2012 05 04 Tripping (first draft)

get ridd of second person pronouns

clean up repetition of words

So, you feel you at the point in your exploration of recreational drugs that it is time to think about hallucinogens.  This is a big step, hallucinogens are  really powerful in a way that alcohol or dope, even really good dope, have not prepared you for.  It is called a trip because once ingested, you will find yourself on a magic carpet ride that could be really cool or really suck.

Or both. There is a kind of Taoist symmetry to most good acid trips (true story).

When I say things could be bad, I am not talking about the "I'm gonna fly off this roof top and bring peace and love to the world" before plummeting to the pavement psychotic break with reality kind of hazards.  I am not sure that that even exists outside of an anti-drug film I watched as a child.  I am going to go out on a limb and say that probably a lot of what is depicted in movies and TV is only a fantasy of what hallucinating should be like from people who have never hallucinated in their lives.

LSD sets off a chemical reaction in your brain where it makes many of the same chemicals as it does when dreaming.  A good trip could be just like having a really vibrant dream while awake.  Mushrooms have a different reaction in the brain, psilocybin is attacking the nerves in the brain.  I continued to see funny things for months after consuming mushrooms over a three day weekend.  Beware of 'shrooms, you could end up joining the marines while high (probably a true story).

Bad as in the horrifying realization that everything I thought I knew was wrong.  The anxiety  and angst builds to such a high level, even crawling into a dark hole and burying myself with dirt seems like it would not cure it.  I have never seen people turn into giant bunnies (or mushrooms).  But there was plenty of other things going on.  The way the brain interprets sensual input becomes skewed, no matter what sort of drug you take. Things will look very different, the same with sounds and even smells. That is where all the groovy images and oogly fonts from Bay Area concert posters comes from.

Senses Working Overtime

Touch-Sex on mushrooms was really cool, but difficult because I kept getting distracted by all the groovy pictures in my mind.  Plus, naked people look really bad when I'm high.  Water, like skinny dipping in a clear, clean (really important!) stream is way better.  Be careful of public nudity because being caught sky clad can be uncomfortable and awkward.  Especially when you run into them later on (true story).

Smell- Familiar, friendly smells like hot tea, warm bread, or patchouli smells may ignite new levels of passion in a tripper.  Stopping to smell the roses may be the best advice ever.

Sight-my eyes always were affected most, my sense of sight affected most.  Stationary things appeared to move, flat surfaces grew and bulged, lines wiggled.  For months after my last mushroom trip, every time I looked at a cinder block wall, the blocks would jiggle like gelatin.   This made student teaching even more challenging.  Our brains, no matter how high we are, will try to draw lines around all this visual chaos as a  way of making sense of the alien.  Looking at art, especially certain comic  books like Robert Crumb's early work, is really awesome. However, my sense of proportion and ability to judge distances was way off. Jumping from one rock to another in a stream can be trickier than usual.

Hearing-One early morning, after a particularly mystical Summer Solstice Party (with psychedelics), I came home and put on Miles Davis' Kind of Blue and saw the music as saw the music as shiny, pulsing white diamonds in the pre-dawn darkness of my cave like efficiency apartment.

Taste-Eating while tripping is difficult. Tastes are really intense. Fresh fruit and vegetables never tasted so good though. The thought of eating meat was nauseating though. A bowl of refreshing, grassy colored guacamole and salty chips was the perfect thing to eat after a long summer day in the woods.

What can be surprising is the mind will also go to different places as well. Psychedelic drugs have a long history of influencing and affecting travelers thoughts and the way they view the world, both in primitive rites and rituals and modern psychotherapy. My theory is that since everything looks, sound, etc. different, we are given the gift of fresh perspective. In the 1950s and 1960s many therapists and non-therapists experimented with the therapeutic capacity of hallucinogens. Subjects would gather in a research facility or something less formal like someone's home and take what ever cocktail was being studied that evening, while observers would watch them. Sometimes, they would be guided though a trip, with the purpose being to confront and resolve an inner conflict. NB: Both in religious ritual and therapeutic setting, a sober guide is always present to aid in the journey and bring the adherent back home. This is not a ideal setting to flout the “Don't try this at home” suggestion.

Eventually, the trip will be over and that will be a better time to examine any new insights into a childhood conflict instead of now, when I am high as a tree.

So what happens when someone is experiencing the world around them through a disorienting hallucinogenic haze, their mind is stuck in some mental k-hole of horror, they can't understand what people are saying, or make themselves understood? That depends a lot on the person's personality and world view(hint: if you were recently raped in prison, or prone to paranoia, melancholia or religious mania drugs, might not be a good idea) and how confident they are about what they are undertaking.

Sometimes the disorientation may be too much and the trippers may find themselves caught in some internal dark room of repressed memories, anxiety or paranoia.  This can quickly spiral from discomfort or disquiet into panicked state, better known as a bad trip.

While not fun to be in, they are survivable. But, an ounce prevention beats a pound of cure.

People on a bum trip are extremely susceptible to suggestion. Sometime a simple change in the environment can help; if the room is dark, add some light.  Candles are like little miracles.  Inside?  Go outside. Too hot? Take something off and sit next to the fan, the sensation of breeze flowing across the skin will blow away all the dark, scary things.

The best thing for me is too pull out my piece of abalone, my "time piece" and look at it.  First of all, it is grounding because it is something familiar that belongs to me.  Secondly, by watching what it does in my hand, change colors, shapes, whatever, reminds me that I am under the influence of drugs and shit is not going to make sense.  I planned it that way.

Looking at intense colors might create sensations on the tongue, a taste response for a visual stimulation-this is the dictionary definition of psychedelic.

Some of the things the novice tripper can do is be in a safe place with nothing big on the calendar and a well stocked trip bag with money, a bandana, cigarettes, etc.  

Having a safe setting is the key to a successful inner journey.  Outside, in the woods, is awe inspiring.  As I explored the world around me, I re experienced what it was like as a child to look at shiny stones in water or listen to a bird sing.  Your senses are going to be out of whack.

At times like this, a simple, familiar object like a piece of abalone jewelry can be useful to have.

Once, at a party at house that was getting too loud and boisterous, a roommate tried to explain to me that the police were threatening to raid the house, bust up the party and arrest one of our housemates.  Then he looked at my enormous pupils and said, "Why am I telling you this?"  We all had a good laugh.

Trick with people you like and trust, stay away from dicks.  A dick will try to fuck up someone's tip just because they are dicks.  The first time I tripped, at a St. Alphonso's Pancake Breakfast (a Miami tradition, a day long party that starts at dawn with marijuana-pancakes and jack daniels maple syrup), some guy was walking around deliberately frightening the freaks with some scary rubber finger puppet he would shove into their faces while screaming "Arrgh!" in their ears.

In an uncharacteristic display of aggression, I went after the guy, grabbed, took his toy and told him to knock it off.

The Hard and Fast Suggestions Section

1)  Avoid interacting with the police.  The only reason they are not putting you in their car is because they are trying to avoid all the paper work they will have to do.  They are not amused by your tricks, funny sayings, or the fact that you want to do something stupid like play in the fountain or grab their gun (true story).

2) Clear your schedule, the trip can last as long as 12 hours and you don't want to be worried about some deadline or uncomfortable family event on the horizon.  When on LSD, worry is your enemy.

3)  Stay away from mirrors.

4) Find a safe place where you can be either outside in the sun or inside if the weather gets awful.  Although I got caught in a snowstorm once and it was magical.  But I was also dressed appropriately for the weather.  Getting all those clothes on and off was a lot of work, but it was totally worth it.   Rain can be exhilarating, but lightening is not your friend.  Not everyone is willing to open their home to a couple of dosed college kids and their dog who have the misfortune caught in a bad storm.

Once, on the top of a mountain in New Hampshire, we got caught in a really violent storm, the clouds appeared to be right above our heads and the thunder and lightning was terrifying.  We found shelter in a little cave and watched the storm (and hail-never been caught outside in a hail storm) fall.  The riverlets of water that came do0wn the path quickly turned into rushing streams at our feet (again, good gear is a blessing-those hiking boots were awesome).  When the storm was over, we went back  to the top.  The clouds, still right over our head, glowed from the occasional lightning as they moved to the east.  With the sun's return, the water in the valley below quickly evaporated into little pockets of fog, turning the green fields below us into a rumpled bed spread, decorated by random balls of cotton.

While eating our lunch, the falcons would swoop down to see if we had anything for them.  After lunch, we took off our clothes and stretched out on the warm and dry rocks to soak up the sun (re trip bag, place for money, essentials like tobacco, toys, bandanna, keys, food, drink and sun block for the fair skinned).  At one point, my girl friend stood up and realized we had been joined by a group of hikers, kids from a local juvie home and their warders, climbing Mt. W. on a sunny, Sunday afternoon.

Grateful Dead shows were good places, although there were disadvantages too, because the major purpose of a GD show is to create a fun, safe environment for recreational drug use (true story).  A  Ramones show would probably not be.

5)  Stay away from cars!  Unless you have a non tripping designated driver, don't even get in one.

6)  Adding alcohol and dope to a trip will not help with the come down. Coming off an LSD trip can be uncomfortable.  Depending on the quality of the acid, your jaws may  unconsciously clench painfully, a bitter taste in your mouth and your heart will race for hours.  Trying to expedite the passage of such with booze or smoke will only prolong the experience and could potentially leave one with a hang over.  Get comfortable on the couch and watch videos till you are tired enough to sleep.  Or take a xanax.

7)  Avoid tripping with people subject to melancholia or some sort of mania.  They are often the first to lose their shit.  You don't want to harsh you buzz by trying to reason with someone practicing their ju jujitsu exercises while shouting "I see you all burning in hell for all eternity!"  (true story).

For novices,

You should stay away from people with more experience than you because once they know it is your first time, they will bore you to tears with poorly told, illogical stories about their early experiences that won't  make sense even to them.  Then they will want to give you too much advice on what to do or not do.

Buzz killers one and all.

Lastly, I don't trip any more, but it would be thrill to look into  your human manga sized eyes and listen to your insights into real world behind this sensual one, of seeing the rocks breathe (true stories) or discovering how great dog smell (probably not true).  Call me if you want someone to drive you around or bring you food and dry clothes.  If you need someone to listen to you or help you through a dark spot, let me help.  At the very least, I will have pages of knock knock jokes to tell you until you get through it.

The thing about trips, vacations, whatever, is to discover, explore and then come home with a new appreciation of the world.  The idea of chasing a permanent vacation is just an invitation to the doldrums you are seeking to escape.