HeyJaredJEM and the first year of non drinking
JEM, a published author, deputy public defender and podcaster, starts her biggest adventure to date: getting sober.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 33
- Latest publication
- Oct 1, 2026
- Audience
- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Sep 6, 2026
Latest issues
Punk (opens the original)
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I always thought sobriety was so not punk. But the more you get into working on yourself, you see that it is actually the epitome, and not the antithesis, of punk. I watched a documentary about Travis Barker from Blink 182 called Louder than Fear last night, and it fucking blew me away. I knew he was from the IE, specifically Fontana. I grew up in Ontario, I live in San Bernardino. He left for bigger things. I did too. He suffered so much. His story to me, and the purpose of his epic, brilliant
Complacent... not (opens the original)
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The program is constantly reminding us not to get complacent. But I don't feel like I'm complacent at all. I’m just overwhelmed and underwater. I’m treading water. Trying to stay afloat. Many people in sobriety need to do more. I need to do less. I need to pull back. I need to give less. I’m a chronic over achiever. Over giver. Over doer. Over concerned. And now I am. Over over over it. I'm starting to put myself first. I’m starting to see I am important. My wants. My needs. My desires. I know t
Barking (opens the original)
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My twin sis asked me yesterday if being a lawyer, even more specifically perhaps, a deputy public defender, has impacted my relationships outside of work.I replied, “Of course, but I try not to use my lawyer voice anymore on people.” I don't always succeed and sometimes I'll find myself getting confrontational for no reason outside of work. You see, public defense is antagonistic by nature. Yet, I've mellowed out. It's age. Doing it 18 plus years, you realize you often get more with sugar. When
The runaway (opens the original)
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So I have a fiction YA story I just submitted to my fiction workshop. It’s about running away. I’ve been running my whole life.Ontario to LA to Houston to San Francisco then back home to the Inland Empire which is the antithesis of an empire. But it’s home. I tap my feet together three times. Here I sit. On a futon with my two shih tzus in San Bernardino staring up at the ceiling. I’m turning 55 on October 7th. I’m feeling my mortality. Truly. Awfully. Adverbly. I try not to bolt anymore. I try
Letting it just be (opens the original)
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I don't always feel appreciated. For who I am and for all I do. But does anyone?I heard this very intimate interview of Sylvester Stallone recently on the NY Times’ Podcast “The Daily”. He had a very traumatic childhood. He wrote “Rocky” at thirty and insisted on starring in it. His whole life changed. He’s eighty and said that he just started learning to truly love in his seventies. I don't want to wait that long. Chasing success is a losing game, and it is never enough. It won’t keep you warm
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