Nathan- day 2.5

What the hell have I gotten myself into. If not drinking is hard, writing about not drinking is nothing short of  impossible. Yet I find myself sat here numbed by the searing blandness of sobriety unable to write about the simple and timeless compound that has been responsible for my every accomplishment. The crucible of my genius, the nexus of my relationships, the alpha and omega of my adult life. The guiding force that led me down the road less travelled whenever I found myself before two syringe spackled alleways diverging in the rusty pale glow of a dying streetlamp in dendritic streams of soupy urine.

And yet I struggle to find words to describe its absence. I'm sure if I had a quick glass of wine I'd be pissing out yearning prose while heaving up the partially digested chunks of what few emotions I have left. Unfortunately a cup of tea doesn't seem to have the same effect. Not even several. So I'll start from the beginning.

Lucky decided to have an alcohol free month for health and wellness reasons (it helps that it's a short month and her social calendar is a bit empty at the moment).  Around about the same time I realised my party boy lifestyle is about as sustainable as the Greek economy. So I decided to join in on the lack of action. As taking even a couple of hours off the Life Giving Ambrosia booze represents a herculean accomplishment for either of us, we asked ourselves what else could we accomplish if we spent thirty days sober. Thus, NOvember was born.
So the journey begins. A month of not waking up in Artarmon trying to pry myself out of the crushing mandibles of predatory art students. A month of not being slowly envenomated by the spicy sweet stench of amyl. A month of not galloping off on the last train out of Sydney in hot pursuit of a grindr date in the wild west.

A month of maybe even treating myself as well as well as I try to treat those around me.

It's a tall order- can Sydney's two favourite Trashbags find creative fulfillment, physical fitness, emotional contenment and a renewed perspective of life in the space of 30 days? Am I even capable of making such a monumental change to everything that I am, have been, and thought always would be?

And what is it like to stare at the stars from anywhere other than the gutter?

It's going to be an interesting month.