Day 143: a new experience.

Last night I hung out with one of my favourite girlfriends, and as I sometimes do of a strange moment, I had a cigarette. And this morning I felt absolutely revolting because of it. I felt mildly dehydrated (which could have been for other reasons too I suppose), wheezy and tight-chested. It was gross. And the closest thing I've had to a hangover in 143 days. It's a feature of being teetotally pure that any contamination of your sacred temple of bod registers quite immediately and profoundly. And the difference between waking pure as the driven snow and waking a little bit polluted is large and foul. (I'm just sayin.) Anyway, this feeling of grossness led to an experience I have not noted before. Some colleagues and I went to the pub at lunch, as one does on a Friday in Sydneytown, and with every drink I sank I felt a little better. It's not exactly surprising considering I was drinking lemonades and then fizzy waters, but noticing my body and head feeling noticeably better and clearer with each hydrating glass was a new experience, especially when sitting in a bar. Speaking of new experiences, I just got a call from my little brother who has recently embarked on an eight-week liver cleanse (yes, the same one I failed to complete). Last night he went to a gig with some of his most unrelenting drinking pals, and managed to get through the whole thing without touching a drop of alcohol. He said it was hard, but that miraculously he'd had a really amazing time. It must have been a good gig. And I'm proud of him (but that's normal). I bet too that when he woke up today he enjoyed the darling new experience of feeling perfectly fine after a fun night out. It might even be the kind of experience that he could (like I have) happily get used to.