Creative Devil in the Glass

I really enjoyed last night's Timber Lake Playhouse production of the musical, Bright Star, written and composed by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell. And one humorous exchange (see exchange below) between the characters got me thinking about the association between writers and alcoholic beverages and the quotes from famous authors about strong drink (and beer and wine).

https://www.scribd.com/document/421216935/BRIGHT-STAR-Script-Vocal-Book-pdf

Clearly, alcohol has been the ruin of many a man and woman (and often children adversely affected by alcohol abuse and alcoholism). Yet alcoholic beverages have been with us from ancient times. And we use alcoholic beverages in a variety of social situations and occasions. We often celebrate and mourn with alcoholic beverages. While prohibitionists in this country succeeded briefly in getting them banned here in the United States and there are still jurisdictions where they are outlawed or forbidden from being sold, the United States has a long history of drinking alcohol in its various forms. We are a drinking people.

I'm not too proud to admit that in my teenage years and early adulthood, I was prone to drinking to excess. On more than a few occasions, I drank to the point of not being in control of myself. I even had a few encounters with law enforcement that resulted directly or indirectly from my alcohol consumption. I am not proud of that personal history, yet I am not too ashamed to admit it publicly either. Perhaps I should be, but I am not someone incapable of admitting my mistakes.

I realize from the mandatory counseling sessions following one particular encounter with the American legal system, that my problems were not really with alcohol. Granted my drinking to excess and being criminally irresponsible under the influence of alcohol were why I once found myself standing before a stern-faced judge that promised to incarcerate me if I found myself standing before her again under similar circumstances. But it was coping with copious amounts of alcohol to wounds suffered. The wounds were the real problem for me. It wasn't addiction. It wasn't the alcohol. It was a refusal to acknowledge and address some issues and unpleasant things. For me to blame my irresponsible and sometimes criminal behavior on alcohol would be a cop-out. Other people manage to drink responsibly.

If I am being truthful, I was sometimes the beneficiary of the effects of alcohol consumption. It brought a sometimes socially awkward young man out of his shell. I remember the time that a handful of women brought me and a buddy to their vacation home after a playful, flirtatious exchange. I remember being told by one of the women in their group that I was a "smooth talker." I am certain that I attributed my seemingly boundless confidence to my alcohol consumption. I also met some women that I dated for a time or had a casual relationship with that I met during a party. A little alcohol "greased the wheels," so to speak.

Consuming too much alcohol on occasion didn't do me any favors with women, friends, family, police officers, or judges. But those cases were incidents relating to dosage and my personal irresponsibility. The alcohol wasn't to blame. And a little bit of alcohol loosened me up conversationally.

I can see how alcohol consumption might be a good thing for an artist, including writers. One can experience a range of feelings and emotions while under the influence of alcohol (and other drugs as I understand it). At the very least, it can loosen one's inhibitions. And I expect that a writer might benefit from being less inhibited. The devil is in the details, as they say. As pointed out by Mr. John Vernon as Dean Vernon Wormer in the movie, Animal House, "Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son." You have to dial in the dosage.

Someday I hope to become a writer myself. I drink on occasion. I just need to increase my writing dosage. Below are a handful of quotes relating to drinking from some famous authors. Enjoy! And if you choose to imbibe this weekend, have fun, drink one for me, and please drink responsibly. 🥃🍸🍹🧉🍾🍷🍺😃

Drinking is an emotional thing. It joggles you out of the standarism of everyday life, out of everything being the same. It yanks you out of your body and your mind and throws you against the wall. I have the feeling that drinking is a form of suicide where you're allowed to return to life and begin all over the next day. It's like killing yourself, and then you're reborn. I guess I've lived about ten or fifteen thousand lives now. -- Charles Bukowski

After the first glass, you see things as you wish they were. After second, you see things as they are not. Finally, you see things as they really are, and that is the most horrible thing in the world. -- Oscar Wilde

"Alcohol is the anesthesia by which we endure the operation of life." -- George Bernard Shaw

"Good people drink good beer." -- Hunter S. Thompson

"Here's to alcohol, the rose-colored glasses of life." -- F. Scott Fitzgerald

"I drink to make other people more interesting." -- Ernest Hemingway