Month: March 2016

The Financial Impact of Having a Drinking Problem

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There are tons of health risks associated with having a drinking problem: cirrhosis of the liver, high blood pressure, cancer, infertility, hurting yourself and others, yada yada yada. Knowing those things never stopped me from destroying my insides one drink at a time, so that’s the last thing I want to talk about right now. What I do want to discuss is how much money I have spent on booze. I made some brutal calculations based on a very low end of my whiskey-soaked spectrum.

On average, I went out for drinks 3 nights a week for 10 years. I would spend about $50 a night.

$50 x 3 nights = $150 per week

$150 x 4 weeks = $600 per month

$600 x 12 months = $7200 per year

$7200 x 10 years = $72,000

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Silent & Sober on St. Patrick’s Day

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For as long as I can remember, St. Patrick’s Day was just another day to get hammered. Green beer, Irish Car Bombs, pints of Guinness, shots of Jameson - you name it, I was your basic party girl wearing kelly green while listening to Dropkick Murphys.

I decided to celebrate this holiday in a unique way this year: silently. I committed to being silent vocally. That’s right, no conversations with people. I also went off the grid from all social media channels, emails, texts, and phone calls. This social (and spiritual) experiment has been on my to do list for a few months now, since I interviewed MC Yogi and he shared his experience with me. Inspired by Ghandi’s vows of silence, MC Yogi spent one day a week in silence for an entire year. He best describes it as “recharging my spiritual battery”.

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Delusional Relationships

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Since I stopped drinking three months ago, I’ve become aware of the delusions in my life, especially with men. In the past, I’ve had a few real romantic relationships that have lasted for several years at a time. In between said relationships, I developed a love of ambiguity and tied myself to men that didn’t want clarity with me. I found it to be much easier to throw myself at someone who wasn’t invested in me than to spend my energy finding someone who liked me back. The faux safety net of ambiguity I kept creating was actually hurting me more in the long run. Continue reading “Delusional Relationships” →