Booze Is Not My Muse

For as long as I can remember, I’ve associated being a real artist with alcohol.

Infamous quotes like “Write drunk, edit sober,” and “I usually write at night. I always keep my whiskey within reach,” romanticized the notion. So, when I landed a full-time writing position, I leaned into alcohol to lubricate my creativity.

I poured myself a drink whenever I needed inspiration.

I convinced myself alcohol was imagination in liquid form.

I truly believed I was doing it right.

This misconception quickly pulled me into a dangerous spiral—a cycle of unwittingly numbing my creativity with booze, then feeling as though I needed it as my muse. Each afternoon, I’d watch the garnet-colored liquid swirl around my glass in a similar fashion to the turbulent vortex I was attempting to pull myself from. And each time, it only dragged me down. Down. Further. And further.

Until the day I’d had enough.

I was exhausted from being whipped around by the chaotic twister. So, I made the choice to remove alcohol from my life. But this decision didn’t come without fear.

I feared judgment. Failure. Though simultaneously, I feared that I might actually succeed in living booze-free. Which led to the fear that I would forever lose my creativity and, therefore, my writing job. I prepared myself for the possibility that I’d inevitably have to shift careers, again, though the fear of staying the same was so much greater.

But something absolutely incredible happened. As the winds died down, I could regain my footing. Without the poison of alcohol, the soil of my imagination became fertile, and new ideas slowly began to take root.

I watered the sprouts with journaling, rest, and connection.

I savored the words of iconic sober authors like Glennon Doyle.   

I followed sober creators on social media who were as vocal about their struggles as they were about their successes. 

Not only did these practices help me feel less alone in my journey, but they reminded me that creativity exists without liquor. These incredible artists write sober and edit sober. It gave me hope as well as the clarity I needed.  

Alcohol had never sparked my creativity—it drowned it.

And without it, I could finally create intentionally rather than grasping for whatever ideas whirled past me. Amongst the garden lush with ideas, self-trust bloomed. 

Creativity doesn’t have to be birthed from chaos—it can grow from peace. Balance. Rest.

And, like me, you do not need booze as your muse. 

Author bio:

Saleema Ishq (she/her) is a sober author, recovering overthinker, and magic seeker. By day she works as a content writer, and by night she crafts gripping psychological thrillers inspired by her own deep fears. All without booze as her muse. Find more of Saleema’s writing on Instagram: @SaleemaIshq