Booze

I haven't had a drink in six whopping days. That's a long time by my standards. Coming into the new year, I was averaging around 4 or 5 drinks a day, 4 or 5 days a week since September. That's near the boundaries of where medical health professionals might label you an "alcoholic."

I don't miss it. Not at all. I feel great. It's easier to get up in the morning. I think more clearly. My runs are going well. Lord knows it makes life cheaper.

Which makes me wonder, how come I was drinking so much before?

The short answer is habit. But the source of the habit is cultural and social. Overeating and overdrinking are more than heavily socialized aspects of yuppie culture. For many of us, they are yuppie culture. It's not part of what we do. It is what we do.

We self-identify with food and booze today in much the same way we self-identified with bands when in high school. Oh, you like Radiohead? I like Mr. Bungle. They're uniquer. Ergo, I'm cooler. Meh.

Just ate spaghetti squash with shittake mushrooms, shrimp, and truffle oil. Yum! I'm so special! Anyone who's spent time on facebook knows the way 20 or 30-somethings triumphantly boast about the meals they prepare and consume as if to show culture and sophistication. Though it usually comes off as sophomoric and petty, it's indicative of how we obsess publicly about what we eat and drink.

Adorned and tasty though they might be, food and booze are never accomplishments. With increasing frequency in my life, they've started to get in the way of them.