Ritual is important. Rituals let our brain shift and squirm until it is in a place it can focus without focusing. Depending on what our ritual is preparing us for, once we reach this state our brain can react without wasting time on cognitive thought, or on the other hand it can open itself to less-than-visible sensations and connections. Ritual is a training for our brain. An exercise. It connects our tenuous present with the comfort of the past and the mysteries of the future, allowing us to escape the constraints of linear time and instead utilize time's non-existence to our benefit.
Alcohol's use in ritual is as old as civilization. We use it to unlock connections in our brain that are sealed off by conscious thought. The time and ritual used to prepare alcohol for consumption mirror it's use to free us from time in ritualized use. One sip and we can connect with ancestors and descendants. Two sips and time unfolds itself and reveals the illusion it is. Three sips and you can really start rocking.
It's never just you and the pins. It's also not just you and the pins and your ball. It's not even just you and the pins and your ball and the lane. Nor is it you and the pins and your ball and the lane and the approach. It's not even you and the pins and your ball and the lane and the approach and the rest of your team. It's not you and the pins and your ball and the lane and the approach and the rest of your team and the opposing team. It's not even just you and the pins and your ball and the lane and the approach and the rest of your team and the opposing team and some other random people bowling. It's not just you and the pins and your ball and the lane and the approach and the rest of your team and the opposing team and some other random people bowling and the quantum connections between the you and the final resting place of the pins. Nor is it just you and the pins and your ball and the lane and the approach and the rest of your team and the opposing team and some other random people bowling and the quantum connections between the you and the final resting place of the pins and the genetic imprints left by past bowling experiences and your ancestors. It's not even just you and the pins and your ball and the lane and the approach and the rest of your team and the opposing team and some other random people bowling and the quantum connections between the you and the final resting place of the pins and the genetic imprints left by past bowling experiences and your ancestors and the cultural expectations of your bowling. It's also about you and how hungover you are.
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