Before alcohol… there was something else driving me.

The need to be seen.

This Sunday bonus is a short preview of this week’s episode — where that need led me, and what it nearly cost me.

Friendship isn’t always what it looks like on the surface. Sometimes we build friendships around the wrong things — the wrong comfort, the wrong habits, the wrong kind of silence. In this episode, I talk about the friendship I formed with addiction, how it became my escape, my constant, and eventually the thing that nearly took my life.

I share the moment everything changed: the coma, the machines, and the four months in a hospital bed that forced me to face the truth I’d been avoiding. This episode is about denial, courage, and the kind of wake‑up call you don’t forget. Sobriety isn’t handed to you — it’s something you choose, again and again.

If you’ve ever held onto something that was destroying you because it felt familiar, this one might land close to home.

What happens when the thing hurting you feels like the only thing there for you?

In this short bonus, I share a moment that changed how I saw addiction — not as an enemy, but as something that once felt like a friend. This Wednesday’s episode tells the full story.

In this episode, I explore the kind of loneliness that doesn’t come from being alone, but from the stories we tell ourselves about who we are and what we deserve. During the stillness of recovery, I began to see that loneliness wasn’t my home — it was the place I’d been hiding.

This episode looks at how loneliness shows up in addiction, in silence, in pressure, and in the moments when we feel unseen. And it’s about what happens when we finally sit with ourselves long enough for wisdom to rise.

A reminder for anyone listening: you’re not broken. You’re human. And connection begins within.

A short Sunday night reminder that loneliness isn’t always about who’s around you — sometimes it’s the story your mind keeps repeating. Take a breath tonight. Episode 14 arrives on Wednesday.

Before you listen to the rest of this podcast, I wanted to share a bit about who I am and why I do this.

This isn’t built on theory or something I studied — it’s built on lived experience with anxiety, addiction, and everything that comes with it.

I’m not here because I’ve figured everything out.

I’m here because I haven’t.

And this podcast is just me sharing what I’ve learned along the way — in the hope that something in it helps you the way it’s helped me.

In this episode, I return to the early weeks of my hospital stay — a time when everything I used to rely on was stripped away. With no routines, no escape, and nowhere left to hide, loneliness hit harder than ever. But in that exposed place, something unexpected happened: real connection began to break through.

From the doctors and nurses who showed up without judgment, to the family who travelled hours every weekend, to the quiet strength of my wife at my bedside — this is the story of how companionship found me when I could no longer outrun myself.

Part 2 of the loneliness series.

This is where everything changed.

Full episode drops Wednesday. Follow so you don’t miss it.