My name is Kira Dunlop, I’m 23 and I am sober. 365 days of the year. I don’t drink for a myriad of reasons. My mental health (severe depression and anxiety) being the primary one. I woke up in June 2017 and realised that my life needed to change. I felt so embarrassed, so guilty, so depressed, that I decided something had to give. I truly believed that if I continued to drink, I would die.
When I decided to remove alcohol from my life… things changed. Immediately. I felt removed from the vast majority of my social life, isolated from my peer group. Think about it. If you take alcohol out of it, what happens to girl’s nights out, drinks after work, holiday parties, funerals, sports games, Stampede, work functions, weddings, vacations?
What do you do for fun if you don’t drink?
That’s a question that hopefully the Boring Little Girls Club will be one of many answers to. We were born out of a need to create and foster a community of sober women, non-binary and trans people who support each other AND have fun without alcohol.
Since November 2018, the Boring Little Girls Club has had four meet up sessions including: coffee chats, potluck and a skating night out. This Saturday, January 19th, the Sober Girl Gang is getting together with the friends, allies, partners, family and pretty much whomever wants to come out, to march in the 3rd Annual Women’s March YYC. Going forward we are co-hosting an event called Love Fest YYC on February 9th, from 7pm – 10pm with the amazing Sober Saturdayz (out of Edmonton) and supporting the Skipping Stone Foundation.
We are hoping to be able to host two meet up sessions/month and create and grow a super rad #sobergirlgang. The only requirement to come and hang out is being sober, hopeful to become sober or sober curious!
I promise you, none of us are little girls anymore and we’re certainly not boring!
Kira Dunlop, 23, is the founder of the Boring Little Girls Club, a community of sober women, non-binary and trans people that come together to support each other and have fun WITHOUT alcohol. Kira also works as a barista in Calgary, is taking online courses for her Bachelor of Commerce and does the Sales & Marketing for Mitchell Bros. Beef. In her spare time she loves to ski, spend time with as many dogs as possible and hang out with her amazing partner and family. You can find out more about the Boring Little Girls Club on their website and on Instagram at @boringlittlegirlsclub.