is it the sugar, or the buzz that comes after a few glasses, or the hit of the booze right at the first swallow, or is it the taste, the burn in the throat? or the smell, the neat line-up of bottles at the liquor store? the memory of great parties, the memory of all the times when ugly things got forgotten, the memory of making up with a partner over a bottle of wine?
or all of it and more?
alcohol, hootch, booze, brew, spirits, liquor, juice, drink, demon rum …
it can be great stuff. and it can maim and kill.
i’m reminded of the myth of prometheus. he stole fire from the gods and gave it to the mortals. for that, zeus punished him by chaining him naked to a rock, and every day an eagle would come and pick at his liver. he would be chained to this rock forever, or until the wrath of zeus would subside.
fire. fire water. an alcoholic, is that a person who steals firewater from – who? the gods? who takes fire water from under the guarding eyes of the divine and gives it to whom? his lower self? is there such a thing as a “lower” and “higher” self?
one thing is for sure, if it is a true alcohol, her liver IS being tormented every day. and not just the liver. she IS chained to a rock, helplessly exposed to the elements, with no end in sight.
zeus is a punishing god. i don’t want to be under his guarding eyes. as a mortal, i want to align with a divine presence that has compassion, love, understanding, patience. and one that has courage! one that will hear me out and give me ways and support to destroy those chains, come off that rock, get away from that eagle and live in a land where zeus does not rule.
it so happens that i’m not addicted to alcohol but i’m not sure whether that matters. we all have our rocks and chains and punishing gods.
and we all have a right to be free!
if there’s a person close to you who struggles with alcohol, why not think a bit about this story. where is this person’s freedom, and how might he or she get there? how is your own desire for more freedom in your life similar to his or hers? where do you connect?
there are, in fact, lots of ways for us to reach more freedom. the beauty of our world, the one that has mastered fire, is that there is no rock too far, no chains too hard, no eagles too tricky that we cannot help a person gain their freedom.
isabella mori
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