My tastebuds have changed...

This might seem a bit silly and trite but I’m often incredulous about this.

Before I got sober I hated soda water (club soda, sparkling water, seltzer water, or fizzy water… call it what you will) – like HATED it. I would NEVER drink it, turning it down with a ‘no thanks, I don’t like it’ if it were offered to me.

Same goes with herbal teas. Boozy me drank instant coffee for a hot drink, occasionally a real coffee. But no tea – black, green or otherwise.

Nowadays I can’t get enough of soda water. I make it regularly from the Soda Stream, I buy it in big bottles and little bottles, I order it when I go out. I LOVE it! It’s so refreshing and yummy.

And sober me doesn’t drink coffee any more. I gave it up about 9 months ago when I realised I wasn’t really enjoying it (it gave me a sicky feeling in my tummy and headaches). Occasionally now I’ll make a decaf instant at home or order a decaf flat white when out. But full-strength coffee has left the building.

But boy does sober me love tea. Not black tea – but green teas and herbal teas? Oh yes, yes, yes.

I currently have at home; green tea with mandarin, chamomile tea, lemon, lime & ginger tea, berrylicious fruit tea, green spice tea, sencha ginger & lemon tea, gen mai cha tea, green chai tea, white christmas tea, apple & elderflower tea, and orange spice tea.

I have a lovely little tea pot that I use to infuse the loose leaf teas and I drink those with a large floral tea cup & saucer. With tea bags I always use my favourite mug that has a zebra on it.

When it comes to liquids my tastebuds have changed completely! Such an interesting reflection on how the rest of me has changed since I gave up the booze. Because really, my turnaround in liquid preferences mirrors the deeper turnaround that is inside me.

Boozy me was scornful of ‘naval gazing’ and thought any introspection and inner reflection was indulgent and boring. Sober me now knows that well guided introspection and positively focused inner reflection is hugely calming and life-changing.

Boozy me never paused when socialising to properly connect with people. Boozy me thought socialising was all about fun! Frivolity! Light-hearted banter! Sober me treads more gently at parties, weddings, and dinners out. I now have lovely real conversations with people at social events. I properly connect. I never knew I wasn’t properly connecting with people before. I thought I was. But I wasn’t.

And here’s the big one. Boozy me never paused to properly connect with herself. She thought she knew herself. She didn’t.

I’ve been sober for four years now and I am still figuring myself out. The more time I spend with myself sober the more I start to realise who I really am. How I talk to myself. How I process things. What I really need. What I really don’t need. What makes me feel good. What makes me feel uncomfortable.

It’s incredible how the more sober time I have the more I am able unpick myself. There were many wonderful revelations that came quickly after I put the bottle down, but the slow revelations are proving even more rewarding.

Love, Mrs D xxx