“put the alcohol negatives above the surface where I can see them”

from me:

4-day long weekend. baking up a storm. alas the thoughts of chair shopping were usurped by a large catering order for the weekend. today went to two stores to find imported ingredients, house now smells like chocolate. i get to eat the trimmings. it’s not all bad. i am mostly offline (you can tell by the size of my inbox, can’t you see it from there?).

thanks to you for the very thoughtful feedback on what to do going forward with my sober podcast series. helpful. thorough. funny. sad. my <heart> is overflowing.

ok. back to the chocolate. 4 more pans to bake tonight and it’s 8 pm …

from my inbox:

Edison (day 8): “It is hard for me to express how important your and your blog have been to me in the past week … I was saying to my wife that I don’t think I have an addictive personality (I could be wrong) but I struggle with moderation when I indulge.  For example, I rarely have cake, but I can eat half a cake when I eat a slice of a good cake.

Food is different for me from alcohol because I can see the results immediately.  Eat ice cream three days in a row and my pants get tight.  The negatives from alcohol are more insidious and less visible or tangible.

This “journal by email”, as well as your blog and emails, puts those alcohol negatives above the surface where I can see them.  Liver damage, relationship damage, work performance, guilt, etc.

Final thought:  isn’t it funny how much easier it is to forgive myself for saying or doing something stupid when I don’t drink? Warmest regards, Edison”