There’s no need to go dry – you can still stay damp
This month has seen the return of the familiar loom of ‘Dry January’, where people try to give up on alcohol for the month. There are 7.9m Brits who withhold their wine urges and bottle up their beers in the hope of being healthier or simply to join in this increasingly popular annual tradition.
However, breaking away from Dry January as soon as possible with the smallest of excuses has become something of long-running joke.
Witticisms poke fun at the inherent alcoholism of our nation: Oops we slipped and sipped! We teetered off the teetotal cliff ! The beer brigade is back in town!
This superficial sober slant seems woefully misplaced. It takes place in one of the darker and drearier months of the year when the prospect of going to the pub is one of the few plausible actions at our disposal.
I’ve always wondered why we do not have Sober Summer instead? Dry January is akin to a PR stunt that does not really reflect or address the more sobering issues of underlying public health and alcohol intake. It is commendable and if you are doing it to make a positive change, then give yourself a cheer for turning over a new leaf. For those who tried and failed pretty quickly though, do not beat yourselves up.
If your Dry January quickly becomes a damp one, it doesn’t make you a failure.
Seeing people cheery and with a happy face after drinking (sensibly) is pleasing. Seeing them unwind and loosen their tightly-wound spring makes me feel relaxed as well. Helping ourselves to a feel-good experience is, well, good. Heading with extra impetus to the bar because you are eager to socialise and see others is perfectly normal.
Drinking socially is an activity so many have missed for the last two years and do we want to miss out again? Certainly not, when our so-called leaders were freely getting rosy-cheeked at Number 10. We seek comfort in the people around us. The sobering sadness of drinking alone is not the same as drinking with friends and loved ones. Not by any measure.
We don’t need to be do-or-die to be dry. Being a little bit damp hurts nobody so long as you are being sensible.