Red Kites Life

I've been thinking about this for some time and I've finally come to the conclusion that my experience as "sober warrior" can help other "sober curious" individuals on their journey, whether that involves simply exploring the alcohol free lifestyle ("sober curious") or completely embracing life alcohol free ("sober committed").  The thing is, it's a journey. So many times I read people writing that they have "failed Dry January". The F word deserves a blog all of its own ... watch this space! But like all journeys, sometimes we take a wrong turn (occasionally our choice, occasionally persuaded by others). Sometimes we just can't summon the energy to progress today. Sometimes life intervenes and all our best plans are thrown to the wind.  It's also like babies learning to walk. No-one ever accused a baby of "failing" for falling over. We encourage them to get back up and try again. And each time they fall, t...

Spoiler alert : There's a reason why this blog is not accompanied by a picture.  Back in the day I worked in financial services. Ads for pension products were always accompanied by happy couples, mostly grey-haired, wearing white capri pants, strolling along a sandy beach, hand in hand, and evidently very happy with one another and their situation in life.  Illustrations of advisers almost always showed male advisers talking to couples, but clearly engaging with the male of the always heterosexual almost always white couple. As a single woman it was very easy to feel that product providers and advisers really weren't on the same wavelength.  Adviser firms used to (and still do) frame "the ideal client" in terms of business owners, those approaching retirement, widows or those who had recently come into an inheritance or other "sudden money" situation, including big City bonuses (those were the days!). Basically, I'm interested in you if you're rich a...