It's hard to quantify how much photography has aided my sobriety. On a very basic level it has given me something to fill the time I used to spend drinking. But if I step back I can see that it's so much more than that.

2 weeks after I gave up drinking in 2016 I received my first “PR review” camera from a major camera brand. I didn't have a YouTube channel. I didn't have hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers, but they took a chance on me. That little bit of faith meant more than they will ever know. Fujifilm Canada, thank you. But that was just the beginning.

2016 was a year of firsts. Looking back I realize these firsts wouldn't have happened if I was still drinking. I sold my first photo. I took a 4000km road trip through Western Canada. I photographed my first live music event. I attended and photographed my first Formula 1 race. I photographed Prince William, Kate Middleton, and Justin and Sophie Trudeau (although I was up above them in a secured location which wasn't great…) And I started my YouTube channel.

Maybe some of these things would've happened if I was still drinking, but not all of them, and I wouldn't have enjoyed any of them.

The Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal was particularly special. I took my dad with me. It was the first time we'd really spent any real time together, just the two of us. We ate poutine and Montreal smoked meat. We walked all over Montreal. It was incredible, and something I remember with a clarity that didn't exist for me before 2016. Before giving up alcohol.

Digging through my photos from 2016 is a real trip. I DID SO MANY THINGS. It's clear to me now that I was replacing the time I spent drinking with whatever I could find. Every weekend I was somewhere new. Seattle, Victoria (3 times), Green Lake, Montreal, Gates Lake, Kamloops, Jasper, Edmonton, Drumheller, Calgary, Banff, Lake Louise. And that's just the trips. Every weekend I was at a park, a wildlife sanctuary, an aquarium, a concert, a sporting event. How?! It seems crazy now.

I realize I was a pretty terrible photographer back then. I still feel that way about my current photos, but I have learned a lot.

Nostalgia is a hell of a drug, and it's the only one I need these days. Except for coffee. So much coffee. Sobriety without therapy and the means to fill your spare time with another activity is a recipe for failure. Give yourself the tools to succeed.

Scott.