Perhaps you stumbled across Soberly Curious as part of a sober month challenge (whether your own pursuit or just a curiosity around what these challenges are), so in advance of Sober October, I thought it would make sense to post about the rise of the sober month challenges, namely Dry January, Dry July, and Sober October.
It seems that “Dry January,” the commitment to avoid alcohol for the first 31 days of the new year, dates back to 1942 Finland. The Finnish were looking to preserve resources during combat against the Soviet Union.
Eventually the term was usurped by Briton Emily Robinson who was training for her first half marathon and was looking to spread the word about the commitment to health she made and it evolved into an organization.
Now we not only have Dry January (which is an official charity in the UK), we also have Dry July (Australia) to support those affected by cancer, we also have and Sober October. Here in the US, these challenges are more about health and trying to eliminate alcohol from one’s life to see its impact rather than as part of a charitable event, but it is quite interesting to learn about the evolution.
