Treat-erator

Oh goody! Now I can tell someone–you being perfect—this idea I had to do a Sober Advent Calendar. It gives you a treat just by giving you something to open every day, and it gives ideas for things you probably wouldn’t do ordinarily. Helps shake things up and keep things unpredictable in a fun way (rather than the unpredictable way of the early days of not drinking). It’s a Try Something Different calendar a la Belle. It could be little numbered scrolls wrapped with ribbons that you undo every morning. Or an Advent calendar, with messages inside each window. It could be a stripey vaguely Christmas tree-ish Advent Calendar, a la Mr. Belle. Or it could be a Sober Different Calendar and use it all year round. Wouldn’t this be reinvigorating the childhood excitement that builds up to Christmas morning? Ideas I had so far to put in the calendar:
– first day: note or letter or poem to your future self: why you’re doing this lovely caring change
– last day: letter to past self. Forgiveness, things learned
– in between:
– take an early morning photo of a not hungover environment (post it?)
– remember and list your favorite physical activities from when you were a child (climbing trees, jumping rope, swinging) and try one out
– look up a mocktail and try it (give ideas for where to find them or actual recipes)
– color in a fancy sober letter of the alphabet of your choice (pick from website?), like those involved adult coloring books that might feel meditative and give your hands something to do
– respond to a post for someone who is struggling with something that is helping you
– write a description of how you feel waking up in the morning and what your outlook is. Put this description where you can see it when you feel wobbly at the other end of the day
– at home, on your break from work, somewhere, observe a child
– pick a mantra and say it all day long. Put it in your pocket. Post it on your fridge. (Stay here. Sortie the elevator. This too shall pass. Green grow the rushes-oh…)
– take a sober selfie
– go to a bookstore. Peruse. Potentially buy. Or, do same in library, potentially borrow.
– go to a cafe. Sit, observe, listen. Do not stare at your phone. Sip something heavenly.
– obtain or observe a flower or plant; touch it gently, smell it, really look at it. (If it’s dying, maybe water it.)
– animal day: Watch some. Listen to them. Cat bathing in a patch of sun; dog rolling in the grass; squirrels chattering on branches; birds.
– look up the word “sober” in the dictionary and see its meanings and origins. Then learn the word “sober” in three other languages.
– write a cheer or a haiku. Repeat throughout the day.
– make a sober journey map that has metaphors for the problem spots for you (bumps in the road, pot holes, sink holes, swamps). Create navigations around each problem spot on your map. Kind of like Candyland
– walk around indoors in sunglasses, until seeing out of them is really annoying. Or turn down the lights to the point where it’s hard to see. Take off the glasses or turn on the lights.
– do a sober crossword (these can be created for free at a sober crossword website; you feed in the words and definitions and the program makes a crossword).
– play with a ball. Any ball. The one with tiddly winks or a soccer ball or a baby jingly ball. Roll it, throw it, kick it, make a basket.
– lie on your stomach on the floor in your favorite room. Look at the room from this vantage point (what’s under the furniture?). Now, roll over onto your back and look at the room from this vantage point. How does it look from this perspective?