Time truly does fly, especially when you are having fun.

I only have days left in my HSM experience.  I cannot believe how the time has flown by and yes, I have had an absolute ball doing it. It really does make me realise who my friends are because they have stuck by me through the good and the bad.

People ask what have I achieved, so much. But I think the greatest thing that I have achieved from this is realising how much damage it actually does to your body. God I love waking up with a clear head and seeing the world and throwing myself into full of energy and enthusiasm. I have made a further pact with myself to only drink in celebration of something. Birthdays, New Beginnings etc.

I am remember the night I last drank alcohol 21 st of July there were $12 Jugs of Little Creatures – I got greedy, Drank way too much and threw up violently and passed out in my friends bed. Regrets? Just the messages I had sent. My poor boyfriend, message after message of drunken babble, I think he lost a little respect for me that night.

On October 22nd I will have finished my first journey of HSM (Yes I feel there are many more to come) I have the day off work, a friend 21st dinner, I will share drinks in celebration with close friends. I am looking forward to it, but wouldn’t be bothered if I wasn’t drinking. I feel healthier, happier and more energetic.

I am still disbelief I am only 3 days away from the end. These past three months have been the best fun, most eventful and rewarding three months of my life.

It has been 7 weeks without a drop. I thought Splendour was going to be my hardest challenge, so I was breathed a sigh of relief and knuckled down to my study. I have now hit September, massive assignments have come and gone with enormous amounts of stress in tow; but still no real desire to have a cold beer to celebrate seeing the last of them. But Saturday was one day when I really needed a drink. It came as the biggest shock too.

I had Two major events back to back. I needed those drinks to numb the pain of the high heels at least. In the afternoon I had  a dear old friends 21st, I gathered there with four other close friends and we laughed through the old photo’s, remembered the old days and chatted. But a lot of the other attendee’s at the party I had not seen since year 10, since I had moved away for boarding school and then onto uni, I had changed a lot to them. There was the continuous phrase of “Oh its you Amy Plant, oh you have changed.” I would have loved to have a few drinks in me to break the awkwardness that was hanging think and heavy in the air. When people asked why I wasn’t drinking, the roll of the eyes and the thin forced smiles and nodding when I began to explain taught me just to say “I am driving” Besides that I was surrounded by great friends, which it was brilliant to catch up with. These girls below are some of my oldest friends. Sonny, in the middle, who’s 21st it was, I have known since the beginning of primary school. They were all some of the first to know about my challenge, and they have been so incredibly supportive during the past 7 weeks. While typing this I have began to realise that this group of friends really does not revolve around drinking.

These girls ARE so supportive of my non drinking, They have been brilliant during the past 7 weeks

Then onto the Monash Med Ball with my best friend. I only knew a handful of people and felt kinda of grumpy that I wasn’t also consuming the lovely free Mountain Goat beer that was on offer. But I powered through and had a brilliant time. Making new friends and realising that it is a small world, Dancing to a horrible cover band and then a half decent DJ, Eating some pretty scrumptious food. So all in all a pretty fun night AND not once did I have to answer the question of “Why aren’t you drinking?” but I think Daniel may have prepped everyone prior to my arrival. I really realised that I don’t need alcohol to get on the dance floor  or chat to people I don’t know.

Me and my lemonade, Daniel and his white wine - another friend that is overwhelmingly supportive with my HSM

I am a gemini, I don’t really believe in astrology or follow it at all but I believe I hold one of the great traits of a gemini, I rush to finish things or don’t finish them at all. Julie, off the film Julie and Julia claims she never finishes anything. I related to her totally, I have that problem too. If I do finish things, its rushed and often resented. I WILL FINISH MY 3 MONTH HSM! Do you know what my boyfriend Tom promised me when I finish? Initially it was to buy me a beer, that followed with a scoff and good luck. Now it is to go out to the Cold Stream Brewery about an hour out of Melbourne for a beer! We both love having some nice wine and beer when we eat; we have both wanted to go there for a while but now with my sober stint we have put it off until we can both enjoy it.

As the 7 weeks have passed my HSM has rubbed off on a few people, whether it saying they are going to drink less or that they are aren’t going to drink for a certain amount of time at all. I like to think that it is my influence. Tom is coming to the end of his Uni degree and has an incomprehensible amount of things going on. For a few weeks now he has said “I am going to stop drinking so much” Now it’s a “I am not going to drink until the end of my semester.” I like to think the HSM idea has rubbed off on him a little.

I think I feel a little older, some what wiser. I already see myself looking at the consumption of alcohol differently. I am posing a few questions to myself, “How will I look at Alcohol in another 6 weeks? Will I turn back into my old habits? Will I desire to drink as much as I used to?”

“Coke please!”

“Ha, are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“No, seriously what do you want?”

“Coca-cola please.”

…. Bartender walks off with out serving me. Rude

That was the conversation I had with the bartender a few friday nights ago. It amused me more than angered me. They are a jolly rude bunch to the non drinkers. That didn’t deter me from having one of my best and memorable nights out ever! You have to love a night of great tunes being spun and dancing until you get kicked out because they are closing. Always a fun night for the sober and the drunk at Miss Libertine’s!

I looked a little deeper and found some relevance to my HSM journey

The other day I was watching the ABC mini series “Marking Time” (a 99 cent buy from Savers! Score!)  Marking Time is about an Australian guy, Hal, that has just finished school and is taking the year off to find a bit of direction, he is not in with the best crowd around the little country town of Brackley but things change when he meets Randa, a Afghan refugee that is living in the there. Cultures collide. One part of the series really made me think about Hello Sunday Morning. It is after Hal takes Randa out to meet his friends at a party for the first time. The scene shows loud obnoxious people swearing, being racist toward the “boat people” that are living in their town and girls throwing up from drinking too much. Randa is not used to this behaviour and wants to leave. In the car while Hal drives her home, it shows them driving down the main street showing drunk people screaming, yelling, fighting, crying etc. Randa questions the action of drinking and why people do it until they are sick? She is extremely confused as to why people would and why they desire to act the way they do while under the influence of Alcohol. It made cringe slightly at the thought of how I have acted drunk, about how recently my friends have acted drunk and how I see people act when I am out. We must be a rude shock to other cultures.

I am 1/3 way through my HSM stint. It is a brilliant talking point when I am out, and yes my friends are coming to terms and swinging around to being a little more supportive about the whole thing.

Ciao for now.

I swim at least every second day. I write more than I ever had before, whether it is on my blog, in one of my many notebooks or letters to friends. I am also working at the Melbourne Writers Festival coming up, so I get to mingle with the celebrities of the literary world! Saving my money, ehhh well I am working on that one. I seem to justify buying records and books so much more now, they are for educational purposes right?! Nothing like hearing something on a record player, the sound is so much more beautiful and organic. You hear aspects of vocals and instruments that you just cannot hear on CD or MP3. With the Melbourne Writers Festival that is approaching there is also so many books I want to read prior to meeting all the authors. So I can justify that, just don’t tell my mother.

All in all, its been an interesting two and a bit weeks. With Splendour and all drugs and alcohol in your face (And friends not being the best supports) But one experience I would like to share with you all was the Monday and Tuesday night after Splendour, back here in rainy, chilly Melbourne. I saw my favourite band of all time(TWICE). Broken Social Scene. They played a phenomenal set at Splendour and an even more amazing set at The Corner Hotel in Richmond (A place famous for Jack White of The Whitestripes plucking out the famous and  skin tingling chords of Seven Nation Army!) Every word spoken, every lyric sung, every beat of the drum and strum of the guitar all captivating and dreamy. It was a mind blowing performance and so uplifting. I cherished every moment of it. The fact that now I can recount their funny onstage banter, and the order of songs they played, I am so happy I was not drinking. Those following nights I dreamt of Broken Social Scence and the enormity of their beautiful music. I just smile when I think about it, I get butterflies when I hear their music now.

Beside the extreme exhaustion I am feeling at the moment of purely just being busy. I am feeling wonderful and on top of my game in every aspect of my life.

I am still buzzing from all the amazing bands I saw play, it was really a once in a lifetime opportunity. I am thankful I never had headaches, hangovers and harsh comedowns. I am grateful that I remember every lyric, dance move, and conversation I had. I am proud of myself that I stuck to my guns and stayed sober, I admit it was difficult and tempting. I learnt that after you say ‘No, No, No’ and ignore smart arse comments from your friends that they actually come around to the concept and show some sort of respect toward you even if it is just comment of ‘At least you won’t be broke when you get home.’ Splendour gave me confidence and strength to stand up to what I believe in.

I am also glad that I decided to challenge myself so greatly right at the beginning. It has instilled a greater strength within me.

Over the past few days I have been tossing up whether to undertake the challenge of not drinking for three months. I did have grand ideas of doing the challenge of 6 – 12 months, but hey I should not bite off more than I can chew.

So here I go three months of saying no to Alcohol.

Three months of saying yes to a few things such as:

1. My Writing – I want more time and motivation to go toward my writing. I want to gain the confidence to put every aspect of it out there. I also wish to have confidence to just show anyone who is willing to read what I write.
2. My health – I want to be fit and healthy, mentally and physically. I want to be able to swim and surf like I did when I was 16. I just want a healthier lifestyle and healthier relationships.
3. Save my money – every couple of weeks I will freak out about money and my lack of. Mum will always pose the question of how much I spend on going out; I ignore her or grumble a weak defence knowing that most of my money DOES go on alcohol. I am heading overseas in late November, so having a little extra in the pocket will help.

After giving it thought and mentioning the challenge to friends. I got a lot of different responses. None at all were responses of support though. This fuelled me to take the challenge and show them that I can do it and that drinking does not control my social life and friendships. My best friend blatantly admitted to not being able to do. I am sad to say that our friendship is based a lot on drinking and socialising together while drinking. I love her to death, but with this realisation it feels like I have been winded and can not get my breath back. I hope to mend our friendship and many others around me over the next few months.

After announcing that I had started to my friends on facebook this evening, I have had a scarce amount of positive responses. My response to them was “I can still have fun sober!” This is going to be a daunting three months ahead. I have taken on my HSM challenge at a tricky time. With Splendour in the Grass next weekend, some of my closets friends 21^st Birthdays and a University Ball happening in that space of time it will really test me and my strength of character. As I continue to spin the new Arcade Fire album I decide to take something from their lyrics and the general vibe of the album, it is far more positive than there previous releases, I am feeling positive going into these three months I am going to make every minute of these three months count, I am going to be full of energy and enthusiasm toward everything that comes my way.