Let's Relieve Regret: A self-help podcast about forgiving yourself · Shadoe and Victoria

it feels like I don't belong anymore

·1 hr 9 min·4 clips
"I regret the years I spent being proud of how much I could drink."
Victoria Mirabersia and Shadow Ball come back after summer pulled them out of their rhythm, and they frame the interruption as normal life rather than a setback. The opening stays casual and familiar, with talk of summer moving fast and leaving room to reset. That easy start shifts into a personal reflection about drinking, identity, and self-forgiveness. The speaker says she is relieved not to feel pulled toward more party stories, while still keeping the old ones as part of her history. She is not talking about heavy drinking now so much as the identity that came with it and lingered afterward. The old self felt louder, more bombastic, and easier to access after a few drinks. That version also felt useful, especially in social spaces where being animated seemed like a kind of currency. The dance floor becomes the clearest symbol for that lost ease. Without alcohol, moving that freely feels harder. The episode does not brush that off. Instead, it lets the discomfort sit beside the progress. There is a quiet recognition that the shell built during a difficult time was also a tool. It helped her get through. It helped her belong. Now she has to forgive herself for outgrowing it. Victoria responds with warmth and a willingness to listen, which keeps the conversation from turning into a lecture. From there, the hosts widen the subject to how culture celebrates drinking and makes it look like the natural route to coolness. They also note that younger generations are more open to mocktails and different ways of socializing. That contrast gives the episode a bigger frame without losing its intimate tone. The result is a gentle, candid talk about how changing habits can feel both healthier and sadder at the same time.

As heard by us

A warm return that treats drinking less as a question of identity, not just routine.

The episode treats drinking less as a habit change and more as an identity problem, and that is where it feels most alive. After the summer pause, the hosts come back into a frank conversation about drinking, old social habits, and the pull of the party version of yourself,…

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Why you'd press play

For when you need a candid conversation about letting go of a drinking identity that once helped you cope.

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