Here we are on the 25th day of the first month of the year in 2023.
Are you doing Dry January? I’m not.
Well, I haven’t consumed any alcohol in January and I probably won’t but I’m not actively participating in the “Dry January” challenge. While I wish well to those who are, and I think Dry Jan is a great thing, I’ve never personally been one for New Year’s resolutions or aligning with a specific date to begin a new habit or a personal change. My story has been more of a long, slow progress of alcohol reduction over many years as, from my perspective, alcohol’s costs have risen and benefits have declined.
That said, I haven’t had any booze since before Christmas and I’m certainly not planning to have an alcoholic drink on February 1st, so my January will likely be dry by default.
Spending a lot of my time at Spirited Away and working on Dry Atlas, I admittedly live and breathe non-alc. But even accounting for that, I still have a hard time understanding why someone who has completed Dry January would begin drinking booze again on February 1st.
By mid-month, a Dry Jan participant can expect to begin to feel some of the benefits of eliminating alcohol. They’re thinking more clearly, they’re sleeping better, they’re looking better. They may have even been inspired to visit the gym more frequently or start other positive habits. Again, I’m a fish in water but it’s really hard for me to understand experiencing all or even some of that, and then wanting to resume one’s prior alcohol habits on Feb 1.
The only explanation I can think of is that this person missed the social benefits of drinking in January and, during that time, didn’t figure out how to socialize or enjoy socializing without booze. And honestly that’s a pretty good explanation for resuming drinking in February.
I take for granted my daily access to 200+ non-alc beers, wines, spirits, cocktails, etc. at Spirited Away, to say nothing of the new product samples being sent to Spirited Away that we don’t yet stock. I also take for granted that here in my neighborhood I have access to beautiful non-alc bars like Hekate and amazing non-alc events like Absence of Proof. I enjoy socializing without booze, but if I had taken the month of Jan off from socializing, I too would be eager to resume that on Feb 1.
The booze culture status quo is surely excited to celebrate the end of Dry January. There are probably “it’s Feb 1st let’s drink!” parties being organized across the country that bars and booze brands alike are eager to embrace. Some version of “Boy, I can’t wait to reach the end of Dry Jan!” is probably a familiar and ubiquitous refrain on almost every corner of the globe, even among those who are feeling & living better than ever due to their Dry Jan. I’m not ignorant of how deeply booze is embedded in most cultures and societies.
But if that “TGIFebruary” message seems tired or boring or trite to you, you are not alone. It may seem like you are alone, but I assure you you’re not. Our global community of mindful drinkers grows in numbers and strength every day, slowly but surely. Questioning smoking culture in 1960 was probably hard and lonely at times, but those who did led the way and set an example for others to live longer, fuller lives too.
My hope for each Dry January is not just that we have a busy month of sales at Spirited Away and on Dry Atlas but that the new people we meet in January fall in love with non-alc drinks and lifestyle and become regulars here or at other non-alc shops. That happens every year to a degree, but we also meet new people every Jan that we’ll never see again, or at least not until next January.
I’m not here to convince anyone to give up booze. Reducing alcohol continues to be a very positive experience for me, but everyone is different. I am curious, though, about what those of us in the non-alc industry can do to help you extend your Dry Jan into February and beyond. What can we do even simply to help you explore what a booze-free or booze-reduced lifestyle could look like? I’d love to hear from you. Shoot me a DM on Instagram at @thedryatlas.
