Drinking more at 5:18AM

Out of all of the drugs of the world, Alcohol is the least likely to be mystified. The common knowledge is that it is a very concrete drug, that is; that it brings you down to reality and not up to any higher plane. For the non-drinkers and weekend drinkers alike, it is thought of as a wheel-greaser, and in black-out amounts some sort of cathartic release. But certainly not anything that grants any insight or mind expansion.

So the no and low-users ask themselves ‘why would you drink any more often, or in any greater amounts?’. They don’t know, and don’t experience, what us 4-24 standard drink a day drunks know and experience. Alcohol is almost invariably thought of as the cause of various debaucheries. It is popular knowledge that people lose control of themselves, become different people, and do things they will regret. This is absolutely true, for some. But the functional drunkard quickly realizes they are a different breed. After pushing their limits of consumption, and of drunkenness, they notice that their life isn’t spinning out of control and they haven’t done anything regrettably out of character.

At this point, there is no logical reason for them to stop or slow down. This is when a little bit of magical thinking sets in. They feel superior. It’s not necessarily true, but if they can do what everyone else can do, while impaired; they feel like they’ve gotten over on the world. Thoughts like “ha, I’m drunk and you’re not” might present themselves. Then begins a slight mystification of alcohol. “If I can finish this flask in 45 minutes, I can finish anything else I start”.

But after the drunk, in all their glory, settles down a bit, perhaps that’s the point when alcohol should be mystified. Instead of simply feeling better drunk than sober, they feel better all the time. A general upswing in mood and disposition is achieved. How did that happen? You may ask yourself. Well, alcohol has given them a safety net, an excuse to go out, an excuse to stay in. Soon enough, they realize that they don’t need excuses for anything. They are less ashamed, and less scared of what life brings their way.

The haziness and shuffling of events is also embraced. It’s the lubrication in their life. They glide comfortably from one event to another, one conversation to another, one lover to another. Life no longer has the rigidness it once did. The weight of the world is lightened. Now, even after long stretches of sobriety, they can remember that life really never was that rigid, and the world never was too heavy. Their outlook has changed, positively, presumably permanently, wether they continue to drink or not.

If Alcohol was only a way to make people act a fool, it would be a mere curiosity at best. And for some it is. But for those who can handle it, it is mind expansion, it is insight, and it does bring you to a higher plane.