I'm not a huge fan of alcohol and I never have been, but it's kind of needed after the first so many days of classes. We all have a positive outlook on the semester in the first couple of days, but as soon as we take a look at the exam schedule and receive our first few assignments, it all goes downhill from there. Even tonight, the walk home absolutely reeked of pot. On a Tuesday night. People were getting lit on a Tuesday night.

Like I said, it's been rough.

This isn't to say that turning to alcohol when times get rough is the answer, because it definitely isn't, and this is coming from someone who has a family history of alcoholism. The effects it has can suck and it is highly addictive, but at the same time, it lets you see a different side of yourself at least a couple times where you normally wouldn't see yourself, which brings me to why I strongly believe that the hypocritical Hemingway had a point.

In order to be genuinely taken seriously in a creativity-centric industry, one must be massively successful in their respective field or they are looked-down-upon, scorned, and mocked, which makes a substance-abusive lifestyle far more appealing as you start to think that you on substances is far more interesting.

Yes, it's true, don't act like it isn't.

Even as a humanities major, I know enough to acknowledge that it's the truth. Both my siblings are pursuing degrees in mechanical engineering and while they are congratulated for their "difficult decision," I have to explain my two majors and two minors in detail and even then, the majority of the time, the response is "oh, that's nice." For a reason particularly unknown to myself but perhaps known to others (technological advancements), STEM and similar fields have overshadowed the existence of other majors, taking both their credibility and their funding in a way that is most likely irreparable.

(…I'm a surprisingly happy drunk, but it's clearly not coming through at the moment.)

This isn't to say that the creative industry is dead, but it seems to take a lot more effort to convince people that you're genuinely serious about your craft, which brings me back to our old friend Ernest Hemingway.

Did you know he never actually wrote drunk?

Many people attribute the "write drunk, edit sober" quote to Hemingway since he said it, but he wouldn't even write late in the day for fear of losing ideas, let alone write drunk; that'd be unspeakable. The quote itself is famous only due to the fact that it both glorifies addiction and "propagates the myth of creativity." Most of the time, the humanities, in general, is not taken seriously due to the fact that it takes less time to study the topic but more time spent in application and mastery. This is true in this specific case for more than one reason: many people can make art, but very few are true artists.

Anyone who is genuinely serious about a career in the arts, specifically written language, needs to have the same amount of somberness and sobriety that comes hand in hand with making a true effort, which is why the long-lasting image of the drunk writer at his typewriter needs to fade. Taking your prized work seriously and focusing on it with as much moxie and love as possible is reward enough. "If you aspire to be creative, may you not hide behind cliches but instead do the brave, beautiful work of making something new."

Yeah, drinking is fun, and it kills your inhibitions, but is it something that ought to be used, abused, and become part of your life and image?

Hell no.

Substance-abuse can destroy your life and ultimately your work, which will live long after you're gone, and which would you rather happen: that you die in an alcohol-induced coma, or your immortal thoughts and dreams never actually exist at all?

I'll leave you with that hard-hitting question while I go the heck to bed.

I have a 9 A.M. for Christ's sake.