I’m aware of my tendency to get hooked on whatever gives me some comfort:
- As a kid in need of distraction, I’d haul library books home 30 at a time.
- I’ve gone through a whole series of food obsessions, from Red Vines and Twix as a boy to Genisoy protein bars and Arizona Green Tea as a teenager to sweet potatoes and carrot juice as an adult. Whatever I’m on at the time, I can’t get enough of it. My consumption tends toward the repetitive.
- I can’t say I’ve ‘seen’ a TV series until I’ve seen every episode, in order.
- In general, incomplete collections of anything drive me a little nuts.
- I’ve worn slight variations of the same self-selected uniform for years.
So no, I don’t drink alcohol. Not even a little. If I liked it enough, how would I quit?
Even as a teetotaler, I think I understand a bit of what keeps folks at the bar. I find some of the needs and hurts they’re addressing – in their way – in myself as well. It’s not puzzling to me how people end up addicted to alcohol. It’s more puzzling to me how some hurting people don’t. That other route seems just as close, just as possible.
Here’s a song about pushing through hard times without numbing them away. If it reads more like a recovery song, that’s because I’ve already tried the other way in my mind.