31/10/2024
🎃 This Halloween, I am pleased to present ‘Alcohol Change’ an original Tomfoolery poem made in collaboration with Alcohol Change UK
There’s a line in "The Great Realisation" that goes, "And while we drank and smoked and gambled, our leaders taught us why, it's best to not upset the lobbies, more convenient to die." This still rings scarily true. Alcohol is so normalised and encouraged in British culture and we rarely stop to question its deeper impact on our physical and mental health. I started drinking when I was 15 and had been regularly drinking since 18, but it wasn’t until the pandemic that it began to dawn on me that alcohol had become totally ingrained in my life. During lockdown, I had a brief three-month stint of sobriety, and it was the first time I had glimpsed life without alcohol since I was a teenager. It showed me how much better I could feel without it.
On April 1st, 2023, at 28 years old, I decided to quit drinking for a year, and the impact was immediate and profoundly positive. I lost weight around my middle, my skin got clearer and my sleep improved dramatically. After two weeks, I started having dreams again—something I hadn’t realised I’d been missing for years, as I had gotten used to a sleep standard consisting of a comatose blackout until morning, even on the days I didn’t drink. I found myself filled with a new motivation, which brought with it the energy to exercise and a desire to eat well. Running, which I’d always avoided, became something I craved, and now I am regularly running half-marathons.
Today, I am over 18 months alcohol-free. I don’t know whether I’ll drink again—forever is a long time—but I’ve realised I much prefer the version of myself without alcohol and intend to remain that way for the foreseeable future. Supporting Alcohol Change UK this Halloween feels important to me, and I hope this poem can encourage viewers to question their own relationship with alcohol. For anyone struggling, I hope this might spark the motivation within you to believe that change is possible and to challenge yourself to a period of sobriety. Good luck!
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Alcohol Change UK is a leading UK alcohol charity, formed from the merger of Alcohol Concern and Alcohol Research UK.
In their words: “We are not anti-alcohol; we are for alcohol change. We are for a future in which people drink as a conscious choice, not a default; where the issues which lead to alcohol problems – like poverty, mental health issues, homelessness – are addressed; where those of us who drink too much, and our loved ones, have access to high-quality support whenever we need it, without shame or stigma.”
👉 Every donation makes a difference, if you are able to support Alcohol Change UK’s work you can do so here: https://donors.alcoholchange.org.uk/page/FUNFFSNPNPM
