SHAIR 74: "I Swear I'll Make It Up to You" with Mishka Shubaly, A Life on the Low Road.SHAIR 74: "I Swear I'll Make It Up to You" with Mishka Shubaly, A Life on the Low Road.
The SHAIR Recovery Podcast
Omar Pinto talks with Mishka Shubaly about quitting alcohol and opiates without traditional programmes, and building a new life through running, writing and family. Their conversation highlights non‑religious recovery, messy family history and the daily mindset Mishka uses to stay sober on the road.
1:25:11•12 Jul 2016
A Life on the Low Road: Mishka Shubaly’s Wild Route to Sobriety
Episode Overview
- Stopping drinking is the first step; what comes next is intentionally filling life with meaningful activities like running, writing and relationships.
- Clarity about where that “first drink” leads helps counter romantic memories of alcohol and strengthens the decision to stay sober.
- Writing things down can be a powerful way to hold yourself accountable and to understand your own story more clearly.
- Forgiveness of family can grow from greater understanding of their history and pain, rather than from forcing yourself to “let go.”
- Routines help, but long‑term sobriety also means knowing who you’ll be when routines fail and life becomes chaotic.
“"You just got to get it right in your head that, you know, clarity. Just no matter what happens today, nothing in the world can make me drink."”
What makes a recovery story truly inspiring? For many, it’s brutal honesty, dark humour, and a refusal to sugar-coat anything – and that’s exactly what comes through as Omar Pinto chats with writer, musician and ultra runner Mishka Shubaly. A quick warning from Omar sets the tone: Mishka hasn’t used any traditional 12-step programme and doesn’t attend meetings. He quit alcohol and opiates after they almost killed him, then rebuilt his life in a very unconventional way.
If you’re open to hearing a different path to sobriety, you’ll get a lot from this conversation. Mishka talks about stopping drinking first and then filling the empty space with running, writing, therapy and repairing relationships. He’s clear that he didn’t "swap" one addiction for another, saying he had to "break the spell" of alcohol and then consciously add things like ultra running, creative work and family back into his life. Family plays a huge role in his story.
Mishka shares the weight of promising his mum as a teenager that he’d “make it up” to her after watching their home and stability fall apart, and how, years later, he used his writing income to buy her a house. He also opens up about years of anger towards his dad, how reading a hidden document exposed his father’s own childhood trauma, and how that slowly shifted rage into reluctant understanding.
This episode also touches on non‑religious recovery, the limits of social media as support, life on the road as a sober musician and the power of writing things down to hold yourself accountable. Mishka sums up his approach with one unforgettable line: "I can't breathe underwater. I can't fly through the air like a bird. I can't drink.
I can't do them." If you’ve ever wondered whether a non‑traditional path can still lead to meaningful sobriety, this conversation might get you asking new questions about your own journey.
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