The Share Shed: Writing Competition Entries

The Share Shed: Writing Competition Entries

What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? This Share Shed special hands the mic to Kimberley, whose "drinking career" stretches from a booze-soaked childhood in rural Australia to a fragile but hopeful early sobriety. Vic reads Kimberley’s competition entry with warmth and humour, setting the tone for a story that’s honest, messy and very human.

Growing up with a dad who was "paralytic" after the footy and terrifying bath-time binges, you’d expect alcohol to be the last thing Kimberley wanted. Instead, she starts drinking at 14, becomes "the life of every party", and carries that badge of honour through chaotic London house-shares and big nights that roll straight into work the next morning. Kimberley’s drinking doesn’t pause even when life becomes deeply serious.

She recalls going to a party when her baby was six weeks old and the next day "pumping breast milk so she wouldn't be fed traces of alcohol and cocaine"—a line she admits now fills her with sadness. The episode then moves through her ex-husband’s multiple cancer diagnoses, COVID-era isolation, and the way alcohol became daily survival during aggression and coercive control at home.

The turning point comes when she meets someone who hardly drinks and shows her that life can be "calm, present, and freeing" without booze. "Today, I'm 46 days sober," she writes, "and for the first time in a very long time, I feel genuinely proud of myself, and more than that, I feel hopeful." Vic’s reaction is full of encouragement, and a light-hearted chat with Hamish about her comedy memoir keeps the tone from ever feeling too heavy.

If you’re sober curious, exhausted by hangovers, or simply wondering whether alcohol has taken up too much space in your life, this story might have you asking: what could your next 46 days look like?