Net neutral

Living in a wine region with loads of fabulous wineries on your doorstep for 15 years means we have a lot of winery memberships. Every month boxes of wine appear at the post office or on the doorstep. So now we have a quandary, what to do, do we cancel the subscriptions, do we continue with one or two so we have wine in the cupboard when we have guests over, go to dinner parties or need to give gifts?

We’ve decided to cancel all but one membership of a favourite winery so we’re left with a half dozen bottles being delivered every month. 

Once we’d done this we didn’t give it much thought until we were on holidays and the friends we were away with asked us how much money we thought we’ve saved by not drinking and we worked out that in three months we’d saved $1000. As we’d not thought about this at all it was something of a pleasant surprise to realise this. 

However given that on our trip we’d bought and managed to lose a brand new set of solar panels, a recently purchased electric drill and seemed to require new fishing equipment at every place we camped I think we came out of the last month net neutral. 

Velvet skin

One of the most surprising things about not drinking is my skin. While I’ve been away camping my skin has completely transformed itself. Every morning I would brush the sleep from my eyes and one morning I noticed that it felt like velvet. I’m a 44 year old woman so this was intriguing. At first I wondered if it was because when I’m away camping I don’t wear any make up. But it’s not that. My whole body feels soft and smooth. 

I’ve done some googling and I can only put it down to not drinking any alcohol. My skin has hydrated and is positively glowing. Every time I shower I can’t help wondering at this. My skin, in my memory, has never felt or looked this good. 

I read one article that asked how much would you pay for something that made you look younger, reduced puffiness, make your skin bright and clear and cleared dark circles. Such a thing would be priceless surely? But it’s so simple, just don’t drink any alcohol. 

Having never gone without drinking for so long before I am amazed by how good my skin is. The feel of it rivals my pre teenage son who has gloriously soft skin. I’m just utterly enamoured with having velvet skin. I think this has to be my absolute favourite outcome so far.

In my googling I came across this article on Bored Panda and it really is incredible to see the change in people’s faces and bodies when they quit drinking. It’s worth a read. https://www.boredpanda.com/before-after-quit-drinking/

Celebrity Sober

When I was growing up celebrities tended to be well known for their addictions. It seemed that celebrity went hand in hand with alcohol, drugs and partying. Kurt Cobain, Kate Moss, River Phoenix, Brittany Murphy, Whitney Houston, Amy Winehouse, Ozzy Osbourne, Elton John, George Michael, Rob Lowe - the list goes on and on. 

I find it fascinating that many celebrities now are celebrating their healthy sober lifestyles. Brad Pitt, Zac Efron, Sia, Lana Del Rey have all battled with addiction and are now talking openly about recovery and life without alcohol or drugs.

However there also seems to be a growing trend of sobriety amongst celebrities whose looks and work ethic are part of their brand. Jennifer Lopez, Bradley Cooper, Blake Lively all don’t drink. 

I think we’re seeing a movement towards a different kind of role model for future generations. Studies are showing that Generation Z are drinking less. 20% less per capita than Millenials drank at their age. I also find it interesting that social media may play a part in this insta/Snapchat generation. Who wants images and video of their drunk messy selves being shared all over their networks.

Here’s a list of 60 celebrities who don’t drink for various reasons. It’s rather fascinating. 

https://www.harpersbazaar.com/celebrity/latest/g11644970/celebrities-who-dont-drink-alcohol/

I think even this guy is sober now and that’s saying something.