This Naked Mind

By Annie Grace, published in 2015

Rating: ★★★★★ (5 stars out of 5)

I have never been a big drinker. I went to one of the biggest party schools in the nation and even then I still didn’t drink a lot. The lockdowns changed all that and I discovered recreational drinking. It lasted for a couple of years, but as more and more of my family members gave up alcohol, the clearer it became to me that I was going down a dangerous road. With a family history of alcoholism, I can’t afford to take the risk. This Naked Mind : Drinking Alcohol :: The Jungle : Eating Meat.

One easy takeaway from this book that resonated with me was this: alcohol is so poisonous and unpalatable that we have to go to great, almost silly, lengths to make it something we can drink. Not to put too fine a point on it: it’s poison diluted and flavored so we don’t spit it out. Not a good thing to put in our bodies!

Subsequently, I have returned to my semi-sober ways, drinking occasionally and only when I really want to. Thankfully, I rarely want to.