This week, my husband and I celebrated the one year anniversary of Daily Dose of Dr Marry & DD, the weekday livestream we do around addiction, sobriety and our joyful journey to where we are today. In so many ways, Daily Dose has been extraordinary: we had conversations with more than 40 truly incredible and generous people who shared their own hard stories on #guestThursday. We talked about insights from seemingly insignificant or unlikely snippets of books and blog posts, random TED talks, Medium articles and more. We made nearly 10 fun, NA drinks and introduced people to a bunch of local ceramicists through our #mugsofdailydose hashtag.
There were mornings we were bickering right up to the “3-2-1…Good morning!” There were plenty of mornings where we had no topic at 8:15 and were scrambling to come up with a kernel of something for our 8:30 start time. I cried…often, including even yesterday! Some of these conversations have been hard. Some have unexpectedly asked us to be vulnerable, and we’ve both had to face, head on, some personal demons, struggles and failures, past and present. And we’ve done it live, for anyone in the world to watch.
But you know what’s been the most extraordinary thing for me? Despite the seriousness of the topic and the challenge of many of the conversations, I laughed even more. There’s been such joy in doing the work of simply showing up. I’ve learned profound insights about Dr Marry, myself and our marriage that I never would’ve learned had we not committed to showing up and talking five days a week.
We had no real plan when we went live July 14, 2020. We knew we wanted to stay focused on content around addiction and sobriety for no more than 15 minutes, and we committed to creating 100 episodes. We hit “Start live video,” and away we went.
I have lots of hopes and dreams for Daily Dose. We know it’s making a difference for some people because they’ve reached out to tell us it is. That’s glorious, and I’m humbled to know that we have played a role in others’ sobriety journey. But I want so much more for it.
If we went back and analyzed all the episodes of this last year, I’d bet “shame” is the most used word. I want Daily Dose to grow its reach because shame is such an awful place to live. Dr Marry and I were both residents there for many years, and we know exactly how damaging that address is. The interesting thing about Shameville is that it’s not just for addicts and their families. This mega city is populated by overeaters and obsessive exercisers, gamblers and shoppers, adulterers and virgins, Christians, Jews, Muslims, pagans, atheists and those who are loathe to claim any religious title. Those with too much money and those who don’t make enough live side by side. Parents who know they failed their children, and children who see how their parents failed them ride the elevator together in their apartment complex. I dare you to find me a person who doesn’t live with some kind of shame. I don’t believe it can be done.
Addiction and Sobriety is simply the theme Dr Marry and I chose to underpin our conversations. At its core, Daily Dose is for anyone who’s struggling with the complexity of being alive. These conversations, our willingness to be open and honest, to wrestle with hard ideas and to work our way through them in the moment is valuable because we’ve created a quick, safe space that invites people to consider these ideas in their own lives, free of judgment and with the understanding that there’s never only one right answer or path.
I’m proud of this past year, the content and the way we showed up day after day after day. It certainly hasn’t all been easy, but it’s all been so worthwhile for us. That others are finding hope and healing from it is is incredibly moving to Dr Marry and me. If you’ve been on any part of this journey with us, thank you. Whether you watch every day or tune in only periodically, we appreciate you and your support. We don’t know what the next phase of Daily Dose will be. We’re finishing out the month of July with regular content, and then we’re taking the month of August off to do research into what the next steps can and should be. We’re hopeful we’ll be back in September with a more robust plan for growth.
Here’s to everyone who struggles with any aspect of stepping out of the black hole of shame and into the light of acceptance, joy and the renewed sense that there is another path. We’re here on the journey with you, and you are absolutely not alone.
