Amayzine

If the whole world has a hangover and you don't

tomcat

I'm starting the new year for a change not in style. Or better said: not in the style I'm used to.

Because just like it has been getting used to all those thousand holidays more often, it is the same now, on January 1st. Everyone has a hangover except me. Everyone was very drunk yesterday and bubbly from all the champers, and I, well, drank for show a elderflower cocktail consisting of elderflower syrup, a slice of cucumber, and an ice cube. Truly delicious, but not as nice as diving into the new year tipsy with a bottle of Barolo. That's what it's called, that nice red? I would almost forget the names of all those wines, you get that again, after seven months of sobriety.

If you, like me - unexpectedly or not - started sober in 2019 you will undoubtedly recognize this:

  1. Theoretically, you could totally go to the gym Not that you do, but that’s not the point you know.
  2. Everyone is sending you blurry photos and you can only respond with crying laughing emojis. And with a photo of your freshly squeezed vitamin juice because yes, you were already dutifully slow juicing while ninety percent of the Netherlands was still asleep.
  3. You feel nauseous from the waves of alcohol still swirling through your house. And you have to clean that up because your roommate is still asleep.
  4. You can join in on the hangover food; hello snack bar. Tastes pretty good even without a dead bird in your throat.
  5. You actually feel like the new year. Bring on those new months, new weeks, new adventures, and new events. The rest of the world doesn't want to think about that just yet. At least not now, with that pounding head. You do. You are already making lists. The wishes for the new year, the dreams, those ambitions, those plans, those new travels… You are ready for it. All by yourself.
  6. You want to go out, have lunch, dine somewhere, take a walk, shop… But no one is up for an outing.
  7. So you just go along a bit with the world, out of boredom. Hanging on the couch is also fine if you don't have a hangover. You have your lists to make, remember? No worries.
  8. Plus: you are just as happy as everyone else when it's January 2nd again. They are no longer hungover, you are no longer the only one feeling a tiny bit excluded. Just nice and normal again after all those holidays in December.

Thank goodness it will be a while before Easter, Pentecost, and King's Day.