Rum & Coke 🥃

 Dreamt I was at a bar last night.

        Double rum and diet coke. Gotta watch the sugar. 

    I haven’t been to a bar in forever. Hell, I haven’t even had a drink in months. Let me tell you, it’s about as boring as it sounds. The only good thing to come out of it, is not waking up hungover. That, plus consistency in everything else I’ve done. Honestly, it could be worse. But what I’d do for a drink- a large glass of red wine- you can’t even imagine. Something about drinking the blood of Christ, late at night, after all my other tasks have been completed, just hits the spot. 

    It’s pretty wild how alcohol has such a firm grip on our society today. You can’t go anywhere anymore, without having it shoved down your throat. I know, I know, I’m such a loser. I’m supposed to celebrate alcohol and drink everyday til I’m dead. But seriously, when you take a step back and look at it, it’s wild. We have become a society that encourages drinking at all times of the day, wherever we may be. Movie theatre? Bottle of wine. Sports event? Beers. Concert? Seltzers. Everything, everywhere. It’s constantly being pushed and advertised, no matter where you turn. 

    I think we as a society have kind of just accepted it as is. We more or less have become accustomed to it, and simply view it as just another vice. It’s not even the drinking part which is necessarily the bad thing, it’s more the overindulgence. The idea that one must drink until they’re completely abbreviated and out of control. It’s the constant worshipping of alcohol which leads to fun times, and makes you unaccountable for all your mistakes. The idea that drinking is somehow an excuse to act belligerent and out of shape. It really, really is an insane concept, when you take a step back. How many people do you know who simply act out and become completely different individuals, whenever you hand them a drink? How many people become a complete, chaotic mess, simply because they allow it into their system. Like Jamie Foxx said, blame it on the alcohol eh?

    Alcohol is a drug, plain and simple. It’s a drug which has become simply accepted in today’s western society. Anywhere you go, you drink. And the more you drink, the cooler you are. I know, I sound like such a downer right now. Such a nerd. But our society is crumbling, and I can’t help but wonder if there’s a correlation between the two. I’m not against drinking, lord knows. As previously stated, I’d love a glass of red at night with my supper. However, the alcoholic culture is something I no longer really get. I used to participate in it, religiously. Believe me, I went hard. However, as I grow older and see the bigger picture- It no longer satisfies my itch. I know longer dream of the nights where I am so completely abbreviated that I can’t recall making it home in one piece. So consumed by the liquid gold, that I wonder what happened the previous night. There’s something about it that just doesn’t satisfy me anymore.

    More and more people seem to be falling into the same thinking pattern. At least, they claim to be anyways. Who knows what the truth is. However, I do believe that our generation of individuals have started to take a step back from the culture to ask ourselves “What is really going on?” Which is a valid question- what is really going on? What is driving a generation to reach for the bottle, in an attempt to suppress something deep down inside? What is the mysterious factor, which pushes one to drown out their demons? It’s a substance which has been psychologically driven into our heads. A coping mechanism, which has been shoved down our throats (literally) since we were young children. We grow up in an environment, where we constantly see older adults drinking, and we’re told we cannot touch it until we are older. It more or less makes us crave it, because we wish to be just like those we look up to ourselves.

    Overall, I believe the reason alcohol has taken over our society is because we as a species are suppressing trauma. We have learned to find ways to escape the pain we experience every single day. We have become comfortable with compressing and bottling things up, to the point where they overload and explode out. Alcohol offers us that escape. And make no mistake, that is exactly what it is- an escape. We are able to numb ourselves down and lower our vibrations, in order to no longer feel the pain we feel inside. We are able to use the liquid as a coping mechanism, which allows us to basically forget. We escape our current reality, to enter a realm of numbness and forget the pain which drove us there. It becomes a whole new world, once we’re finally in it. We are able to view things at their lowest vibration, reducing us all to our lowest denominator. That is why it’s such a powerful agent. So powerful, that it reduces us to nothing more than animals without consciousness. 

    Obviously, that’s one extreme of it. That is the absolute end of the pool, where one dives in head first and can never reach the bottom. There are plenty of stages in between, before one reaches the depths. As I write this, I can’t help but chuckle at it myself. The bottomless well, in which no individual has ever reached down deep enough. The continuous calling of ones soul, to continue diving down, deeper and deeper, until nothing remains of themselves. The idea is so evil, that it’s genius. The concept in which one can escape their own, painful reality, by entering a world of complete chaos and disorder. To throw away the very consciousness we have all been gifted, in exchange of the animal instincts which lay deep within us all.

    I’m not against alcohol. As I stated, I’d do unspeakable things for a great glass of red. However, the magic has lost its spark. The very name, spirit, is a lie. It dampens ones soul and reduces them to lesser beings. Sometimes, being reduced can be nice. Sometimes, a familiar sting can feel, well … familiar. Sometimes we require a simple escape from all the noise we find ourselves trapped within, here in the 21st Century. In today’s world, our brains are over stretched and over saturated, with information flying left, right and centre. It can become challenging, having to constant use your brain to observe all which is going on. Sometimes, shutting down the voice in your head, and allowing yourself to strut can be rewarding. 

Perhaps tonight, I’ll drink some red.

        Glory Be, 

                    Amen.