What is the history of the YOLS Calendar? Well, as the embarrassed bridegroom said to the relieved virginal bride, “It’s not a long one.”
But, however short its history, the YOLS calendar does the job. And that job is to provide any fellow dipsomaniacs taking to a year off booze with a little extra motivation.
Even if the self-confessed big drinkers are only going for a month of living sober (MOLS), or a week of living sober (WOLS), by giving them (me/us) a visual representation of their (my/our) accumulated soberdays, the YOLS calendar is designed to spur them (me/us/everyone) on.
(N.B. Corkboard dipsomaniacs own)
“YOLS? Soberdays? What is this language of made up words? Dipsomaniac? What the hell is that?”
Well, if it’s your first time to the Year of Living Sober (YOLS) blog (and even if it’s not, dear regular reader), let me give you the run down to not only the history of the YOLS calendar but the history of Year of Living Sober too.
In point form it goes like this (N.B. ‘Man’ is me)
Brief ‘Year of Living Sober’ History
- Man decides he drinks too much alcohol too regularly and chooses to take a break for a whole year to make sure he can live happily without booze.
- When man commits to what he decides to call his ‘Year of Living Sober’ he starts a blog to keep track of anything interesting he learns (like the fact a dipsomaniac is a type of alcoholic who craves alcohol intermittently).
- At some point man designs an A4 dual-year calendar which he begins using to mark off (with a pink highlighter) each ‘soberday’ (like a Saturday but without a trip to the bottle shop/liquor store/pub/father-in-law’s Polish dessert wine cabinet).
- Man gets lots of positive feedback from big drinkers like him who DO NOT identify as capital A Alcoholics but DO think they could do with drinking a bit less booze (and maybe agree they too could possibly be a ‘Dipsomaniac’—as long as said ‘label’ doesn’t mean they are the type of person who would double-entry a corn-chip into guacamole after taking a bite).
- Man offers YOLS calendar to others (on Day 62 of YOLS) for free and is pleasantly surprised when others take him up on offer.
- Man feels less alone in his dipsomaniac journey and glad to be of some service to his fellow man and woman (actually, so far, slightly more woman than men have requested YOLS calendars).
- After a few months of distributing original design YOLS calendar man decides to update YOLS calendar with small design improvements because he understands little things can make a big difference (which is something, however, the virginal bride is still debating).
So there you have it. A brief (ish) history of the YOLS calendar. If you’d like one please email me by using the email form HERE. Alternatively leave a comment on this post and I’ll send the YOLS calendar jpeg to the connected email.
My name is Ben and I’m not only the YOLS calendar designer/historian but I’m a dipsomaniac too.
Today is Day 263 of my year of living sober.
☆
Little Booze Joke
A woman walks into a bar and tells the barman she’s desperate for a White Russian and the barman says, “Nice to meet you. My name’s Ivan Aryan.”
PS. This blog was recently voted one of the ‘Top 20 Excellent Alcohol Addiction Resources’ by a top USA health org on the same day yours truly was quoted in an article on alternative alcohol behaviour for the Sydney Morning Herald (and syndicated to all the major newspapers around Australia).
PSS. Just saying is all.
I’m intrigued to hear about what Man plans to do when all those days are marked off in pink highlighter. How will Man approach drinking after the YOLS is up? I’m one month into my 3MOLS (I’m only a quarter of a social experiment) and thinking about life after temporary teetotalism.
I’m making a list of all the alcohol-free occasions which I feel would genuinely be enhanced by a glass of something (Friday night pizza just IS better with a beer, and as for a Sunday roast without a glass of red to take from table to fire-side armchair – it’s just not the same). I’m also making a list of the times I used to drink out of habit and realising that alcohol did nothing to enhance those mid-week slump-fests (Wednesday, Thursday, Tuesday, sometimes even Monday nights in front of crap TV). I am sleeping better at night and am more productive (and more cheerful) during the day at the moment, so I’m hoping that I can combine the easy teetotal days with a bit of moderation in my future intake.
Who knows, after the three months are up, I may decide I have to give alcohol up altogether, but I’m hoping not.
What are you hoping for at the end of the YOLS?
Man hopes he learn new habit from YOLS.
Man agrees with all your observations about old habits (of which he had many same/similar; even with good wine crap TV is still crap TV!).
Man plans on using YOLS calendar after year of living sober is up to keep check on how many nights man drinks (still deciding how exactly to approach post-YOLS life).
Man thank Rachel very much for comment and look forward to giving (and getting) more updates
I just found this website, after checking out the interwebby, as I do on occasion- just to see if there are any other similar lives to mine… I was pleasantly surprised to find this one today. I quit drinking on Dec. 23rd, 2011- after 20 years of consuming and dishing up the sauce… Today is 222 days for me (yes, there’s an app for that)…
I like alcohol. So much, in fact, I just turned 41, and have owned bars since I was 27. Building, selling, over 5 in my hometown- currently I own a large nightclub and a neighborhood bar. Yes, by myself. So, drinking everyday? Yes, I did. The (financial) cost was obviously not an issue, but habitual? YES. That (I thought) was my job! But the truth is, I was sick of it. Not of my life, not of my work, but of drinking. It just wasn’t fun anymore. And no, I had never been in trouble with the law, no DUI’s, etc. Maybe it was that I started to feel that it had control over me?
The past 7 1/2 months have been really strange- but really good. Not the crazy “high” good from before, but a lovely daily dose of beauty (that I can remember!)…
I have done a great deal in my life so far, opened many businesses, owned and renovated a lot of houses and old buildings, I’m also an artist and a mom- (I have 2 beautiful daughters, one 24 and the other almost 4)… Have many amazing friends…
I’ve never fit into “normal” society, so I, too, didn’t like the “AA” labels. Not that I disagree with it, either- so I like your definitions of what alcohol can be to a person- all different, in many ways.
The perspective gained from watching people drinking for the past 15 years has been really eye-opening- In fact, many nights at the bars, I would sit and think about the book I could write about the bar life- the crazy things people do- and what happens after the ugly lights come on… (and now I’m thinking about actually doing it)
I think that, for me, it had become a matter of habit. Having a drink with my regulars, who over the years, I would consider to be my friends. But now when I go to work, my sweet bartenders make me wonderful interesting drinks.. cherry limeades with fresh cherries- concoctions with sugar-free red bull, ginger ale, fresh orange juice, etc. I think by now, most of my regulars know that I’m not drinking, (they don’t say anything) but it’s nice to still have a drink with them, instead of just holding a water… If you think about it, it’s not really good for me to be promoting a “no drinking” policy!
But, the past months have been a reflective time, and I am wondering and plotting what I will be doing for the next 15 years… If I could achieve all of that whilst drinking – well- what will I accomplish now? It will be a fun question to answer.
Oh, and I stopped smoking that day, too.
So, I laugh and have told my friends practically my whole life to never trust anyone who claims that they “don’t have a vice”… I guess have to take that back now, unless I can’t trust myself? Ha. Maybe I can’t…
I’ve secretly been looking for another.
I guess time will tell.
Thanks for your comment, Christy. If you do decide to write that book about your many observations while running those bars it sounds like there is no shortage of material for you to draw from. Wow!
Your story reminds me about Sam, the ‘non-drinking’ bar owner/manager from ‘Cheers’. It also reminds me about when I worked as a music promoter in London and decided to decline the free drinks offered me (from the bar: part payment, from the musicians and punters: part socialization) so I’d have a clear head to organize everything (and everyone!). I don’t think it was a co-incidence how the nights I ran took off when I had all my wits about me.
Good luck with your plans—whatever they end up being—for the future. You seem to have had full and rich life already, and I imagine it will continue and, likely, only get better.
Ta for sharing!
[...] of thirst-quenching beer on even the hottest of summer days would pass my lips—for twelve calendar [...]
Lying in bed now with a semi-hangover headache, I am contemplating my 3MOLS starting next month, and must must must have a calendar!! Loving the jokes, too!
Wow, Rachel. Straight into a Tri-MOLS! You ARE serious
Just emailed you your YOLS calendar which can, as I’m sure you’re aware, be used for marking off a MOLS, multiple MOLSs, WOLS (Week of Living Sober) and even just the odd DOLS (Day of Living Sober).
Very glad you like my jokes too. But be warned: with encouragement they (and I) might get even sillier!
[...] Living Sober picture, and way back near the beginning of my whole YOLS adventure I came up with the YOLS calendar, for marking off each [...]