{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"It's the Ritual I Crave","description":"On this week's Keepin It Real, Cam is coming to the end of a month of no alcohol - Dry January. February begins soon, though. And Cam's wondering whether he'll continue on or not.  ----- My dry January has just a couple days left. This is the third consecutive year I\u2019ve participated in Dry January and I\u2019ve remembered again how much I like it. Thirty nights of good sleep. I feel like I\u2019ve lost ten or twelve pounds. My head is clear each day. The benefits are amazing. And, just like the last two years, I wonder why I don\u2019t do this more regularly. When my wife moved to Mobile with me, she noted how the parties down here start around Halloween and go straight through Mardi Gras. There is no let up. Nearly every weekend is a reason to gather, to have a party of some sort, and accompany the party with a drink or two. It reaches a crescendo around Christmas and another crescendo at Mardi Gras. I\u2019ve found that Dry January serves as a nice break in the party pace after Christmas and before it picks up again for Mardi Gras. And after a go-go holiday season, I find it nice to prove to myself that I\u2019m in control of myself. I like a bold glass of red wine and a tasty IPA and putting them both aside for thirty-one days is, I feel, a fruitful and worthwhile discipline. Oddly, when I tell some people that I\u2019m participating in Dry January, I get dismissive comments. \u201cLoser,\u201d they say. Or they tell me I\u2019m weak which is exactly what I\u2019m trying to prove to myself that I\u2019m not. They\u2019re kidding, but only kind of kidding. If I were to tell my friends that I\u2019m not going to yell at my wife for thirty-one days, they\u2019d applaud me and offer support. If I told them I was going to stop beating my dog for thirty-one days, they\u2019d say, \u201cGood. That dog doesn\u2019t deserve that.\u201d If I shared that I would no longer berate and belittle my children for thirty-one days, they\u2019d offer me firm, unwavering support. So, declaring that I\u2019m dropping behaviors that destroys families and shorten life-spans, gets me firm support. Except when it comes to alcohol. When I tell people I\u2019m dropping alcohol for thirty-one days, which certainly can destroy families and shorten life spans, I\u2019m called a loser. That makes no sense but that does reflect\u2026something. I\u2019m not sure what, though. It\u2019s clear to me that the habit of having a beer or glass of wine in the evening is the part I like the most. It\u2019s that ritual that I crave. And Sunday afternoons about 5pm is when I crave that ritual the most. Stella Artois non-alcohol beer is my go-to in those moments. It\u2019s not the same as a high gravity IPA, which I love \u2013 especially Braided River Brewery\u2019s Hoppy By Nature, that stuff is nectar - but it does scratch the itch, especially when I know that all this will be over at the end of the month. Which it will be. Or may not be. Again, the benefits of drying out for a month are great but I also like a little tipple at the end of a long day.  I don\u2019t know. I\u2019ll have a tough decision to make this coming Monday, when dry January ends. I\u2019m Cam Marston and I\u2019m just trying to Keep It Real. ","author_name":"Keepin' It Real with Cam Marston","author_url":"https:\/\/cammarston.com\/keepin-it-real-with-cam-marston\/","html":"