Medium asked me to explore sobriety experiments for their new health mag, Elemental. And I have to admit, I’ve long been skeptical of Dry January, Sober October, etc. because there is something very cleanse/crash diet-y about A LOT of the wellness industry takes on this. And I’ve seen people try them and then retox hard… which feels too similar to the binge/restrict cycle we worry about with dieting.

That said, I also find our culture’s relationship with booze to be pretty dysfunctional… and in talking to experts (like the perpetually brilliant Lisa Du Breuil) and sober advocates like Erin Shaw Street, Joy Manning, and so many others, I realized this absolutely can and should be something quite different from a diet. Alcohol is optional (unlike food) and abstinence is the best way for lots of folks. Normalizing sobriety is about supporting alcoholics in recovery, absolutely, but it’s also about helping all of us put our bodies first… and listen to those instincts and signals, rather than letting social pressures and marketing drive our decision to drink or not. You know I’m down with that.

So much more in the piece, which I hope you’ll read here.

Any sober, sober curious, sober-sometimes folks here? I’d love to hear more about your experiences — and whether you think it’s getting easier to choose this path.