We made it 10 days! Congratulations. Double digits here we come. How do you feel? How is your commitment to your tiny habit going? Are you being kind to yourself?
Most importantly—are you having fun?
My entire personality was so tied up with drinking and smoking weed I had no idea how to do anything without either one of those substances. When I quit drinking, I was convinced I’d never write again, dance again, be able to endure small talk again or laugh again. And although I’ve never recovered my ability to endure small talk, I do all the other things with even more regularity and it comes from such a pure place in my heart. When I quit smoking weed—I resigned myself to the fact that I just wasn’t that funny. Although I might not be as funny as I thought when I was high, I have commit myself to doing the fucking work and learning how to actually craft a joke. Shocking, I know.
Turns out, booze and weed were hindering my clarity and ability. It’s not a coincidence that after decades of trying to get paid for my writing about a year and a half into getting sober I sold my first freelance piece to a major publication.
Someone said to me in early sobriety, “If you’re not enjoying your sobriety, it’s your own damn fault.” And I love that. It’s true. I was feeling sorry for myself, taking myself too seriously and mourning the loud party girl that I used to be.
Party Girl Bridget is gone—but in her place is Silly Bridget. The belly laughs are genuine.
It’s Saturday. Put on some music. Blast it and dance. Be silly. Jump around. Feel stupid and awkward. Laugh. Let your inhibitions go and enjoy being in your body, today, breathing.
We are just passing through. A tiny grain of sand on the beach of humanity; here one minute and washed away. Relish in this moment. And dance.
The time has come, Pham!! It’s officially the end of our Locals era. This means that starting now, all of our content will be centralized over at Substack and not Locals.
As you can probably see, my life is getting increasingly more bonkers, in the best possible way--but that means dividing my time between two subscriber platforms is no longer sustainable. Consolidating all of the Pham in one place will make it possible to give you more of the focused attention you deserve.
Don’t panic.
Locals is where it all began so the move is bittersweet. I have made lifelong friends here. We’ve done writing prompts together. Worked ...
Hello new followers, I hope I don’t disappoint you. I want this place to feel like home, where we can escape the Thunderdome and process the world. Where we can post dog pics and recipes and book recommendations. Where we support each other as we get sober, lose weight, embark on new business opportunities, creative endeavors, relationships and travels. I want this to be your oasis of sanity and laughter in an increasingly mad world. A creative outlet where you can share your spirit with us.
We might not have any control over the news cycle—but we can control our habits and attitude. It all starts with us. And hopefully a little piece of that will start here.
Pham, I know it’s late for some of us, but I haven’t had a song in my brain in a bit. So, here’s one of my favorite poems instead.
Poem of the Evening💙
“Come live with me and be my love.”
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44675/the-passionate-shepherd-to-his-love
(Sorry for the delay on this prompt—life happened.)
The writing prompts are back! And since everyone is talking about "what is a woman?" I thought we should dig into our Factory Settings and find out what we learned about this stuff.
