Very interesting interview with Tom Waits about getting sober a couple of decades ago, and it was really intriguing. He addresses whether creative types can create without alcohol or drugs, something I’ve had a couple of friends struggle with. Some quotes:
I mean, one is never completely certain when you drink and do drugs whether the spirits that are moving through you are the spirits from the bottle or your own. And, at a certain point, you become afraid of the answer. That’s one of the biggest things that keeps people from getting sober, they’re afraid to find out it was the liquor talking all along.”
“I was trying to prove something to myself, too. It was like, ‘Am I genuinely eccentric? Or am I just wearing a funny hat? What am I made of? What’s left when you drain the pool?”
And this:
“I think maybe when you drink, you’re probably robbing yourself of that genuine experience, even though it appears what you’re doing is getting more of it. You’re getting less of it.”
I went through maybe a year of getting wasted on the weekends, and when I came out the other side (via Weight Watchers, not AA) I noticed how many of the people I thought were so smart and funny… weren’t. “How about that?” I said to myself. And when bar friends did something like pour a pitcher of beer on my head, I was more puzzled than amused.
I’d also noticed that I was having physical reactions to alcohol that left me with with throbbing sinuses and headaches — even chest pains. I didn’t want to waste any more time with that, once I made the connection.
Anyway, here’s Tom.
