Meet Melissa & My Why

You’re probably here because you cannot fathom going to AA Meetings & calling yourself an “Alcoholic”.  That was ME.

I knew the “AA Way”.  I became familiar with it when my mother ‘joined’ in the 1980’s . I went to meetings with her and sat there as a young teenager listening to the STORIES of shame, guilt, powerlessness, punishment. 

It wasn’t working sustainably for most of the members who were required to “keep comin’ back’ and admitting to their endless faults and flaws.  I was dumbfounded at the Vibe. And I was privy to the rules and limiting notions of what ‘SOBRIETY’ meant.

But at my Rock Bottom … as I wasted another beautiful Sunday hungover and binge-watching movies on the couch feeling deflated, depressed, tired, sick, anxious and FED UP ~ I decided to go to an AA Meeting. I thought that was what I was supposed to do.

I went to several  more - trying different neighborhoods as well as online groups - but the theme was always the same.  Powerlessness.  Shame. Endless Sob Stories…. And the audacious comment that catapulted me into creating this platform was, "Why won’t you say Your an Alcoholic…if you don’t admit to your powerlessness you’ll go back to drinking”.

The other thing I did was scour YouTube and the Internet for HOPEFUL stories. I was looking for other that were living a LIfe of FREEDOM from Alcohol, not just an existence of being SOBER. Inspiration. Fun. WOMEN who were still LIVING and Having FUN. It was difficult and pretty non-existent.

And  that’s how Journey Out of the Bottle was born.