“I have never been drunk” was once my confession and then it became my motto and popular joke. Drinking alcohol has never appealed to me. As someone that loves health and sports, drinking did not fit in. Also, my family in Brazil did drink alcohol occasionally, and I saw them getting drunk, fighting, saying things they would later regret, and drinking did not make a lot of sense to me.
The funny thing is that although I firmly believed in my choice, first I felt shy about not drinking alcohol. I wondered if my story could be a movie like, “Never Been Kissed” or the “40 year old virgin”. Those insecurities can be very challenging when you are a teenagers just trying to fit in. At the end of the day, I wanted to attend parties, spend time with great people and laugh until I lose my breath, but somehow, there was a social assumption that these things only happened once we’re drunk.
Then two things occurred me. First, I realized that being different was a trademark, something that defined me and my contribution to the world. Second, I don’t like taking things for granted, or blindly agreeing to “that’s what we have always done.” So I decided to experiment with not drinking. I wanted to make friends that liked me for who I was, and not for what I drank, I wanted to tell “I love you”, whenever I felt like, and not when I was drunk. That sounded somehow unconventional, but that’s who I wanted to be. Though these feelings and actions were scary and could make me vulnerable, I thought it was worth exploring them.
So while my friends were learning how to take “social lubricants”, I was learning how to switch my mind to celebration mode, allowing myself to feel joy and sharing it with others. Being drunk became for me a state of mind, a point where I didn’t care what others think about me, I only cared about being authentic, feeling happy and connecting. People started to often assume or even ask me if I was “hammered”, just because they saw me dancing, talking to strangers, or just laughing out loud. They couldn’t believe I could act and feel that way without drinking. My only answer: I have spent many years learning how to feel that way instead of learning how to drink. It was a strange feeling at first like a moment of liberation in which I could do whatever I wanted just like my drunk friends. The only difference was that I didn’t have the excuse the following day that I was “drunk”. And quite frankly, what difference would that “excuse” make?
As an adult, I know that I don’t need alcohol. For years, I didn’t want to make a big deal of it. This was a choice I made for myself based on what works for me and what I believe. However, after meeting Sam I realized that there are other people like me out there. We have not had the chance to promote or embrace our lifestyle. I couldn’t recall a movie or a role model that showed not drinking as a fun lifestyle. So Sam and I decided to start the dialogue, saying that there are cool ways of enjoying life without alcohol, getting life drunk.
It takes a lot of courage to promote getting life drunk when it goes against an industry that has dictated what our social life should be. Sam and I are definitely dreamers, but we hope that we are not be the only ones. If we can help one person to choose getting life drunk, we believe we will be making our small positive change in the world. If you feel inspired, join the movement. We would love to hear from you.
