My dry January has just a couple days left. This is the third consecutive year I’ve participated in Dry January, and I’ve remembered, again, how much I like it. Thirty nights of good sleep. I feel like I’ve lost ten or twelve pounds. My head is clear each day. The benefits are amazing, and just like the last two years, I wonder why I don’t do this more regularly.
When my wife moved to Mobile with me, she noted how the parties down here start around Halloween and go straight through Mardi Gras. There is no let up. Nearly every weekend is a reason to gather, to have a party of some sort and accompany the party with a drink or two. It reaches a crescendo around Christmas and another crescendo at Mardi Gras. I’ve found that Dry January serves as a nice break in the party pace after Christmas and before it picks up again for Mardi Gras, and after a go-go holiday season, I find it nice to prove to myself that I’m in control of myself. I like a bold glass of red wine and a tasty IPA, and putting them both aside for thirty-one days is, I feel, a fruitful and worthwhile discipline.
Oddly, when I tell some people that I’m participating in Dry January, I get dismissive comments. “Loser,” they say. Or they tell me I’m weak which is exactly what I’m trying to prove to myself that I’m not. They’re kidding but only kind of kidding. If I were to tell my friends that I’m not going to yell at my wife for thirty-one days, they’d applaud me and offer support. If I told them I was going to stop beating my dog for thirty-one days, they’d say, “Good! That dog doesn’t deserve that.” If I shared that I would no longer berate and belittle my children for thirty-one days, they’d offer me firm, unwavering support. So, declaring that I’m dropping behaviors that destroys families and shorten life-spans gets me firm support except when it comes to alcohol. When I tell people I’m dropping alcohol for thirty-one days, which certainly can destroy families and shorten life spans, I’m called a loser. That makes no sense but that does reflect…something. I’m not sure what, though.
It’s clear to me that the habit of having a beer or glass of wine in the evening is the part I like the most. It’s that ritual that I crave, and Sunday afternoons about 5pm is when I crave that ritual the most. Stella Artois non-alcohol beer is my go-to in those moments. It’s not the same as a high gravity IPA, which I love – especially Braided River Brewery’s Hoppy by Nature, that stuff is nectar - but it does scratch the itch, especially when I know that all this will be over at the end of the month, which it will be or may not be. Again, the benefits of drying out for a month are great, but I also like a little tipple at the end of a long day. I don’t know. I’ll have a tough decision to make this coming Monday when dry January ends.
I’m Cam Marston, and I’m just trying to Keep It Real.
