I Drink Socially

As in, when I’m engaging in social settings, I arm myself with a beverage that snugly fits into the empty slots of conversational pegboards.

I really see no purpose for beer bottles beyond this. For me they’re simply a glass punctuation mark. In the midst of hoards of inebriated people, it can be useful to have a stop and go switch on conversations.

Aside from beer specifically, I enjoy alcohol in moderation, I enjoy many things in moderation. And I really believe that, with the exception of a few very obvious substances, almost anything can be enjoyed safely in moderation.

Novelty is for me a quality worth endless pursuit, and with moderation comes the preservation of novelty, even if only for a short time.

In American culture, a lack of moderation is fueled by our insatiable “more” mentalities. More is always better. Not feeling it? Do/take/smoke/eat some more. And, in contrast to what I previously stated, it can be good to exceed moderation in order to learn some limitations. The problem is that few people can frame a bad experience as an opportunity to learn, either villifying the substance in question, or simply upping the bar.

Another issue is the peer pressure that continues to persist in an increasingly “safe” world, which I find strange. In every space we occupy, it’s of utmost importance to maintain a homeostasis of safety, belonging, political correctness etc. Yet, parallel to this exists the blatant culture of “getting fucked up,” where it’s encouraged not simply to test your bounds but to lose control. If you aren’t doing that, you aren’t doing it right. If you don’t remember what you did, then for some reason you are.

At this point it’s difficult to imagine a society in which we aren’t using something to alter our mindset. It’s not as if this is a new thing for humans either. Although it is important to continue to educate others on what they intake, more importantly it’s the mindset in which you bring with you. I firmly believe that there’s something to be gained from every experience.

Ultimately my proposition is, instead of educating for sobriety, educate for moderation, for mindfullness.

-M