E28: TOLWM + Andrea Dratch x Shootin' Straight Sh*t on Sobriety, Self-Love

Think Out Loud With Me

I woke up with drinking on my mind. Not in the ‘I need a drink’ kind of way, but in the ‘wow, who was I when I drank, what was I hiding from, how did I survive myself, where did alcoholism start in my family…’ you know, the thoughts a lot of sober people have who are still shaking their heads, even after years of not drinking. When I talk about drinking, I talk about my own experience. I talk about my parents and their parents and how alcoholism ran on both sides of my family. I talk about how drinking was a severe problem for me, how I used it to deal with anxiety, how it fueled my anxiety, how it created anxiety in others…though I spent the first year or so of sobriety wondering how ANYONE in their right mind would ever drink, I’ve since concerned myself less with other people’s use of alcohol and concentrated on my own.
I don’t stand in judgment of people who drink. Have I wondered if people have a problem with drinking? Sure. Do I continue to process my parents’ relationship with alcohol and how it affected me and my family? Yes. Does society’s obsession with alcohol concern me? Absolutely. But I choose to share my story and thoughts around drinking and addiction and related topics with others as a method of connection, not condemnation.

I speak up for my own mental health with the hope that just one person will hear that they are worth every bit of strength they have to muster to not pick up the bottle.
So, I hollered at someone I trust to shoot the sh*t straight with me, to talk sobriety without a filter. Andrea Dratch is an actor, producer, model, performer, muse, and, though she doesn’t list this in her bio, incredible influence as a woman stepping into her voice, her body, and her power. She trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, and her remarkable talents can be seen in Tina Tina Bo Bina, Small Town Remedies, Reed Gig, Womanhood The Series, Saturn Rising, and Crash and Burn Stories. Here in Colorado, we see her gorgeous face as the spokeswoman for Woodley’s Fine Furniture, her family’s business since 1979. She’s raw, she’s authentic, and she’s a serious badass.
Listen in for an extended episode of conversation. We spend a chunk on being sober in a world of glorified drinking, and we also spend time exploring Andrea's close relationship with her artist sister, Jacquelynn Perkins, who is hosting a solo show beginning April 12 at Artworks Center for Contemporary Art in Loveland and sharing with the world for the first time her Animal Bodies, which includes Self Portraits of My Sisters, as well as a live performance by Andrea as she introduces her own latest work, Shame on Me, a short film done in collaboration with Andy Carrasco.
More on Andrea: IMDb, Instagram, Facebook
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