Write Away

For about 6 months, a few years back, I only wrote when I was drunk. A few times a week, I'd drink just so I could write. It started to worry me but it turned out fine. It stopped by itself.

Nowadays I can't write if I even have half a drink. I just want to lie down and have a nice sleepie instead.

I drank when I had bad health problems. It was my way of literally numbing the pain enough so I could concentrate.

I think the creative alcohol thing is probably a myth. It was for me, anyway. There are so many other ways of altering my mood into that frame. It was more the habit than anything else. The knowledge that once I was drunk I was good for only writing. It was like booking the time for myself off.

A brief spot of gentle yoga and 10 minutes of Arvo Part's Spiegel im Spiegel is what does it for me these days. That's more sustainable.

I have no idea if since I've given up alcohol the quality of my writing has gone down.

Younger people tend to drink more without regard for the state of their bodies. Younger people also tend to have more energy in general. Perhaps this is the real connection of writing to use of alcohol?