Day 153: Feeling the nuances

Imagine that you’ve been working hard all day on a new writing project with someone you met online with similar interest. The whole day you have been productive, and your personalities have clicked. You have found a new friend and it’s Saturday. The night is about to start, and your new friend offers you a glass of wine. Maybe you will go out for dinner later, or maybe go and fetch take-away. The night is young, and all the possibilities lies ahead of you. It feels like that glass of wine is the spark that sets the whole night off. The moment you raise your glasses and toast for your new friendship will be the promise that the night ahead will be great.

Alcohol - the symbol for relaxation after a hard day’s work, the promise of that what lies ahead will be great and the illusion of getting closer to someone you just met. We are so ingrained with that alcohol is needed to make the night great. Alcohol is like a big party starting hammer: it will do the job and make you believe that the night will be a success.

But what will make the night great is not whether you share a bottle of wine or get hammered together. The night is already great: you've met a new friend; you've been productive, and you have your first night ahead of you filled with more interesting conversations. And the story of the night will be more subtle, but not as in boring, but as in sublime. 

Why waste it on alcohol that will numb your senses and forget your first night with your new friend?

It's all in the promise and in the expectations. Alcohol holds a promise and builds expectations. The beauty is that the further you go AF the more sensible for the small things you will be. You will not need the promise because you can trust your instincts that you will have a blast anyway. The expectations will be aligned with reality because you are open to the moment and attentive. You will not need that alcohol hammer to get the night started, all you need is the knowledge that you will be able to experience the night in all its details and gradients. 

 I'm talking about the increased ability to live in the now when you're AF here.

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