What Do You Mean by Sober? Freak-quently Asked Questions Part 2

Part two to Freak-quently Asked Questions, the series where I expand on the most common and loaded questions people are most curious about.

"Be curious, not judgmental" - Ted Lasso (and maybe Walt Whitman...)

What do you mean by sober? 

When we are talking about sobriety we are specifically focused on alcohol. Our mission is mental health awareness and harm reduction.

1 in 4 people who take their life have alcohol in their system. I found this out 3 months into my journey when I was writing a Facebook post about why I stopped drinking (hint: I was suicidal).

There are people in our organization, including founding board members, who are what we call Tee-totally Awesome, meaning they are just raw-dogging life. No alcohol, no THC, no nicotine, no SSRI’s, no stimulants, nothing.

While I have also been Tee-totally Awesome a couple times, I still believe there is no right way. Each person’s healing journey is unique. It’s also not linear. What work for someone today might make them go into a total tizzy next week. Our bodies and our energies are in a constant state of transformation. Our goal is to come into the divine light that exists in each one of us, and that alcohol tries its best to extinguish.

For me personally, I have found Spicy Sober (aka Cali Sober) is the best way to describe a lot of our members. We believe in whatever works for you! We assume you are being honest with yourself and anyways; who are we to judge. Do what makes you happy and want to live. A lot of people in our organization, including founding board members, found micro-dosing psilocybin and using THC to be helpful tools in stopping drinking (and smoking cigarettes!). 

Even if you are still drinking alcohol and do not consider yourself an alcoholic, you are still welcome to our events and excursions. We just ask that you are totally sober from alcohol during the event, please do not come to the event having drank (even just one!). A lot of what our spaces provide is solace away from the energy that comes when people have alcohol in their system. For our group members who are sober from alcohol all of the time, it’s also a refreshing experience to not be ‘othered’ just because you don’t drink (for whatever reason that may be).

This is a question that sits under the surface and I feel like people are a little scared to ask sometimes. Sobriety is inherently taboo and stopping drinking is pretty radical. I commend you for testing the boundaries of what society says is and isn’t acceptable. Whatever shade of sobriety you try, its bound to be better than the boozey blush we were told is ever so chic. 

Make your own rules super star. You deserve to shine as bright as your soul can muster! I hope you surprise yourself on how luminous you really are when you don’t hold back. 

With Love, 

Hollis Rose, 

Founder Sober Sojourn 

Source:

“Alcohol-Related Emergencies and Deaths in the United States.” National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohols-effects-health/alcohol-topics-z/alcohol-facts-and-statistics/alcohol-related-emergencies-and-deaths-united-states. Accessed 3 Feb. 2026.