will lead to better things and brighter days. So oh, just a quick note as I close out Northup saunas at the State Fair, I'm going back there and we'll also be trying some NA beverages.

As I mentioned before, transitioning into fall fully. So that wraps August and all of the savoring that's possible. And I look forward to coming at you September 2nd day after labor Day will be the next time check in with you. Hope you have a great rest of the day. Tuesday and na. Cheers.