Damp! Yes! Finally something that explains my own relationship to drinking (now). Not totally sober but I drink... really the tiniest and most infrequent amount. I didn't know about gaba, so thank you for this explanation about it and baselines. I saw Fred Eaglesmith in concert once and he mentioned his sobriety onstage and said, "You know... every morning I wake up and feel great. And then I realize that's as good as I will feel all day." Ha! Precisely. I wake up feeling great but also know that there's no drink in the evening to take the edge off. But then again, the next morning my reward will be, once again, to wake up feeling... great. Or at least pretty good. Thank you for writing this.
Damp! Yes! Finally something that explains my own relationship to drinking (now). Not totally sober but I drink... really the tiniest and most infrequent amount. I didn't know about gaba, so thank you for this explanation about it and baselines. I saw Fred Eaglesmith in concert once and he mentioned his sobriety onstage and said, "You know... every morning I wake up and feel great. And then I realize that's as good as I will feel all day." Ha! Precisely. I wake up feeling great but also know that there's no drink in the evening to take the edge off. But then again, the next morning my reward will be, once again, to wake up feeling... great. Or at least pretty good. Thank you for writing this.
I love that line from Fred. My mornings lately have been so lovely; this is a great reminder to appreciate them more.
So glad you've also found an approach that works for you!
I have done lots of sober experiments and I like the idea of "damp" :)