My Experiences with Shrooms Thus Far

          Several months ago, upon my graduation from high school, I was looking forward to a great summer and then starting my college career. I would never have guessed what I would get into during the next few months. Out of all drugs, besides weed of course, I had always wanted to try shrooms. I had heard great things about them from other kids in my high school, although thinking back on it, the way they had described it was not at all how I would describe what happened to me. But before I tell you about my trips, its important for you to understand a few things about who I am.

          First of all, I consider myself an intellectual. I became the kid in high school who could ace all of my classes, most of them honors and AP courses, and not really have to try that hard at all. That in itself is a huge blessing, and Im extremely thankful for the mind that I was born with. My mind is truly my greatest asset, which is probably why I have come to love shrooms so much, seeing as it "fucks with your mind", but in incredible ways. Other than my intelligence, I consider myself normal, or at least as normal as any one person can call themselves. I smoked weed starting when I was a sophomore, and since then I have embraced the fact that life is too short to not have fun and do what you want with your time here. That is how I got introduced to the entire culture of illegal drug use. In my early high school years, I also investigated the Catholic Faith that my parents had instilled in me. I found myself coming to the conclusion that the idea of a God controlling everthing is pretty absurd, and I developed into a fairly devout atheist. However, that doesn't mean that I know that there isn't a God. Quite the contrary, I've learned that although i may consider myself an atheist, I know that my conclusions may be flawed. I might not be right about whether or not there is a God. In fact, I could easily believe in the idea that a God/higher power made the universe and has since not intervened. But I digress, although religion can play a large part in any psychadelic adventure, which is why I mentioned it.

         The first time I got shrooms, I was supposed to do them with a few friends, but my plans fell through and I ended up trippin by myself. I had the house to myself on Saturday, so I woke up about 8, ate my shrooms and drank some OJ, and waited. I took a little more than an eighth of an ounce, so about 3.6-4.0 grams. One thing I was not prepared for was the intensity of my trip. I noticed the amplification of my emotions, and I was outside on my deck enjoying the beautiful summer morning when it began. At one point, I realized I had been laughing for 10 minutes out of pure joy, joy at how great and amazing life is. I wandered around my house, mostly outside, and just really enjoyed my trip. The only aspect that was not enjoyable occured when I went down to my room for a little while. It was then that I realized that I should avoid doing shrooms by myself, because I sank into a depression. I credit this partly to the lighting in my room (there was only a small lamp on in the corner) and the fact that I was alone. My mood plummeted from sky high to extremely depressed. After what seemed like an hour of me being that depressed, the whole time trying to reach a couple of my friends cause I just wanted to hang out with someone, I looked at my clock and it had been about 15 minutes. I went outside soon after, and the change was immediate. I was in a great mood again, although I still wanted someone to hang out with pretty badly. Eventually a buddy of mine came out to my house, and I started to chill out, and I came down around 1 in the afternoon. For a while, I remember feeling like I was a philosopher, because I was reaching conclusions to life's greatest mysteries. For instance, I came to a sudden realization, an epiphany if you will, that the most important thing in life is your friends and family. Nothing is greater than that. I remember feeling like I had several epiphanies, although holding on to that feeling is really hard once you start coming down. A great experience, as far as I'm concerned.

         So, as you might be able to tell, I didn't do much research prior to trying shrooms, and it was a kind of learn as I went experience. After I had my first trip, I got a feel for what shrooms were all about, and I knew the things I could do to insure a good trip, and I knew what kind of environment I wanted to be in if I did them again. I also discovered that it is optimal to do them with a close friend. Shrooms can be an incredibly bonding experience. Most of the people I've shroomed with are amazingly close to me, and we share a special kind of connection, beyond that of normal friends.

        The second time I did them, I convinced two of my really great friends to do them with me. We had to wait until night so that we could chill at my friend's house uninterrupted. We split 3/8 between four people, so that would be about 2.6-2.75 grams a piece. One person had to leave because she had to be home, and obviously couldn't return while trippin. So we took our shrooms, and again began the waiting process. After an hour or so, we were all trippin hard. It was really fun, although I still had never experienced visual hallucinations. We went outside several times and gazed at the stars. I found myself pondering the mysteries of life. Once more, I was considering the philosophical questions that generally don't have answers. One thing that I loved about this trip was that it seemed like any thought that I had would be going through my friends mine at the exact same time. In other words, I didn't have to say anything to know what my friends were thinking. We all experienced the feeling of epiphany. The simplest way that I can describe it is that we felt like we understood the universe completely. A sense of great understanding of everything around me filled all three of us. Simply Incredible.

       The next trip I had was with a different group of people, but close friends nonetheless. We took about an eighth a piece, so about 3.5 grams. Once the shrooms started to take affect, me and a friend took some ecstacy that he had left from about a week before. I had hoped that the ecstacy would keep me in an amazing mood and keep any bad trip away, and I was right. We went up to this point in the city where you can look out over the city and out onto the plains beyond the city. I enjoyed this trip in particular because I finally experienced visuals. I noticed that if I kept looking around, everything was fairly normal, but as soon as I focused on any object, that object would start doing some crazy shit. For instance, I focused on a particular section of clouds, and they swirled around in wierd patterns while slowly changing colors. I focused on a nearby hillside covered with pine trees, and all of a sudden all of the trees were moving around, kind of mingling like a crowd of people. These are but two of many hallucinations I experienced. It was one of the greatest times of my life. My friend and I are incredibly closer because of that trip. At one point, he started having wierd thoughts and he was starting to worry me, but I was still in a decent amount of control, and I reassured him that everything he was feeling was just a complex chemical reaction going down in his brain. He felt better after I talked to him, and we went on tripping and just having an amazing time.

      So, all in all, although there have been moments of my trips that were not so fun, shrooms have been something I will never regret. If you plan your trips correctly, you will never have a better time in your life. If you have yet to try them, but you want to, my advice is this: be prepared. You have to prepare yourself mentally before doing shrooms. If you don't know what to expect, you will find yourself overwhelmed and probably scared of whats happening to your brain. Keep the thought in the back of your mind that the trip is only temporary. You will probably find yourself thinking, "Holy Shit I've been tripping forever, I just want it to be over." Just wait it out, but enjoy it while you can. In my opinion, they are something to be experienced with the closest of friends, although thats not necessary. As long as you are with people that don't annoy you, or make you feel uncomfortable, you will be fine. They can be a life-changing experience. My perspectives have changed, and so has my life, but in a good way. You can learn a lot about yourself through your trips, I know I have. They have helped me balance my life and concentrate on what I want to do with my life.

     I hope you find this helpful/informative, or at the very least entertaining. My best friend is coming into town tomorrow, and we have already prepared for what promises to be an awesome trip this weekend, and I am beyond excited for it. Wish me luck, and I'll see you when I return to reality.