Being Away

I've been away from both of my blogs for quite a while. I think it might be due to having way too much fun in this past month or so. I had lunch with my aunt, uncle, sisters, and cousins today. On the car ride to a bakery with my sister and my thirteen year old cousin, my sister and I somehow felt the urge to talk to my thirteen year old cousin about drinking and drugs. 

If you would've talked to me about three years ago about alcohol and drugs, I would've told you that all of it was terrible and people that do those things suck at life. Growing up I was always around older kids that smoked weed, and as I got older and went to college, smoking and drinking was all around me. I never gave in to peer pressure. It wasn't until I was twenty-one years old that I drank my first beer. I remember feeling comfortable and that I was around people that were conscious and smart about their consumption. I felt safe and I just felt an urge to see what was so great about drinking alcohol. 

After I realized and experienced the effects of alcohol first hand I was less judgmental of people who drink alcohol. Not because I liked the feeling but because I was more understanding, and I realized why so many of my peers/friends/people consume alcohol. 

I've never experienced being drunk, I've probably only drank two beers at most, or a glass and a half of wine in my lifetime. I've always known/felt what my limit was and I never had the urge to get to that point. 

So now that I'm even older, I've really thought about alcohol consumption and what might be the reasons that so many people regularly drink. A lot of my ideas are inspired by Thich Nhat Hanhs teachings that I was a part of back in August of this year. The idea that people resort to alcohol because they are suffering. Suffering so much that it might be too unbearable to deal with the sadness/anger/anguish. So why alcohol or drugs? These are substances that make us numb, that can take us away from our present self, so that we are even more detached from healing ourselves. When we consume alcohol and drugs, we are trying to escape, we are running away from our suffering. After reading and hearing about these ideas, I can't help but look around me at the people that I care about that constantly consume to escape the present, escape themselves. 

For me, in my own life, I've decided that drugs and alcohol isn't something I'd ever want to do again because I want to be here. And by "here" I mean I want to be present with a clear mind and clean heart/body. I'm really grateful that I had friends that made me feel comfortable enough to drink because I am so much more understanding of others. And in no way am I saying that drinking and drugs are wrong, it's just something that I'm not into and it's something that I don't need. 

These are the kinds of things I shared with my thirteen year old cousin. One point that I wanted to make clear was that we shouldn't think of drugs and alcohol as taboo, something that is forbidden, and we shouldn't judge the people that include those things in their lifestyle. And when I was talking to her about all of this I realized that I've been surrounding myself with people that don't drink or smoke or whatever else. Friends that can share how beautiful life is just by enjoying it consciously. I've been happy, and it's nice to learn how to embrace that happiness and joy.

I'm done with being away, life is much more beautiful when I'm home.