"I'm The Green Fairy!"

I was at a sedate (but extremely fun!) bachelorette party this weekend, and as the sole note of wildness in the evening, I decided to end the night by ordering absinthe. I can testify that the stuff packs a wallop, both when you drink it and the morning after. But I can't report back on any artistic impacts.

I've never really understood why artists want to use substances to enhance their creativity. Sure, I get the occasional glass of wine when writing's going well. But turning to drink, or to drugs, or whatever, seems to outsource an artist's creativity, to turn inspiration--and therefore credit--over to someone, or something, else. Maybe it's just a matter of pressure, feeling like you have to reach beyond your own capacity to create something truly extraordinary, and I can't understand that need to reach from my firmly and happily prosaic part of the writing world. I can imagine, though, that creating art that way once makes it harder to do it by yourself in the future.