Of Baking and Addiction

Finding a replacement for alcohol and becoming more productive

Andy Spears
2 min readDec 5, 2023
Photo by Nadya Spetnitskaya on Unsplash

I’ve written some about my struggles with alcohol use.

I’ve found that writing about this truth from my past helps me process — and reminds me why alcohol is no longer a part of my life.

One lesson many in early recovery learn is that after you stop using your preferred substance, you have tons of free time.

It’s amazing how much time was spent acquiring alcohol, drinking, being tired or checked out from drinking, feeling sick, planning the next opportunity to drink, etc.

Now, you have time.

Now, you need to fill that time.

Reading has always been something I enjoyed. Watching Netflix and remembering the shows is nice.

But.

There’s still more time.

I’ve always loved to cook and bake, so after giving up alcohol, I got more into that hobby.

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Andy Spears

Writer and policy advocate living in Nashville, TN —Public Policy Ph.D. — writes on education policy, consumer affairs, and more . . .