JAJT
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I've done mushrooms before.
Before I say anything else I'll make it a strong point to say that I only chose to do them after extensive research on my own. When it comes to things I put in my body that may have real consequences, I do not trust word of mouth. Not even from a doctor. Some things I think it's important to research yourself, and drugs are certainly one of them.
That being said, my research lead me to believe that mushrooms are largely considered to be one of the safest drugs out there.
I also genuinely think they were one of the most valuable experiences I've engaged in. It felt like a hard reset on my mental well-being. Like I had been carrying around mental baggage for 20 some odd years that was suddenly washed away. It was really a refreshing experience. It was uplifting and informative and fun and left me feeling great for days/weeks after.
The experience itself was mind-opening. Your perceptions can be WILDLY different on these things. It's almost like an "unscripting" drug. I say that because all of the habits and norms we take for granted go out the window. Every experience and thought gets a chance to be thought about in a naked way. For example - I was living in an apartment at the time and all of a sudden I was questioning the sanity of these buildings. It no longer seemed normal that we stacked humans on top of each other in neat little squares. I spent a lot of time considering this. This isn't to say there's anything wrong with apartment buildings but it explains how something I took for granted as a habit was suddenly put under a microscope and I was given a way to look at it as if I had never heard of apartment buildings before. I had no frame of reference to put them in. Every thought was fresh and new and from a different angle.
Similarly I had a VERY hard time going back to work for all the reasons mentioned in the Millionaire Fastlane . This is before I had ever read the book. I suddenly thought I was wasting my life going to work, coming back, eating, sleeping, repeat. Why wasn't I going to a beach? There's nothing stopping me, I enjoy beaches, why am I wasting my life going to work? Life is F*cking amazing and I want to live it, damn it! Why do I spend so much time in the same places? I could walk out my door right now and be on a street I've never been on in 3 minutes. It would be an adventure. Maybe it wouldn't be a new country but it would be new and nothing's stopping me so why haven't I done that before? Why am I only allowed having fun 2 weeks out of the year on vacation? etc...
I recall reading that mushrooms (and other psychedelics) interrupt your ability to recall associations quickly or accurately. I have no idea if it's correct but the description fits. In your normal day to day lives your brain acts VERY quickly to make sense of everything. You look up and in a second that cloud is shaped like a turtle. Your brain just saw a random shape and in a split second decided it looked enough like a turtle that it made you think of a turtle. On mushrooms that lightning quick association doesn't exist. You need to think about everything as if there are no associations because for those few hours there pretty much isn't any.
Sam with habits. This is why so many people say mushrooms are FANTASTIC for breaking bad habits because you can't do anything "mindlessly" on mushrooms. If you want to go out for a smoke you better believe you are going to question every aspect of that habit, your health, the time you're wasting, the sanity of breathing in smoke, how humans ever decided this was a good idea, what the filter might be made of, why they are sold in packs that are all shaped the same way, why you can't just enjoy the fresh air without one, how your body craving one is almost like it's working against it's own self interest and that you aren't really in control of your own actions, how disgusted you are by the idea, etc.... Except this is just smoking. Forget the fact that you walk to the fridge and open it up out of boredom. Or tap your fingers when nervous. Or bloody anything. I spend about 2 hours considering why my normal habit was to have friends over ever weekend, buy some beer, play some board games, watch a movie, and do it all again next week. The habitual nature made no sense to me. I had to evaluate if this was how I wanted to live my life.
Every thought got it's turn for in depth analysis. You had no choice. You were on the ride whether you liked it or not.
Also your emotions get JACKED on these things. I actually don't really enjoy this aspect but it is what it is. Small jokes seem absolutely hilarious - you may very well laugh for 40 minutes until it hurts your cheeks. Good music feels world-altering and important. Conversely, negative experiences, even minor ones, feel world-ended. If someone in the room swallows wrong and chokes for a second while they regain their composure you think this person may very well be dying in front of you. Should you call the cops? An ambulance? Are you going to lose your friend this very moment? Sheer terror takes over. This is why 'sitters' are so highly recommended - to reassure you when unexpected things happen and to make sure everything keeps an even keel. I knew a guy who did some mushrooms and called the cops on himself because he quite literally thought he was going to die from some minor experience that any sober person would have laughed off in 5 seconds and not given it another thought. For my own experience I saw a argument between two people on whatever comedy movie we were trying to watch and it felt like I was a 10 year old being told my parents were getting a divorce and it was MY fault. Unpleasant. This is why you'll hear people highly recommend certain shows and movies with nothing but bright colors, laughs, and zero negativity - you can't handle negativity in that frame of mind but happy stuff is amazing.
And what's somewhat unique about mushrooms is that your thoughts are not washed away the next morning like they are with alcohol. You do some stupid shit on alcohol and sober you says "man, drunk me was a F*cking idiot". No. You wake up on mushrooms and you say "uhhh... why does everything I thought about still make perfect sense?". The reason it makes perfect sense is because you thought about it, really hard, in a critical way, and came to new conclusions based on opinions from a different point of view. Sure you'll look back and think laughing at a fart joke for 40 minutes was pretty stupid but any of the stuff you critically experienced sticks with you. Some people have literally quit drinking/smoking as a result of a positive mushroom experience. They are starting to explore the therapeutic uses of this drug in therapy sessions to get patients to consider unique perspectives that also happen to be originating from themselves (basically the plot of inception...).
Honestly, you gain a newfound respect for your brain and thought processes after just a single session. It's mind-blowing how different your thoughts are on these things. It's no wonder so many people, even hardcore atheists, report having a "spiritual experience" when on them. Perhaps not a religious experience, but spiritual. Above oneself. It feels like you were part of something special that you can't believe was possible.
Oh, and also some visual hallucinations. Don't expect the world to stay still. On mushrooms if the couch pattern wants to move around a bit who are you to tell it otherwise?
Before I say anything else I'll make it a strong point to say that I only chose to do them after extensive research on my own. When it comes to things I put in my body that may have real consequences, I do not trust word of mouth. Not even from a doctor. Some things I think it's important to research yourself, and drugs are certainly one of them.
That being said, my research lead me to believe that mushrooms are largely considered to be one of the safest drugs out there.
I also genuinely think they were one of the most valuable experiences I've engaged in. It felt like a hard reset on my mental well-being. Like I had been carrying around mental baggage for 20 some odd years that was suddenly washed away. It was really a refreshing experience. It was uplifting and informative and fun and left me feeling great for days/weeks after.
The experience itself was mind-opening. Your perceptions can be WILDLY different on these things. It's almost like an "unscripting" drug. I say that because all of the habits and norms we take for granted go out the window. Every experience and thought gets a chance to be thought about in a naked way. For example - I was living in an apartment at the time and all of a sudden I was questioning the sanity of these buildings. It no longer seemed normal that we stacked humans on top of each other in neat little squares. I spent a lot of time considering this. This isn't to say there's anything wrong with apartment buildings but it explains how something I took for granted as a habit was suddenly put under a microscope and I was given a way to look at it as if I had never heard of apartment buildings before. I had no frame of reference to put them in. Every thought was fresh and new and from a different angle.
Similarly I had a VERY hard time going back to work for all the reasons mentioned in the Millionaire Fastlane . This is before I had ever read the book. I suddenly thought I was wasting my life going to work, coming back, eating, sleeping, repeat. Why wasn't I going to a beach? There's nothing stopping me, I enjoy beaches, why am I wasting my life going to work? Life is F*cking amazing and I want to live it, damn it! Why do I spend so much time in the same places? I could walk out my door right now and be on a street I've never been on in 3 minutes. It would be an adventure. Maybe it wouldn't be a new country but it would be new and nothing's stopping me so why haven't I done that before? Why am I only allowed having fun 2 weeks out of the year on vacation? etc...
I recall reading that mushrooms (and other psychedelics) interrupt your ability to recall associations quickly or accurately. I have no idea if it's correct but the description fits. In your normal day to day lives your brain acts VERY quickly to make sense of everything. You look up and in a second that cloud is shaped like a turtle. Your brain just saw a random shape and in a split second decided it looked enough like a turtle that it made you think of a turtle. On mushrooms that lightning quick association doesn't exist. You need to think about everything as if there are no associations because for those few hours there pretty much isn't any.
Sam with habits. This is why so many people say mushrooms are FANTASTIC for breaking bad habits because you can't do anything "mindlessly" on mushrooms. If you want to go out for a smoke you better believe you are going to question every aspect of that habit, your health, the time you're wasting, the sanity of breathing in smoke, how humans ever decided this was a good idea, what the filter might be made of, why they are sold in packs that are all shaped the same way, why you can't just enjoy the fresh air without one, how your body craving one is almost like it's working against it's own self interest and that you aren't really in control of your own actions, how disgusted you are by the idea, etc.... Except this is just smoking. Forget the fact that you walk to the fridge and open it up out of boredom. Or tap your fingers when nervous. Or bloody anything. I spend about 2 hours considering why my normal habit was to have friends over ever weekend, buy some beer, play some board games, watch a movie, and do it all again next week. The habitual nature made no sense to me. I had to evaluate if this was how I wanted to live my life.
Every thought got it's turn for in depth analysis. You had no choice. You were on the ride whether you liked it or not.
Also your emotions get JACKED on these things. I actually don't really enjoy this aspect but it is what it is. Small jokes seem absolutely hilarious - you may very well laugh for 40 minutes until it hurts your cheeks. Good music feels world-altering and important. Conversely, negative experiences, even minor ones, feel world-ended. If someone in the room swallows wrong and chokes for a second while they regain their composure you think this person may very well be dying in front of you. Should you call the cops? An ambulance? Are you going to lose your friend this very moment? Sheer terror takes over. This is why 'sitters' are so highly recommended - to reassure you when unexpected things happen and to make sure everything keeps an even keel. I knew a guy who did some mushrooms and called the cops on himself because he quite literally thought he was going to die from some minor experience that any sober person would have laughed off in 5 seconds and not given it another thought. For my own experience I saw a argument between two people on whatever comedy movie we were trying to watch and it felt like I was a 10 year old being told my parents were getting a divorce and it was MY fault. Unpleasant. This is why you'll hear people highly recommend certain shows and movies with nothing but bright colors, laughs, and zero negativity - you can't handle negativity in that frame of mind but happy stuff is amazing.
And what's somewhat unique about mushrooms is that your thoughts are not washed away the next morning like they are with alcohol. You do some stupid shit on alcohol and sober you says "man, drunk me was a F*cking idiot". No. You wake up on mushrooms and you say "uhhh... why does everything I thought about still make perfect sense?". The reason it makes perfect sense is because you thought about it, really hard, in a critical way, and came to new conclusions based on opinions from a different point of view. Sure you'll look back and think laughing at a fart joke for 40 minutes was pretty stupid but any of the stuff you critically experienced sticks with you. Some people have literally quit drinking/smoking as a result of a positive mushroom experience. They are starting to explore the therapeutic uses of this drug in therapy sessions to get patients to consider unique perspectives that also happen to be originating from themselves (basically the plot of inception...).
Honestly, you gain a newfound respect for your brain and thought processes after just a single session. It's mind-blowing how different your thoughts are on these things. It's no wonder so many people, even hardcore atheists, report having a "spiritual experience" when on them. Perhaps not a religious experience, but spiritual. Above oneself. It feels like you were part of something special that you can't believe was possible.
Oh, and also some visual hallucinations. Don't expect the world to stay still. On mushrooms if the couch pattern wants to move around a bit who are you to tell it otherwise?
