Our Collective Journey

01/02/2026

How cool that Rise Up Hot Air Balloon Festival made Editing Luke’s Top 10 images of 2025!

Stay tuned for more info about Rise Up 2026 by giving the page a follow!

My Top 8 Medicine Hat images of 2025: 🔥 #6
A world aglow at the balloon festival in May.

*Ranking determined by overall online views.

01/01/2026

If you’re reading this and wondering whether now could be the moment things start to change- this can be day one.

You don’t have to wait for a crisis, or a “perfect” moment to enter recovery. You don’t need to have all the answers. You just need a willingness to take one step toward support.

At Our Collective Journey, individuals entering recovery can access the support of a recovery coach- someone who meets you where you are, walks alongside you without judgment, and helps you build clarity, structure, and accountability one day at a time. Recovery coaching is grounded in lived experience, compassion, and practical support for real life.

Whether you’re feeling unsure, overwhelmed, or quietly ready for change, you deserve support that honors your courage and your pace.

Today can be day one.
And you don’t have to do it alone.

Learn more or reach out at www.ourcollectivejourney.ca

12/31/2025

We brought back a podcast from the archives to help you navigate this holiday season. In this special episode, Ryan is joined by some of the OCJ staff, including Amber, Tara, and Alana, to guide you through the holiday season.

The holiday season can be a challenging time for many, especially those on a journey of recovery. In this episode, our hosts share tips and suggestions to help you navigate through the stress and maintain your well-being.

Whether you’re seeking ways to safeguard your recovery or simply looking for effective strategies to ease the strain of the season, this episode is tailor-made for you. Ryan, Amber, Tara, and Alana draw from their own experiences and expertise to create a safe space where you can find solace, support, and practical advice.

Check it out at the link or on your favourite podcast app!

In this special episode, Ryan is joined by some of the OCJ staff, including Amber, Tara, and Alana, to guide you through the holiday season.

12/25/2025

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from all of us at OCJ! Thank you to everyone who shared their advice on how to navigate the holidays in sobriety. Your bravery and candor could mean all the difference for people in recovery.

For anyone spending their first holidays sober:

“You don’t have to survive the holidays. You just have to stay sober today.”

“This season is temporary. Your recovery is not.”

“Cravings are loud — but they are not commands.”

“It’s okay if the holidays don’t feel joyful yet. Safety comes first.”

“Leaving early isn’t failure. It’s protecting your recovery.”

“You can miss who you were without going back to being them.”

“If all you did today was stay sober, you did enough.”

“One sober holiday at a time — this is how new traditions begin.”

“The best way to start the New Year is waking up sober on January 1.”

“This is hard because you’re doing something brave.”

If this is your first sober Christmas or New Year’s, you’re not alone — and you’re doing something incredibly important.

If you do need help over the holidays, reach out to us or access any of our community partners from the post below.

The holidays are often painted as a time of joy and togetherness, but for many people navigating mental health challenges or living in recovery, this season can feel heavy, isolating, and overwhelming.

Changes in routine, family dynamics, financial pressure, grief, and the presence of alcohol or substances can intensify cravings and emotional distress. In an abstinence-based recovery journey, these moments can feel especially challenging and they are not a sign of weakness. They are a reminder that recovery is a daily practice, not a destination.

If the holidays are feeling hard, please know this: you do not have to carry it alone. Reaching out for support is an act of strength. Whether that means leaning on a trusted person, accessing professional help, or connecting with a recovery-focused community, support can make all the difference.

Our Collective Journey is here to walk alongside you, offering compassionate, recovery-focused support rooted in connection, accountability, and hope. You deserve care, stability, and understanding, especially during this season.

Additional community support resources are included in the graphic attached. Please use them if you need support today.

Learn more or reach out at www.ourcollectivejourney.ca

You are not alone. 🤍 Recovery continues even through the holidays.

12/23/2025

Have you tackled the experience of your first sober holiday season? We need your help!

For many people, this Christmas and New Year’s will be their first holidays in sobriety.

That can come with a mix of emotions—pride, anxiety, grief, hope, and uncertainty—all at once. Traditions may feel different. Social settings may feel harder to navigate. And sometimes, just getting through the day can feel like a victory.

If you’ve been there before, your experience matters.

We invite those in recovery, allies, family members, and professionals to share one piece of advice that helped you get through the holidays while protecting your mental health and sobriety.

It could be a boundary you set, a mindset shift, a routine you relied on, or a reminder you kept close.

Your words may be exactly what someone needs to read right now.

Let’s show those spending their first holiday season sober that they are not alone—and that this season is survivable, one choice and one connection at a time.

Drop your words of wisdom in the comments!

12/20/2025

We are so grateful to the Community Foundation of Southeastern Alberta and our incredible philanthropic community members for their support of this program!

We can’t wait to share more about Youth Resilience Through Art and Motion with you!

We’re proud to support Our Collective Journey with $13,625 for their project, Youth Resilience Through Art and Motion.

The project offers two unique six-week streams, "Rolling Through It - A Resilience Program for Youth Inspired by Skateboarding" and "Resilient by Design - A Youth Resilience Program Through Art." Both are registered programs starting in the new year. These streams will help to build confidence, resilience, and a sense of belonging while supporting mental health and creative expression.

Our Collective Journey

12/14/2025

The holidays are often painted as a time of joy and togetherness, but for many people navigating mental health challenges or living in recovery, this season can feel heavy, isolating, and overwhelming.

Changes in routine, family dynamics, financial pressure, grief, and the presence of alcohol or substances can intensify cravings and emotional distress. In an abstinence-based recovery journey, these moments can feel especially challenging and they are not a sign of weakness. They are a reminder that recovery is a daily practice, not a destination.

If the holidays are feeling hard, please know this: you do not have to carry it alone. Reaching out for support is an act of strength. Whether that means leaning on a trusted person, accessing professional help, or connecting with a recovery-focused community, support can make all the difference.

Our Collective Journey is here to walk alongside you, offering compassionate, recovery-focused support rooted in connection, accountability, and hope. You deserve care, stability, and understanding, especially during this season.

Additional community support resources are included in the graphic attached. Please use them if you need support today.

Learn more or reach out at www.ourcollectivejourney.ca

You are not alone. 🤍 Recovery continues even through the holidays.

12/12/2025

An amazing conference AND 12 hours of continuing education credits? Yes, please! Check out the post for more info!

12/08/2025

Every young person could use a coach in their corner- and we have just the ticket! Youth 11-25 can check out Coach’s Corner with Coach Derrick at Kickstand Medicine Hat from 3-6 PM Monday to Friday!

Please note, Kickstand will be closed Dec. 24, Dec. 25, Dec. 26, Jan. 1, and Jan. 2 so staff can have a break for the holidays. 😊

in store for you this week.

From a confidence building session on Monday to Graham Cracker Holiday House building Thursday, and Game Hub Friday. Kickstand offers experiences that are diverse and fun. Just like you!

12/06/2025

We have something *special* in store for you at SARRCon ‘26 with one of our incredible keynote speakers, Jill Drader.

Check it out to learn more! 👇

12/05/2025

What looks like a simple craft is actually so much more. It’s part of a space where resilience is built through connection, conversation, and showing up for one another.

Twice each month, our OCJ Resiliency Coaches join the youth at the Y Corner by YMCA of Southeastern Alberta to do exactly that.

These sessions are youth-led from start to finish. Our coaches support presentations, hold space for honest and open conversations, and create an environment where every young person feels seen and heard. Depending on the group size and what the youth need that day, we adapt! Sometimes it’s hands-on crafts, sometimes it’s structured activities, and sometimes it’s simply hanging out and being together.

The goal is always the same: to empower youth to lead, to foster resilience in real time, and to build community through meaningful connection.

If you know a young person who would benefit from a supportive, welcoming space like this, we encourage you to learn more about the Y Corner sessions. Together, we can help the next generation grow in strength, confidence, and resilience.

Our next session is December 16 at 4 PM at the Y Corner, located at the Downtown YMCA. No registration required- just show up!