I’d Tap That

I blame Cincinnati. The “Nasty Nati” that’s not that nasty. The hilly city on the Ohio River banks is chock full of live music, colored with artistic flair, and proud to be home to over 50 breweries. It’s easy to become a craft beer fan – but not a Cincinnati chili fan. Fight me on that one.

You can visit these breweries and choose from a wide selection of local beers on tap with names like Mad Tree’s PsycHOPathy, Rhinegeist Truth IPA, and Moerlein: O.T.R. Pale Ale. Cheers! Oh, how I miss Over The Rhine.

The “tap” is the spout that pours beer directly from keg to glass. The beer is purer from a keg, without the light and oxygen that could contaminate it and make it turn bitter, quicker. The keg insulates the beer, and the tap provides the flow directly from the least exposed source. Draft from a tap is better than bottled every time. Why? It’s closer to the original.

Other things are better closer to the original too, but when we gaze in a mirror we can forget that; forget our design before life took its toll or culture contaminated us. I don’t know about you, but like light and oxygen to brew, some exposures in my life could make me turn bitter, quicker.

I have been hurt to the point of despair, sucked into conforming to others’ ideas, tempted by comparisons, settled for lower quality options, distracted from healing, and guilty of not offering my true self to the world.

Mike Sasso, the author of Being Human, is quoted as saying,

“Originality is the best form of rebellion.”

I tend to agree. However, can we completely go back to the unexposed original? Not entirely. And to do so would mean forsaking acquired wisdom that is worth its weight in gold.

We can, however, be aware that we are better when closer to our original source. We can break off societal expectations, stop accepting cheap shortcuts and good enoughs; we can heal, and we can choose more wisely going forward. We can say no thanks to bottles and hell yes to draft every time, and that is worth a Cheers!

Thank you, Cincinnati. I’d tap that.

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