CULTURE CLASH (Express Yourself)
Psychedelics an exploration By Taylor Beers
Photo courtesy of the author.
I have had the opportunity to explore psychedelics both recreationally and spiritually. In 2018, my friend talked me into joining her trip to South America to venture into the Amazon and try Ayahuasca with a shaman. However, my journey with psychedelics started when I moved to Austin, Texas. A friend and I decided to take a trip in the Greenbelt area. I have found when you are in the right place with the right people and you are prepared, the experiences are extremely rewarding. On LSD, I could see and feel vibrations from the water to the trees and their leaves, making it feel as though I was in a jungle.
I have anxiety and notice that when taking psychedelics, my social anxiety is magnified. I do well with a small group of friends but with strangers I turn into a clam. Pro tip: you should only “trip” somewhere you are going to stay all day and night or have a sober designated driver. At the end of my first experience when we went to leave, I realized we couldn’t drive and both new to the city we had to awkwardly call a co-worker. I continued experimenting, mainly micro-dosing, sometimes at small camping festivals or shows but my favorite times were when we would just be in the backyard painting with good music and great friends. Let us get into the shrooms first and save the best for last. My best friend and I decided to go into the Rocky Mountain National Park for a night of camping and
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“tripping.” To us, this seemed like the perfect way to try them. We arrived early in the day to set up camp and have some snacks including a PB&J + shrooms. Making mushroom tea is a wonderful way to take them or with a handful of pistachios. I prefer mushrooms over LSD because shrooms give me less anxiety. However, I still will not be seen striking up a conversation with a stranger while on them. My time on mushrooms is easier navigated; on LSD sometimes I felt I could get stuck in a bad “trip” but on shrooms I found it easier to make my mind move on to somewhere more pleasant. When comparing the two, shrooms tend to not last as long, be less stressful, more manageable, and natural. Preparation is key but so is not overthinking
C U LTU R EC L A S H G A LV E STO N . C O M • M AY/J U N E 2 0 2 1
