This is Annie Grace and you're listening to this naked mind podcast where without judgment,

pain or rules, we explore the role of alcohol in our lives and culture.

Hi, this is Annie Grace and welcome to this naked mind podcast. Today I am so excited to have Kim with me welcome Kim.

Thank you. Nice to be here.

Yeah, so great to be here with you. So we were just talking a little bit about the the snow, but so you are in Vermont.

Yes, awesome. Yeah, we've gotten a little snow this summer. I mean this winter, but not enough. So we'll take yours.

Fun memories of skiing it. So that's really good mountain. That's awesome. So why don't you just kind of, I guess, take us back in your journey to sort of where it all began for you.

Okay, well, I actually have a story that I sent to that I wrote and I was wondering if that would be okay if I just kind of followed along with that.

Absolutely.

Like my story.

Just for background, I'm 61 years old. I've been a social drinker for 40 years. And I have been alcohol free for the last 15 months.

I'm not really counting had to stop and think about it today. But I just like reading this boost clue story, I can give you the background for me if that's if that's cool with you.

Yeah, that's great.

So this is a column I wrote for one of my for my blog, Spirit Scout.

And it's called boost clues.

The question is boost keep it or leave it. It's a question had flirted with over the past several years.

Despite all the gaslighting our culture extends to the joys of drinking. I've always known deep down in my liver that alcohol ethanol is harmful to my body.

Mind and spirit. Just looking at the chemistry and the math told me that vigorous cultural branding of booze and saturated social patterns kept me stuck in the habit.

There are even medical studies that reinforce the lie that alcohol is beneficial to your health. So what's a drinking drinker to do.

I'm happy to say that booze and I finally broke up over a year ago. And my only regret is that I didn't do it sooner.

Boose for me was a fun habit. Most of my social outings involved the glass or three of wine and it was always cool. No drunken episodes or embarrassing epiphanies in public.

To startle me into quitting. I was a social drinker for 40 years and I really enjoyed it. I even had a modest wine seller and I belonged to a wine club.

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