Altered states

I recently quit drugs. As someone who’s experimented from a very young age, memories of the outside world were somewhat foggy. From age thirteen my life became a hazy and obsessive infatuation with unnaturally altering my neuro-chemistry, in strange and interesting new ways. Like many ‘recovering’ drug users, I struggled integrating back into the normal flow of life, so I began trying to engage in ‘normal’ activities that ‘normal’ people do. At first it was painfully boring, but as the mental fog rose above the damage blatant stimulant abuse had caused, I began seeing clearer. Amidst the fuzzy brain-numbing morning television shows and awkward sober meals, I saw the even awkwarder truth. Sober life is no different.

“Needs more LSD”

There’s a lot of self-righteous people out there that like to pride themselves as being ‘t-total.’ The completely sober and high on life types, who shift away and give you stern looks as you light up a cigarette. ‘Oh, I don’t need alcohol to make my boring personality more interesting.’ In other words, judgemental assholes. However the problem is, on a basic level absolutely nobody is sober.

People seem to forget that every activity we engage in alters our neurochemistry in some way. Other methods ‘healthier’ than some, but all in all the human experience seems to be a constant pursuit for feel good chemicals. That’s all life is. Altering our current state of conciousness.

Junk food, the internet, television, gambling, sex the list goes on of ways you can alter your brain chemistry, and make yourself feel good. Why do we dismiss chemicals, and see them as bad? Well we see alcohol as okay, but lets not get into the madness and Hypocrisy of drug prohibition.

All I’m saying is, everything we pursue in life is a way of altering our baseline state. Everything IS an altered state, and will eventually end, drugs just give us some time to move around in that state. If used in the right setting with good intentions, many substances can facilitate personal growth as we can take away quality’s we like from this altered state, and try to apply them to our baseline state. However, like everything, it is a double edged sword and spending too much time in an altered state can bring on crippling addictions and make normal life less fulfilling. An occasional escape from reality or a change in perception however, is what everyone needs. Without this we remain stuck in the same ideals and forget how to think outside of the box.

So next time your ‘off your nut’ in front of a stack of speakers, jaw swinging and sweat pouring down your face, maybe take a step back for a moment. Realise that it is not the drug doing this to you, it is your mind and you can think like this any time you want. Think ‘what can I learn from this experience’ rather than ‘Shit I’m going to comedown soon’ and you’ll bring a little bit more love an prosperity with you everywhere you go, even when your too old to handle a strong coffee, let alone anything else.

–THE LONELY WEST–