Hi there. I’m Kristi Coulter, author of “Enjoli,” Nothing Good Can Come from This, and a bunch of other stuff you may or may not have read. I live in Seattle, where I’m at work on Exit Interview, a memoir about gender, ambition, and my decade as an executive at Amazon.com.
I started Off-Dry anonymously in 2013, when I was just a few weeks sober, and though my life has expanded crazily in all directions since then (thanks largely to sobriety) and I don’t update as often as I used to, I do still post when I’ve got something to say that I think might be of use to others who are finding their sober feet. (Which could be almost anyone–I’ll hit seven years in June and sometimes I’m still finding my sober feet.) Welcome, and enjoy.
Off-Dry 
How can I sign up for your blog or do I just come here and read it?
Hi there! You can just swing by and read it. (I don’t have a subscribe-for-notification option yet, though maybe I should think about one.) Thanks for your interest. 🙂 Kristi
Hi Kristi. I LOVE your blog. Formthe last week I’ve been reading blogs on sobriety and want to be there too. I saw you mentioned somewhere in your blog about hypnotherapy. Did it not work? I was seriosly considering it and hope it would work. Can you amke a post or reply and let me know your thoughts on this.
On another note…. A subscribe thing would be awesome. Don’t know how to “follow” you yet 😱 But would love to. Hugs from Switzerland.
Hi Jen, I’m so glad you enjoy the blog! I did try hypnotherapy when I was trying to be a moderate drinker and it didn’t work. But honestly, I also didn’t try very hard. I think I wanted the hypnotherapy to be like magic, but that’s just not the deal, sadly. 🙂 You might try it anyway–it’s very relaxing if nothing else! Hugs to you on your trip to sobriety and yes, I will work on the subscription option! Kristi
Hi Kristi. I’m really enjoying your blog. You mentioned following some other sober-bloggers; do you have those listed somewhere on your site? I’d be curious to check some of them out. Thanks!
I got introduced to you from a Facebook post by a friend with similar interests. Seeing as you had this thing wired together based on days of sobriety and that I always, always have to try quick and easy before serious effort; I Googled a date duration website and had it calc up the days in my own adventure. This is what it came up with:
From and including: Thursday, March 7, 1991
To and including: Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Result: 9303 days
It is 9303 days from the start date to the end date, end date included
Or 25 years, 5 months, 18 days including the end date
Made me stop and think, like really full stop and think it through…. the adventure hasn’t been about all those days so much as it has been about taking a moment each day to release the anger over what was and what wasn’t…. I would have to say it has simmered down to a routine level of annoyance as opposed to remaining at levels of real, heart corroding, liver eating, stomach dissolving, rage which is the origin of so much positive drive and creation as well as the obvious destruction. As twisted as that seems, it is the same double edged sword that so many in this adventure carry for the simple reason that it’s to hard to put down. The source of the best and most sustainable energy and drive in your creative life is also the origin of all your very own destruction and so it’s seems after all these days that’s the stage upon which the battle is won or lost for me. Capture the energy without burning the soul and charring the body, enjoy the intellectual and physical creativity without corrosion. Prolly put too much out there for this comment space, but sometimes one is just compelled…… Thanks for making an entertaining space.
I can so relate to this! Looking forward to reading more and getting ‘there’ myself.
Hi, Kristi. First of all, you are a much better writer than Ms. Caplan-Bricker, so yeah, fuck Slate. What I enjoyed most about your essay is that you have a voice as clear as a bell with the obvious guts to go with it — which is why you have struck a nerve with me. I wish you well and look forward to following your work!
Kristi: You probably don’t need to hear this, but: I’m proud you chose to be sober and I’m glad you share your experiences and observations with the rest of us. A clear thinker in a mad world. KEEP IT UP. I know a lot of people who shared your Quartz article on Why women drink. Excellent btw!
Thank you, Kristi! I’m in a difficult moment on my sober journey, with roaring urges to drink every single day this past week. Your essay cut through my denial when I read it yesterday. Your post about your way-better and way-worse heart cut through it today. Thank you so much for what you do and for sharing it like this. My “specialness” doesn’t like the calling-out, but all the rest of me is grateful.
Hannah
I found you in my new Glamour magazine this evening. I am so excited to start following your blog on my 208th day of sobriety! !
Thank you, I am navigating college 2.5 years sober and It can feel isolating. Your story reminds me successful women are sober to and I can navigate the social world with a club soda and lime in my hand.
I know some college-aged/twenty-something sober women, and it sure does present an extra set of challenges. (I didn’t start drinking addictively till my mid-30s, but I definitely did plenty of drinking/minor drugging in school.) My hat is off to you and other young sober people who are making it work! As you get older, I suspect it’ll feel less isolating because friends will have careers, kids, etc. and most of them will naturally start drinking less. (Then it’ll only be the addicts who are drinking the same way at 35 that they did at 20. :-))
I started listening to your audiobook a couple of months ago and then stopped because…well, it resonated with me. I continued through the holidays in my usual fashion, numbing myself with alcohol and wondering why all the headaches and stomachaches. About 11 days ago I decided to see how I’d feel without the alcohol that has slowly become my obsession. I listened to your book again and felt tears in my eyes. I just turned 60 and am ready to give it a shot, but not the kind I’m used to giving it :). So glad I stumbled upon your book and this blog! I love your sense of humor and willingness to expose all the raw edges.
hello Off-Dry. Do you still check this blog?