I started drinking at 16, and it was fun. As a painfully shy teen who had just moved to a new town, it made me the person I wanted to be; confident and outgoing. At parties, alcohol helped me fit in and find friends while making some lasting (and some not-so-lasting) memories.
I continued to use booze as a social lubricant into my twenties – but as the years went on, the magic wore off. I found happiness harder to come by in the days after a heavier session and the hangovers became unbearable. So I decided to quit drinking for a month, curious to see what a dry spell could do for me.
