Episode Description
On the podcast “Recovery, the whole enchilada,” host Peg McDermott and co-host Heather Hageman discuss springtime “new beginnings” in sobriety and how recovery widens a life that became small during drinking.
Heather shares rediscovering childhood joys like pressing wild violets, making herbs, salves, lavender eye pillows, and rebuilding creativity after alcohol.
Peg reflects on sports and outdoor play, how softball became strongly tied to drinking, and how sobriety required finding identity, leisure, and safe hobbies that reduce anxiety and support self-esteem.
They emphasize replacing drinking-centered downtime with sober fun—intuitive painting, golf, pickleball, bowling, dance classes, music, audiobooks, volunteering, gardening, and travel—without pressure to master skills. They encourage patience, saying yes more, using recovery tools, and enjoying life’s pace, with bucket-list plans like a Rhine River Christmas cruise, concerts, Ireland, and Europe.
00:00 Welcome to the Podcast
00:28 Springtime New Beginnings
01:22 Rediscovering Childhood Magic
03:44 Sports Identity and Drinking
07:44 Finding Fun in Recovery
10:35 Sober Creativity Returns
13:48 Bucket List Joy and Play
15:00 Relearning Fun Without Alcohol
20:55 Try New Things Gently
23:31 Dream Trips and Saying Yes
27:28 Slow Living and Ireland Plans
29:26 Closing Thoughts and Farewell