Time to Let it Go...

  

An appropriate us for my growlers now, I suppose...

  I've come to a crossroads in my life and while this particular intersection may seem a little silly, it feels like a momentous, albeit small, decision going forward.

  I have a lot of beer paraphernalia, bottles and clothing. Mostly bottles and cans I've saved from all the thousands I've tried, about 500 or so that line the shelves and walls of my basement, along with many signs and pictures, various knick-knacks and mementos of the last decade of my life. Here's the thing though, I don't know if they speak to me anymore. I don't know that what they used to represent is what or who I am now and I wonder, quite seriously, if hanging onto these things is holding me back from the next evolution in my life. 

  I know that in the end of it all, they are just things, collectibles to me and my memories and not really necessary to the times they represent. But looking around as the NFL season begins and hockey is just around the corner, I wonder if all this stuff that surrounds me down here in my "Man-Cave" I lovingly refer to as The Crease isn't just weighing me down instead of lifting me up. We surround ourselves with things that have the potential to inspire us and by leaving all this beer related stuff surrounding me so many hours a week, do I leave myself open for failure or worse, paralysis of the mind as I seek to make so many changes to my life and how I live it. I wonder if I need a physical rendering of the mental one I've already done, taking charge and changing my environment to better reflect the pursuits I now endeavour to and seek. 

Beer Wall circa 2016

  I feel like it is time to say goodbye to 90% of what is down here. Perhaps a single shelf of the most important of favourite beers of all-time. I have photos of everything, so perhaps printing them and putting them into some frames as part of the decoration, but not the focus would be a good idea. Do I need 40 plus growlers collecting dust around my room or can I give them back, collecting the cash and freeing up the space for the new things I'm trying to fill my life with. I wonder if the change I want is not just the things, but what I used to think they represented about my over the top lifestyle of just 1 year ago. The indulgence I found myself leaning into after so many years of trying to be a better drinker lent an air of defiance to showing off my consumption and now that I've spent 12 months sober as a church mouse, I don't think these displays represent me or who I am anymore. Even though it's just me, for the most part, that sees these things, I am the target audience for the message and the message needs to change.

  So stay tuned if your looking for some beer related stuff to decorate your own personal space, I know a guy who's going to be looking to clean out some stuff real soon...gratis...

P.S. I understand the irony of me writing about my beer walls just a couple of months ago. Time's change and so do folks who spend a lot of it sober...

Polk

9/14/25