The pushing of alcohol lays bare the agenda to put a veil of separation between the real you and the shadow you.

Alcohol is still being programmed in our culture as a way to live life to the fullest.

It’s a prolific storyline in movies. A most significant plot point in TV shows.

A lazy entertainment trope that appears when the hero/protagonist needs to see things another way. To bond with another. To let loose. To take things down a notch. To make it through something tough.

It’s another billion dollar industry out of touch, selling poison disguised as recreation. An anesthetizing social lubricant portrayed as a necessity to enjoy, cope, or numb out when faced with life unfolding.

And it’s so tone-deaf to what’s currently culturally occurring with so many people actively choosing not to drink. Some new stats:

⁃ Women’s drinking down is 11 points this year.
⁃ 54% of Americans drink - the lowest rate in 90 years.

What this does, this discrepancy between what people are choosing and media programming, is it lays bare another attempt at pushing a veil of separation between the real you and the shadow you.

An obsessive encouragement to not sit with big feelings, or process trauma, or deeply connect in a meaningful way - it’s so obvious, it’s embarrassing.

Did you know the word ‘alcohol’ derives from the Arabic, meaning ‘body eating spirit?’ - I truly believe that it is.

Drinking opens you up to not only your own unexpressed shadow-self, but also a negative entry point for dark entities when you lower inhibition.

I felt possessed in many ways when I was in the grips of my own addiction. “Under the influence,” we say, but of what exactly?

I quit alcohol almost 22 years ago, and at the time, it was much more confronting publicly. There was a palpable stigma attached to being sober. I was asked for an explanation for not partaking, and often had alcoholic drinks pushed on me. I was breaking social rules and people around me noticed. The tides are turning.

And I’m so glad people are finding their own way around alcohol. Redefining their relationship to it.

With these decades of living in sobriety, through joy and heartbreak, I can say it has not been missed or desired at any turn. I see it for what it is more clearly than ever.