Did you see that Brad Pitt told Esquire how, after seven years sobriety, he has returned to drinking. At 62, he "got back off the wagon" and is now drinking "in a more restrained manner."
Hmm....
That was surprising. Even more surprising are approving reactions like that of the New York Times: "Brad Pitt’s Return to Drinking Is Not Unsafe, Experts Say, but It’s Not for Everyone."
Double hmm... Maybe that's a sign of the high esteem he enjoys. The idea being, "If Brad Pitt is doing it, it must be okay."
Like everyone else in America, I like Brad Pitt — a skilled, versatile actor. And wish him nothing but the best.
However ... I don't think that's how it works. And the mumbling experts the Times assembled basically said, "If you need to quit but can't, or don't, then drinking less is better than drinking more."
Hmm....
That was surprising. Even more surprising are approving reactions like that of the New York Times: "Brad Pitt’s Return to Drinking Is Not Unsafe, Experts Say, but It’s Not for Everyone."
Double hmm... Maybe that's a sign of the high esteem he enjoys. The idea being, "If Brad Pitt is doing it, it must be okay."
Like everyone else in America, I like Brad Pitt — a skilled, versatile actor. And wish him nothing but the best.
Which doesn't quite add up to "Not Unsafe."
I would suggest his going back to drinking is not not unsafe. Indeed, it is very unsafe, somewhere between extremely risky and certain disaster.
I am no expert, of course. The best course is to run your own sobriety, and let others run their sobriety, or lack of same. I do know that my own route has required not drinking anything for ... more than 20 years. But Pitt's announcement reminded me of the words of David Foster Wallace, in his masterpiece "Infinite Jest" which, if you haven't read it, is about semi-pro tennis set against a backdrop of addiction. Wallace writes:
"That nobody who's ever gotten sufficiently addictively enslaved by a Substance to need to quit the Substance and has successfully quit it for a while and been straight but then has for whatever reason gone back and picked up the Substance against has ever reported being glad that they did it, used the Substance again and gotten re-enslaved; not ever."
So maybe Brad Pitt will be the first. But I know how drunks and addicts tend to jiggle the locks of their cages, and wonder. So my advice is, if you noticed this story and thought, even for a moment, "Hey ... look at that ... maybe ... reality has changed!" I hope you come to the immediate conclusion, "Nope. It has not. Same old reality. Just because this poor fellow is deluding himself doesn't mean I need to follow him over the cliff."
Or if you are determined to give it a go, my sympathy, and I would urge you to wait. Just a year or two. Then check back on Brad Pitt. See how well his plan works out for him.
I am no expert, of course. The best course is to run your own sobriety, and let others run their sobriety, or lack of same. I do know that my own route has required not drinking anything for ... more than 20 years. But Pitt's announcement reminded me of the words of David Foster Wallace, in his masterpiece "Infinite Jest" which, if you haven't read it, is about semi-pro tennis set against a backdrop of addiction. Wallace writes:
"That nobody who's ever gotten sufficiently addictively enslaved by a Substance to need to quit the Substance and has successfully quit it for a while and been straight but then has for whatever reason gone back and picked up the Substance against has ever reported being glad that they did it, used the Substance again and gotten re-enslaved; not ever."
So maybe Brad Pitt will be the first. But I know how drunks and addicts tend to jiggle the locks of their cages, and wonder. So my advice is, if you noticed this story and thought, even for a moment, "Hey ... look at that ... maybe ... reality has changed!" I hope you come to the immediate conclusion, "Nope. It has not. Same old reality. Just because this poor fellow is deluding himself doesn't mean I need to follow him over the cliff."
Or if you are determined to give it a go, my sympathy, and I would urge you to wait. Just a year or two. Then check back on Brad Pitt. See how well his plan works out for him.
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