Let me preface this by saying I'm not encouraging the use of LSD. I was well aware of the 'dangers' before this incident happened & I did my research before getting into this headspace but I must say without a shadow of a doubt, this was the best decision of my life.
Just a little backstory. I turned 25 eight months ago, making it 8 years since I started smoking weed. My first experience being high stays fresh in my mind to this day thus making my first acid trip something to write about. If you're reading this, you were in my shoes once. Yearning to go further down the rabbit hole. I was at that stage where smoking wasn't doing it for me anymore & I stopped enjoying the casual toke with the boys. So for about 2 years +, I had been mentally preparing myself for this trip. Watching trippy POV experiences on YouTube. Reading trip reports. All that good stuff. Making sure I had basic understanding of what I would be getting myself into. Now, I'm not religious or anything but one of the items on my bucket list in 2020 was to take acid & it just so happened that on the week of the 26th of December, my close buddy calls me telling me he found a dealer selling acid & I didn't even hesitate. They say you don't find acid, it finds you & it did. I was ready. My folks were out of town so my set & setting were optimal. I started to think about it more and more as the day approached because obviously I'd never tried another substance apart from DXM. That's a story for another day...
Saturday rolls around. A hot sunny day at that so of course, I'm feeling good so nothing was going to ruin the mood. I compiled my best jams & went to bask at my apartment balcony. I'm getting anxious so I rolled up a joint to smoke as I waited for my friend who agreed to trip sit. He comes through. Vibe amplifies. Music blasting. Ten minutes later, we make the call to get the acid. It took about another 20 to arrive. We go outside & the bike guy hands it over to me, completely unaware of what's inside. We get back inside the house & immediately start unwrapping the foil. I'm looking at it. This small piece of paper. Finally. It's in my hands. I'm thinking to myself, "I hope this will be worth it". My friend being curious, wanted a micro dose so I cut him a small piece as I put the rest on my tongue. It fiddled in my mouth for 15 minutes before eventually swallowing the tab. I sat in the living room, waiting for it to kick in...
All of a sudden, my field of view widens. It was subtle but obvious. I felt like I was slowly looking at the room from a fish eye lens. I'm starting to feel claustrophobic in a way & my friend had the 'bright' idea of playing Stormzy. I sat down to watch his live performance on YouTube with Burna Boy & the lights... Wow! I could feel the colours of the lights. They turned red & I could feel the intensity of that moment. Then I started feeling my stomach churn. Sort of an uncomfortable stomach ache. My skin then became super sensitive. I could feel the air flowing on it. Mind you, this was all in the first hour. I became overwhelmed by the come up & I immediately started regretting taking it. I then decided to step out to the balcony. This is when I knew acid feels like...
As I was looking at the sky, the clouds appeared more pronounced. Like someone came drew them in. I then look to my right side where the main gate of the apartment & the distance stretched. Everything seemed farther then they were. The feeling in my stomach became worse so I lay on the bed on the balcony.. As I stared at the ceiling, the pattern on it started breathing. In a wavy fashion. Its surface is rough & I don't know else to describe it but it was like ants were walking on it. I just stared at it before I quickly snapping out of it when I suggested to my friend that we go on a walk. It felt like forever getting out of the house & to the gate. As I walked, I could feel everything including my feet on my slippers. I had socks on btw so as we passed through the dusty parts of my neighbourhood, I could feel the debris pile up on my socks.
Fast forward an hour, we make it to an open market close by. Our agenda was to buy shisha flavor as we roamed around. There was so much going as I was peaking that I became jittery. For those who done acid, you know that restlessness you get. We get the flavor & immediately start walking back. On the way, I kept looking at the tall buildings. It made me feel really small. We walk back to the house & it was getting dark. For a moment, I got the fear. I think I had associated the darkness with evil but I decided to brush off the negative thoughts...
Later that night, my friend brought his girlfriend over but quickly had to rush back home to get the shisha pot. So now me & this girl that I barely knew sat awkwardly at the balcony. I had to break the ice. We start talking. Getting to know each other. As she opened up more about herself & her desires, I started to understand the human condition. The reason we're here. I felt overwhelming compassion for this stranger. As I looked at her face, the shadows of other objects reflected on it & I was in awe. In turn, it made me look at myself objectively. Forgiving myself for past mistakes. I truly accepted myself for who I was in the moment...
My friend finally comes back, with some alcohol. I wasn't really in the mood to drink because I wanted a spiritual journey that night but I didn't want to be a party pooper so I agreed to drinks. As he was setting up the shisha, I got to rolling another joint but I completely forgot I was still tripping. I took much longer getting it done. It's difficult to roll weed on acid. I admired the nug for a good 10 minutes before I began breaking it. The sensation of breaking weed felt so good, I think I ground it for another 20. We smoked some. I then get back inside to pen down my thoughts. My emotions & my state of mind at the time. I wrote a paragraph then stopped. I couldn't stop staring at the words dancing. I get back to the balcony where my friend & his girlfriend are. We talked for hours, sipping gin until I got drowsy. At around 3 am, we got back inside the house to watch Sweet Home. I don't remember much after that but I tripped out to the CGI effects before finally dozing off...
I woke up the next day still feeling the effects but most of the visual distortions went away. Even until today, I'm still feeling the afterglow. I don't know what it changed but I can't see things the same anymore. It's like life gave me a fresh set of eyes. Everyday life feels blissful. I can't wait to do it again. This time out in nature.
Thank you Albert Hoffman & everyone reading this. This memory will forever be etched in my brain.
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