John Burke is a writer, performer, firefighter, and father from Jersey City, New Jersey. With nearly eight years sober, John reflects on the journey that brought him here—from discovering alcohol as a teenager at punk shows, to the toxic relationships and dark moments that nearly ended it all, to the night he decided it was time to change.

In this conversation, John opens up about the role community, therapy, and fatherhood have played in his recovery, and how staying sober is as much about resilience as it is about surrender. We talk about the Wheel of Fortune reversed, the cycles of change, and what it means to keep showing up even when the ground feels like it’s shifting beneath you.

John’s story is raw, honest, and full of the hard-won wisdom that reminds us: no matter where you are in your journey the wheel always keeps turning.

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