Did You Even Do Dry January if You Don’t Post About It?

Today is February 1, 2021 and if you were thinking content was a little light in January, you are right. Turns out, it’s kind of hard to write about wine when you’re not drinking it! I did Dry January for the first time, which is pretty easy to do in a pandemic. There was no social pressure to drink (due to lack of social activity) and the only tough times were the siege on American democracy, celebration of a new president, and my binge of Bling Empire when I REALLY wanted to pop some champagne.

Dry January has gotten a lot of criticism for being more about bragging rights than evaluating your relationship with alcohol. And I will admit that this was a bit of a cheater year because I didn’t have my normal socially packed schedule, where I would be saying “no” to drinks while everyone else was partaking.

But I did learn a few things about myself that I thought I would share:

1. I still ran virtual wine tastings and they were just as fun to run without a glass of wine with the participants.

2. I noticed that almost every feeling can be cause for a drink – celebrating with champagne, rewarding a workday with wine, happy, sad, bored, etc.

3. My social interactions are so few these days that it felt sad not to have wine with my friends on the rare opportunity I got to see them.

4. Wine is my PASSION and it was harder to stay connected to that while not drinking. Sounds obvious, but I was wondering if it might be the same to write about it while being distanced from it. It is possible, but it is way more fun for me to engage with the wine I am writing about. I really missed it!

5. Can’t say I really noticed the benefits you’re supposed to see – amazing sleep, fresh skin, etc. but never waking up with a hangover was great.

6. First drink I want is surprisingly not wine but a dirty martini – I am looking forward to seeing how drunk one of them gets me!

7. I tried Seedlip to make some mocktails. It is literally the same price as booze for adding some bitterness to your soda water? No thank you. Save your money for the good stuff.

Dry Jan might be a little gimmicky, but anything that lets you pause some of the stressors in your life and evaluate is likely a good thing. I’m glad I did it and might consider it again, but for now I am thankful to be back on the wagon. Look for more content coming soon!