500 Days

Cheers to 500 more!

  On November 21st, 2015 I did not have a beer.

  This was the last time that happened and now 500 days have come and gone with at least one pint in my glass.

  I'm not sure if I need a meeting or another beer.
  In those 500 days, I have written 1197 Instagram reviews, recorded 148 YouTube videos, composed 149 (now 150) blog posts and tried well over 1500 new craft beers. More importantly, I have met some truly amazing people that have brought much joy to my life. I wrote about making it an entire year last November (Has it been a Year Already?) and the sentiments still ring true another 135 days later. We have travelled to many new cities in search of great beer, seeing Quebec City for the first time is a prime example of that and become part of a community I didn't even know existed. 

Quebec City Taberbnac Beer Saint Crew

I never imagined that as I passed 40 I would be making so many new friends and getting to live a little of my dream of being a writer. People I would never have met in ten lifetimes have become dear friends and I am inspired daily by them.

With the OG Beer Saints in Durham

 It wasn't a goal to keep going every day past December 31st, 2016 and I gave some serious thought to doing the whole "Dry January" thing as I woke up on the 1st of this year clear headed for the first time in over 25 years. I admire the people that can have that kind of discipline and who are able to resist the temptations a delicious craft beer offers. I let the idea percolate again after my birthday week trip to 50 breweries around the province. Maybe just a day or a week without a beer wouldn't be so bad, I have a lot of great pictures and reviews just waiting to publish and could keep right on posting on social media without missing a step. I took a moment and stepped outside myself to look at where I was in my life and what not having a beer would do for me.  I considered if I needed the beer or just wanted it. Did it still have the power it used to over me or was I truly past the need to bury my problems behind an alcoholic haze.

Always a good day when I spend it with this lady.

 There are many nights I come home stressed to the very limits of my ability to deal with life. Work, family and the everyday worries of millions of people give rise to all manner of coping mechanisms and mine was always drinking. So where I used to come crashing through the door and within minutes be knee deep into a six pack of Brava Light or Pabst, I found myself resisting the urge to have a beer at all. Partly because I don't drink macro pounders anymore but also because I no longer view beer as a way to escape from my life. I purposely will settle into my chair and close my eyes to think and let go of whatever is bothering me. I may turn to writing down the issue so I can work it out through my own rambling style of communication. There are literally dozens of posts not published but merely written so I could let go of the problem that was troubling me and causing the return of my demons. It is only after I feel at peace that I will head to the fridge for, most often, my only beer of the day. This is what really happens here most nights. I know many people think I get hammered every day and I'll admit, it is very tempting sometimes to slip back into that comfortable numbness that used to envelope me as my mind slowly devolved into the darkness. But I do not want to find myself staring up at the ceiling surrounded by empty reminders of a night I drank to forget. I don't want to run from my problems, I've learned they just follow you anyway. The ability to understand why I drank so much allows me to identify and stop that behaviour more often now. Do I slip up sometimes? Rarely and becoming even closer to non existent. I don't want to miss out on the people who are a part of our lives and places we are getting to go. Being blackout drunk doesn't mean you had fun, it means you missed out on everything that happened.

A highlight I'll never forget. Brew day at Great Lakes!

   Craft just isn't better beer, it is a better way of life. So while perhaps I may or may not have a beer tomorrow or the next day, it is now my choice and not that of a man who was scared of his own mind. Clouding the "could have been's" and making it worse by getting drunk has lost its appeal despite the appearance of a non stop party on Social media. The beer I choose to drink now is for enjoying, savouring and exploring. It is a vehicle to a new and different way of life that still is evolving and changing as we go. I am grateful for all the new friends who embrace what I do and encourage me to pursue my dreams, no matter how crazy they seem. The people who read my posts, watch my videos or just hang out and talk  in real life are the real treasure I have gained in the last 500 days and that is what matters most.

One more because Kathryn is always making me look better!

 Thanks for hanging around and know that I am always and forever just a regular guy who wants to enjoy his time on this planet with some great friends, awesome beer and maybe the odd road trip. It's always a good day when you can wake up and not have to worry about what happened the night before. This train is just leaving the station and I don't want to miss a moment.

Raise your glass and your standards,
One beer at a time!


Cheers!


Polk