Everyone has had that day where they wake up wishing they hadn’t consumed that much alcohol. The hangover can be a treacherous time; You wake up and the whole room is spinning and any little sound sounds like nails on a chalkboard [do they even have those anymore?] and you recall the night before. Or worse, you have to enlist a friend to tell you about it. You find that you danced on a table without any music playing, you screamed that you loved everyone, you told someone you hated them and the exact reasons why; you cried in the bathroom, you embarrassed yourself in front of a group of potential suitors with your terrible dance moves!

You get to hear these things, or recall them; so here’s the question:

If a drunk [man’s] words are a sober [man’s] thoughts;

Would it not follow that:

The actions of a drunk [man] are a sober [man’s] fantasy?

Let’s break this down into semantics for clarification. Drunk being a brain on alcohol, for instance; Sober being a brain in stasis. Words being the things said; thoughts are the internal dialogue. Actions being a situation acted out; while fantasy would be something a person only dreams of doing.

Many of people use substances as a social lubricant; they want to sing karaoke, for instance, but can only get up the nerve after a few drinks. They speak their mind sober with reverence to others; when drunk, however, they speak. their. mind. And, they do so without worry about sharp edges. They are brutally honest. It’s not that they enjoy the emotional outburst of another; or, maybe they do! If you were to raise your eyebrow and ask; remain silent after the protest, they may just babble off with the real answer. Even sober.

Nobody wants to see the negative parts of themselves. Nobody wants to hear laughing while they are singing poorly. Nobody wants to be thought of as uncompassionate. And substances drop the veil of what you see and what you get. It’s not as though we are drastically different once we tip the scale of substances and weigh out drunk. We just lack the inhibitions to act our reserved; sober, self.

So, does being drunk reflect our truest self? Or are we not comprised of a combinations of our thoughts and words; our actions and fantasies? Are we just what we are when we are reserved? When our inhibitions are in tact?

Do we not “Love these guys” without alcohol on our breath?

Without our inhibitions; when our reservations are not as prominent; when we are most likely to “kiss the girl”; to stand on a stage and sing that song only our steering wheel has heard you sing; are you anyone. but. yourself? An honest self.

     Substances are not an excuse for the actions of your ‘honest-self’. You can say you would NEVER do that [or say that; etc.] without said substance and maybe be telling the truth. But, is that because your honest-self and reserved-self do not comply to each other? Or because substances make you a different person?