Failed caffeine detox
Just before my holiday I decided I would cut down on sugar and caffeine. Because during my first semester I had suddenly developed this huge appetite for caffeine and sugar. Stressing out meant I needed comfort food. Working hard meant I needed to be alert. What else do you ask for than sugar and caffeine? Unless you want to risk jail and start snorting cocaine…
My decision to “detox” was not purely based on health reasons. I knew that during my second semester I would really need that caffeine kick. So nothing better to stop using it for a while to lower your sensitivity towards it.
Yeah, right…
I managed to cut down on sweets, but it wasn’t that easy to kick coffee. You see, I love the taste of coffee and caffeine is a nasty drug in it self, very addictive — even if it’s very mild.
It is somewhat ironic that I’m writing about this tonight. Today I started the day with coffee, to kick-start myself before I started editing an article I’m working on. Later in the evening I had a few glasses of red. Then I decided, two hours ago, to have an energy drink, so I could get some more editing done. But the caffeine rush was a bit too much, so I decided to have a bit of damiana.
Ah yes, detox is going great for this journo!
But I’m not too fussed. If these vices help me become a better writer and a better journalist. Yes please, more this way, thank you!
It is somewhat ironic. My mind is my most important tool as a writer. So by not using any of these substances, my mind would be more healthy. Right? But if I did not tweak it now and then, would I now be a freelance journalist?
Kind of a catch-22.
NB: The photo above was taken, by me, when I lived in The Netherlands. Good times!
