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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Stop Drinking Podcast, where we help
you make stopping drinking asimple, logical and easy
decision.
We help you with tips, toolsand strategies to start living
your best life when alcohol-free.
If you want to learn more aboutstop drinking coaching, then
head over to wwwsoberclearcom.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
It was a men's group.
It was when I first was gettingsober Difficult time.
I needed rebooting, I needed towake the f*** up in some areas
and it just meant a lot to mewhen I've stepped f***ed it.
I'm pretty good at takingresponsibility for it, and
owning up to it, getting my armsaround it pretty quickly and
really, yeah, it became a thingfor me.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
It was really like something I'd look forward.
Request to you know what do Ido with this?
How can I write this and makesure it doesn't happen again?
Or just be better, Be better.
So we've got some brand newcontent that's just come out
from Brad Pitt, where he'stalking about his journey not
drinking alcohol.
Brad Pitt does go to AlcoholicsAnonymous.
He mentions this in theinterview.
I do feel like they kind offorced the content out of him.
He didn't really want to openup too much, but we did get some
good stuff and it's brand newstuff.
So let's see what Brad Pitt hasto say about stopping drinking
alcohol.
There's still loads that we cantake away from this.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
When you first get there, are you thinking like
when it's going around.
Are you thinking are peoplegoing to talk about?
Speaker 1 (01:14):
me.
So they're talking here aboutAlcoholics Anonymous.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I've heard of stories where, like Philip Seymour
Hoffman, went to one and someonevideoed it and put it out.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Yeah, see, that's scary.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
But I'd been assured by another friend this was a
safe place.
I'm like, I mean, I am astubborn fuck, but I am also.
When I've stepped in shit, I'mpretty good at taking
responsibility for it and owningup to it.
And now it's a quest to youknow, what do I do with this?
How can I write this and makesure it doesn't happen again?
Or I just Be better.
Yeah, be better.
So I was really open to thatand I was really open to see
(01:43):
what these guys were doing, whohad their thing and been there
for a while.
Sure, I was a bit shy I'mgenerally be a bit shy in any
kind of situation first but Idon't know, I just remember
getting my arms around it prettyquickly and really, yeah, it
became a thing for me.
It was really like somethingI'd look forward to.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
The interesting thing here.
He just said that he was at aplace where he didn't want to go
back.
He wanted a permanent solutionto the problem.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
You're at this meeting, we're going to get into
the fact that a bazillionfamous people have come to this
meeting and everyone's used toit.
And then you came in.
It was pretty overwhelming andI got a real sense of what your
experiences is.
You have the power of when youare in a place, everyone can't
stop thinking about you, and Iwas like God, he has to be aware
of that.
What does that feel like?
That's a lot to deal with.
(02:26):
How is he ever going to open upand be honest in this space?
And I was like he must have astubbornness, like I have, which
is like, yeah, all this isgoing on no-transcript
(02:51):
absolutely hilarious.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
He felt like he should have paid to be there.
So I have no idea if this is apublicly available meeting that
anybody can just walk into,because the person who I spoke
to said he got an invite from afriend and this person was
pretty successful.
So this may be some kind oflike celebrity level AA meeting
where you've got to be somebodyor know somebody to get in there
.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
I don't know, but let's continue On my knees and I
was trying anything andeveryone, anything anyone threw
at me.
It was a particular difficulttime.
I needed rebooting, I needed towake the fuck up in some areas.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Yeah, and I know exactly how he feels.
Just that place of desperation,like I'll do anything.
And that's how I felt when Iwent to AA meetings.
I felt the exact same way Forme.
The problem broke down with thesteps, with the actual process
that you're supposed to do,where you call yourself an
alcoholic, give yourself up tohigher power, then you've got to
go and make amendments topeople and then recruit more
people.
This is where it all broke downfor me.
But the actual meetings I meanthere were some good things in
(03:42):
them.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Yeah, the first is oh my God, it's coming around.
You know it's coming around,it's getting closer, it's going
to be yours, but everyone was soopen.
It's contagious right it is.
It gives you permission, in away, to go okay, I'm going to
step out on this edge and seewhat happens.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
And then I really you know his opinion on the 12
steps and so on, and I reallyfeel like they were dragging the
topic out of him.
I don't think he wanted tofully open up, which is
understandable.
It's a very private problem.
Let's continue.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
When another dude shares so honestly and open
about his struggles and hisdefects and it gets to you,
don't you feel like you owe himthat honesty in return?
Speaker 1 (04:22):
I'm not quite sure how to feel about that.
When I went to AA meetings andI'd hear people talk about all
the bad things that havehappened in their life or were
happening in their life, itdidn't really make me feel good.
I found it quite draining.
Personally, I enjoyed thecamaraderie of AA.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
But anyway, you know, anything could go, because some
guys would be like you knowwhat, didn't have such a bad
week, sure, did this and thisworked and this was, and talk
about their wins, you know.
So it's like little failuresand little successes.
And yeah, and you know what, Iwoke up and I'm going to do it
again tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
So what I find quite interesting here and I don't
really know so much about DaxShepard, but what was so
interesting is Brad Pitt didn'tthen start saying, yeah, talking
about character defects,because in AA, character defects
are like a central part of therecovery program and steps four
and five are acknowledging thesecharacter defects.
But Brad Pitt seemed to reframeit and then just start talking
about the positives.
(05:19):
Yeah, I'll hear this guy and hehas this success and this win.
I just thought that was veryinteresting.
So, rather than get stuck on,the point that the interviewer
said is he was like well, I justkind of take the good parts out
of it, because in AA, what youdo is in steps four and five is
you admit that you havecharacter defects and then
you've got to admit them toanother person.
So you've literally got to tellthem I'm selfish, I'm dishonest
, I'm not a good person.
(05:40):
And then it's step six andseven is you've got to give this
up to a higher power and youask for the removal of these
character defects.
So I don't know how seriousBrad Pitt takes the 12 steps,
because he seemed to just kindof brush over this and maybe for
him it's just a support network, a way for him to kind of let
it go, because where doessomebody like him go?
But we don't get any more onthat.
So that's why I think it wouldhave been so good if they just
(06:01):
went another level deeper giventhe context in which we met,
which is like really heightenedhonesty and vulnerability.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Yeah, does it make you nervous to have to talk with
me in public?
Speaker 2 (06:10):
no, not at all.
Oh okay, great, we can saymen's group.
Right, it was a men's groupokay, interesting.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
So notice that he didn't actually mention AA until
the interviewer pulled it outof him.
Not that I think that he wasashamed of that, I'm quite sure
that he's been public about itin the past.
But he says men's group.
I don't know if there weremen's meetings.
When I went to AA it was alwaysmixed.
So I do have a feeling thatthis it does feel like a little
bit more exclusive, this meetingthat they go to.
I don't know if that's aconspiracy theory, right, I have
no idea.
(06:35):
That's me making an assumption.
I actually have no idea, butanyway.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
It was AA.
It was when I first was gettingsober and I just thought it was
just incredible men sharingtheir experiences, their foibles
, their missteps, their wants,their aches and a lot of humor
with it, and I thought it was areally special experience coming
from the Ozarks, where we'relike, yeah, everything's great.
And so I do this interview andI say this and I got admonished
(06:58):
by someone of the higher ups oh,you did, it's anonymous.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
So he said he got admonished by one of the higher
ups in AA, and what he's talkingabout here is AA actually
preaches this idea of beingpublicly anonymous, and I'll
quickly read a quote from the11th tradition of AA.
They say our relations with thegeneral public should be
characterized by personalanonymity.
We think AA ought to avoidsensational advertising.
Our names and pictures as AAmembers ought not be broadcast,
(07:22):
filmed or publicly printed.
Our public relations should beguided by the principle of
attraction rather than promotion.
There is never need to praiseourselves.
We feel it better to let ourfriends recommend us.
I'm not quite sure of why thisis a thing.
So I mean, at the end of theday, we've got to respect Brad
Pitt for even opening up aboutthis and bringing it back to AA.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
There was a period of time where if you were known to
be an alcoholic, you would berun under your neighborhood.
You couldn't find employment.
There was a great reason for it, but even deeper than that is
they didn't want alcoholics justshowing up at their doorstep
because no one had a of invitingjust the town drunks to show up
.
So a lot of reasons.
My excuse, because I say itopenly and I've gotten some
criticism.
It's like I've had a coupledozen, maybe more people come up
(08:03):
to me in the last seven yearsand go like hey, man, I'm, I'm
the best man in my brother'swedding and my family wouldn't
talk to me.
And I found out about a fromyou and I'm like I'll take that
dude over 1 000 fucking.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
I've had a few of those as well would always
always have this.
I really respected.
It Was really open, honest, wasa way to kind of take whatever
the theme kind of seemed to goin the evening and then put it
in the funniest kind of packageand it meant a lot to me, really
, did I mean good for him.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Thanks for checking out the Stop Drinking podcast by
Sober Clear.
If you want to learn more abouthow we work with people to help
them stop drinking effortlesslywe work with people to help
them stop drinking effortlesslythen make sure to visit
wwwsoberclearcom.
Welcome to the Stop Drinking Podcast, where we help
you make stopping drinking asimple, logical and easy
decision.
We help you with tips, toolsand strategies to start living
your best life when alcohol-free.
If you want to learn more aboutstop drinking coaching, then
head over to wwwsoberclearcom.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
It was a men's group.
It was when I first was gettingsober Difficult time.
I needed rebooting, I needed towake the f*** up in some areas
and it just meant a lot to mewhen I've stepped f***ed it.
I'm pretty good at takingresponsibility for it, and
owning up to it, getting my armsaround it pretty quickly and
really, yeah, it became a thingfor me.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
It was really like something I'd look forward.
Request to you know what do Ido with this?
How can I write this and makesure it doesn't happen again?
Or just be better, Be better.
So we've got some brand newcontent that's just come out
from Brad Pitt, where he'stalking about his journey not
drinking alcohol.
Brad Pitt does go to AlcoholicsAnonymous.
He mentions this in theinterview.
I do feel like they kind offorced the content out of him.
He didn't really want to openup too much, but we did get some
good stuff and it's brand newstuff.
So let's see what Brad Pitt hasto say about stopping drinking
alcohol.
There's still loads that we cantake away from this.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
When you first get there, are you thinking like
when it's going around.
Are you thinking are peoplegoing to talk about?
Speaker 1 (01:14):
me.
So they're talking here aboutAlcoholics Anonymous.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I've heard of stories where, like Philip Seymour
Hoffman, went to one and someonevideoed it and put it out.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Yeah, see, that's scary.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
But I'd been assured by another friend this was a
safe place.
I'm like, I mean, I am astubborn fuck, but I am also.
When I've stepped in shit, I'mpretty good at taking
responsibility for it and owningup to it.
And now it's a quest to youknow, what do I do with this?
How can I write this and makesure it doesn't happen again?
Or I just Be better.
Yeah, be better.
So I was really open to thatand I was really open to see
(01:43):
what these guys were doing, whohad their thing and been there
for a while.
Sure, I was a bit shy I'mgenerally be a bit shy in any
kind of situation first but Idon't know, I just remember
getting my arms around it prettyquickly and really, yeah, it
became a thing for me.
It was really like somethingI'd look forward to.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
The interesting thing here.
He just said that he was at aplace where he didn't want to go
back.
He wanted a permanent solutionto the problem.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
You're at this meeting, we're going to get into
the fact that a bazillionfamous people have come to this
meeting and everyone's used toit.
And then you came in.
It was pretty overwhelming andI got a real sense of what your
experiences is.
You have the power of when youare in a place, everyone can't
stop thinking about you, and Iwas like God, he has to be aware
of that.
What does that feel like?
That's a lot to deal with.
(02:26):
How is he ever going to open upand be honest in this space?
And I was like he must have astubbornness, like I have, which
is like, yeah, all this isgoing on no-transcript
(02:51):
absolutely hilarious.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
He felt like he should have paid to be there.
So I have no idea if this is apublicly available meeting that
anybody can just walk into,because the person who I spoke
to said he got an invite from afriend and this person was
pretty successful.
So this may be some kind oflike celebrity level AA meeting
where you've got to be somebodyor know somebody to get in there
.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
I don't know, but let's continue On my knees and I
was trying anything andeveryone, anything anyone threw
at me.
It was a particular difficulttime.
I needed rebooting, I needed towake the fuck up in some areas.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Yeah, and I know exactly how he feels.
Just that place of desperation,like I'll do anything.
And that's how I felt when Iwent to AA meetings.
I felt the exact same way Forme.
The problem broke down with thesteps, with the actual process
that you're supposed to do,where you call yourself an
alcoholic, give yourself up tohigher power, then you've got to
go and make amendments topeople and then recruit more
people.
This is where it all broke downfor me.
But the actual meetings I meanthere were some good things in
(03:42):
them.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Yeah, the first is oh my God, it's coming around.
You know it's coming around,it's getting closer, it's going
to be yours, but everyone was soopen.
It's contagious right it is.
It gives you permission, in away, to go okay, I'm going to
step out on this edge and seewhat happens.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
And then I really you know his opinion on the 12
steps and so on, and I reallyfeel like they were dragging the
topic out of him.
I don't think he wanted tofully open up, which is
understandable.
It's a very private problem.
Let's continue.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
When another dude shares so honestly and open
about his struggles and hisdefects and it gets to you,
don't you feel like you owe himthat honesty in return?
Speaker 1 (04:22):
I'm not quite sure how to feel about that.
When I went to AA meetings andI'd hear people talk about all
the bad things that havehappened in their life or were
happening in their life, itdidn't really make me feel good.
I found it quite draining.
Personally, I enjoyed thecamaraderie of AA.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
But anyway, you know, anything could go, because some
guys would be like you knowwhat, didn't have such a bad
week, sure, did this and thisworked and this was, and talk
about their wins, you know.
So it's like little failuresand little successes.
And yeah, and you know what, Iwoke up and I'm going to do it
again tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
So what I find quite interesting here and I don't
really know so much about DaxShepard, but what was so
interesting is Brad Pitt didn'tthen start saying, yeah, talking
about character defects,because in AA, character defects
are like a central part of therecovery program and steps four
and five are acknowledging thesecharacter defects.
But Brad Pitt seemed to reframeit and then just start talking
about the positives.
(05:19):
Yeah, I'll hear this guy and hehas this success and this win.
I just thought that was veryinteresting.
So, rather than get stuck on,the point that the interviewer
said is he was like well, I justkind of take the good parts out
of it, because in AA, what youdo is in steps four and five is
you admit that you havecharacter defects and then
you've got to admit them toanother person.
So you've literally got to tellthem I'm selfish, I'm dishonest
, I'm not a good person.
(05:40):
And then it's step six andseven is you've got to give this
up to a higher power and youask for the removal of these
character defects.
So I don't know how seriousBrad Pitt takes the 12 steps,
because he seemed to just kindof brush over this and maybe for
him it's just a support network, a way for him to kind of let
it go, because where doessomebody like him go?
But we don't get any more onthat.
So that's why I think it wouldhave been so good if they just
(06:01):
went another level deeper giventhe context in which we met,
which is like really heightenedhonesty and vulnerability.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Yeah, does it make you nervous to have to talk with
me in public?
Speaker 2 (06:10):
no, not at all.
Oh okay, great, we can saymen's group.
Right, it was a men's groupokay, interesting.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
So notice that he didn't actually mention AA until
the interviewer pulled it outof him.
Not that I think that he wasashamed of that, I'm quite sure
that he's been public about itin the past.
But he says men's group.
I don't know if there weremen's meetings.
When I went to AA it was alwaysmixed.
So I do have a feeling thatthis it does feel like a little
bit more exclusive, this meetingthat they go to.
I don't know if that's aconspiracy theory, right, I have
no idea.
(06:35):
That's me making an assumption.
I actually have no idea, butanyway.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
It was AA.
It was when I first was gettingsober and I just thought it was
just incredible men sharingtheir experiences, their foibles
, their missteps, their wants,their aches and a lot of humor
with it, and I thought it was areally special experience coming
from the Ozarks, where we'relike, yeah, everything's great.
And so I do this interview andI say this and I got admonished
(06:58):
by someone of the higher ups oh,you did, it's anonymous.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
So he said he got admonished by one of the higher
ups in AA, and what he's talkingabout here is AA actually
preaches this idea of beingpublicly anonymous, and I'll
quickly read a quote from the11th tradition of AA.
They say our relations with thegeneral public should be
characterized by personalanonymity.
We think AA ought to avoidsensational advertising.
Our names and pictures as AAmembers ought not be broadcast,
(07:22):
filmed or publicly printed.
Our public relations should beguided by the principle of
attraction rather than promotion.
There is never need to praiseourselves.
We feel it better to let ourfriends recommend us.
I'm not quite sure of why thisis a thing.
So I mean, at the end of theday, we've got to respect Brad
Pitt for even opening up aboutthis and bringing it back to AA.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
There was a period of time where if you were known to
be an alcoholic, you would berun under your neighborhood.
You couldn't find employment.
There was a great reason for it, but even deeper than that is
they didn't want alcoholics justshowing up at their doorstep
because no one had a of invitingjust the town drunks to show up
.
So a lot of reasons.
My excuse, because I say itopenly and I've gotten some
criticism.
It's like I've had a coupledozen, maybe more people come up
(08:03):
to me in the last seven yearsand go like hey, man, I'm, I'm
the best man in my brother'swedding and my family wouldn't
talk to me.
And I found out about a fromyou and I'm like I'll take that
dude over 1 000 fucking.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
I've had a few of those as well would always
always have this.
I really respected.
It Was really open, honest, wasa way to kind of take whatever
the theme kind of seemed to goin the evening and then put it
in the funniest kind of packageand it meant a lot to me, really
, did I mean good for him.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Thanks for checking out the Stop Drinking podcast by
Sober Clear.
If you want to learn more abouthow we work with people to help
them stop drinking effortlesslywe work with people to help
them stop drinking effortlesslythen make sure to visit
wwwsoberclearcom.
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