Wednesday 10 May 2017

Me and Brad Pitt

It turns out that Brad Pitt and I are so similar that we could almost be identical twins separated at birth.

There are, obviously, a few differences: gender, for a start. He also did rather better than I in the good looks lottery, plus he has a lot more cash, and more children than I do. BUT apart from that, we are spookily alike.

If you haven't already, do read this interview (click here) with Brad Pitt in GQ magazine, entitled 'Brad Pitt Talks Divorce, Quitting Drinking and Becoming a Better Man'. Huge thanks to Lindsay for posting the link.

Brad talks in some detail about his relationship with alcohol, which he quit six months ago. And, yet again, I'm reminded of exactly how similar we all are, regardless of gender, money and fame.

It turns out that Brad, like me, loved his wine. He didn't even need to go to the off licence and worry about being judged by the cashiers, he had his own vineyard! He says:

I enjoy wine very, very much, but I just ran it to the ground. I had to step away for a minute. And truthfully I could drink a Russian under the table with his own vodka. I was a professional. I was good.

Brad, like all of us, is an all-or-nothing person. All the best people are, in my book. He's not one of life's natural moderators. He says:

...the terrible thing is I tend to run things into the ground. That's why I've got to make something so calamitous. I've got to run it off a cliff.

I do it with everything, yeah. I exhaust it, and then I walk away. I've always looked at things in seasons, compartmentalized them, I guess, seasons or semesters or tenures or…Yeah, it's that stupid. “This is my Sid and Nancy season.”

That's how I see my relationship with alcohol, too. I don't regret the drinking years, but I used up my lifetime's allowance in less that a lifetime. Been there, done that, time to move on.

It took me some time, after I finally quit, to work out what it was really all about. But Brad has it all figured out after only six months. I guess he really is a super hero, plus he must have access to some really good therapists. He says:

I can't remember a day since I got out of college when I wasn't boozing or had a spliff, or something. Something. And you realize that a lot of it is, um—cigarettes, you know, pacifiers. And I'm running from feelings.

I'm really, really happy to be done with all of that. I mean I stopped everything except boozing when I started my family. But even this last year, you know—things I wasn't dealing with.

I was boozing too much. It's just become a problem. And I'm really happy it's been half a year now, which is bittersweet, but I've got my feelings in my fingertips again.

I think that's part of the human challenge: You either deny them all of your life or you answer them and evolve.

So, there you have it. Brad Pitt is one of us, and he is welcome on this site any time.

And, in other news this week, I read, with some interest, a study which proves that eating bogies is good for us. Hurrah! That's one less thing to nag the children about.

Love to you all, and especially to Brad.

SM x


12 comments:

  1. Hi SM

    Thanks so much for sharing this - you know part of the way through I am thinking he really is a self-absorbed twat. He is an artist afterall and I am an accountant so I find his rambling annoying, but you know I really felt his honesty come through so strongly in between the vagueness:

    “I know I'm just in the middle of this thing now—not at the beginning or at the end, just smack-dab in the middle. And I don't want to dodge any of it.”

    You are so right - he is one of us, we are one of him. Boozers are self-absorbed so right at home with that. He is in the middle of facing his life.

    I love most his comment about "... now I'm just XXX Brad" (not sure if I can swear on this) That says it all.
    Power to you Brad for taking the high road and getting yourself better for not only you but your family.

    Thanks so much for this again SM
    Michelle xx

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  2. Never thought I would be in the same club as Brad Pitt for anything, what a great article I wish him all the best

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  3. I think I should be personally helping him through his sobriety!!! 😜

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  4. Ok, Brad I get...and good for him! But....bogies?? As Desi Arnaz would say: 'splain please!'

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  5. Love Brad!! Don't love bogies!! What a brilliant way to explain the feeling of being sober - "I've got my feelings in my fingertips again!"

    Day 172 for me so nearly at my 6 months mark and life is pretty amazing!

    Thanks again for another fab post SM xxxxxxxxx

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  6. I am 8 months sober, and am still coming to terms with the changes I am experiencing. A youthful 50ish new grandmother - I am so alert now, and the world is glaringly clear. I am almost overwhelmed with how clear everything is... I am a high energy, creative person. Somewhere along the way, when we were busy with small children and moving back and forth across the country, I became crushingly bored, and wine helped numb my energy. Now I am busy. I am impatient. I am feeling everything, and sometimes I would like to dull it down a bit. But I have another cup of tea. I am reconnecting to the person I once was, without regrets.

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    1. Me too, to all of the above (except being a granny, yet)! Hurrah for you!!!

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  7. I'm so happy Brad has joined the club. You know if it's good enough for Brad Pit and Tom Hardy, its sure is good enough for me;)

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    1. Funnily enough, I used to work with Tom Hardy's dad - Chips. Another ex alcohol addict! It's a pretty cool club, actually...

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    2. Wow, that's is pretty amazing!

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  8. There are a lot of celebs and musos in the sober club; Alice Cooper, Keith Urban and many more. In this link Joe Walsh talks about his sobriety.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4HSC5sbwN8

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