Unconditional Hope and Wimsy with S.J. Tucker (Retrieving Sanity Final Episode)

Unconditional Hope and Wimsy with S.J. Tucker (Retrieving Sanity Final Episode)

What can we learn from those who have battled addiction? This finale of Retrieving Sanity leans into that question with indie musician and storyteller S.J. Tucker, blending recovery, mental health, magic and a lot of playful weirdness. A recovering alcoholic host, Keegan, sits down with S.J., who has spent over two decades as a fiercely independent artist.

She talks about growing up surrounded by love and music, losing her father, and realising her deepest advantage in life: “I have never woken up a day of my life not knowing that there is someone else on this planet who loves me.” From there, she explains how that love fuels her mission “to be part of the hope that we’ve still got.” You’ll hear S.J.

reflect on survival, depression, anxiety and the terror of almost losing her guitar-playing hands and her singing voice. Voice therapy, joint pain and perfectionism all show up, but so does a gentle, hard-earned truth: even on days she doesn’t like her voice, she still loves her job and refuses to quit. For anyone in recovery, that sounds a lot like staying sober when everything in you wants to give up.

There’s plenty of whimsy too: mermaid certification as a “weird Covid hobby”, fire spinning, pagan festivals, and music inspired by fantasy author Catherynne M. Valente. Yet S.J. keeps tying it back to resilience and sobriety-friendly wisdom: stay flexible or you’ll “miss out on a ton of amazing things”, remember that “no one has a perfect voice”, and cling to what she calls “unconditional hope” when life feels like “being in the goo” between caterpillar and butterfly.

If you’re craving a conversation that holds both sorrow and silliness, grief and magic, this one asks you to consider: what would unconditional hope look like in your recovery today?