Psychedelics changed my life for the better, but, still, bad things can happen to you through them. For example, I don't want to go to jail. While it's relatively easy to avoid getting popped, such as by using DMT and other psychedelics responsibly, I'm experiencing some changes in how I have to deal with people that make me feel isolated, and I don't think these are avoidable. I live in literally (yes, this has been measured) the most conservative place in the country. Not many people here do spice, nor do they care to differentiate when they bash "drugs." I have experienced something truly amazing; I want to share it with people. However, when I start to maneuver a conversation toward the topic of entheogens, people get suspicious--"Why do you know so much about this?." It's hard to have something consistently magical and to be unable to share it with the vast majority of people you know.

I'm sure many of y'all have had a similarly hard time with similar issues: How do you deal with feelings of isolation? (Note: I'm not talking about the social withdrawal that accompanies having a problem; I'm talking about being around people as much as normal, but having to hide part of yourself from them)

Welcome home OoglesMcGoogles lol love that name! Your with good people here my friend so no worries in the least

Many times I feel the same way.

I've often tried hard to convince people that "shrooms" are not physically or psychologically harmful or addictive when used responsibly, but in response they just say something along the lines of

"well they're illegal"

If you ask them why they think they were made illegal, they say

"because they're bad for you"

So there you have it folks, a society that has been successfully taught to think that psychedelics are illegal because they're bad, and they're bad because they're illegal. I don't know how it's possible to pound that kind of logic into one's head, but it happened.

I feel ya! I've experienced this many times, most often with friends, and occasionally with strangers. I remember an interaction with a patient that was suffering from debilitating cluster headaches...fumbled my way through telling him I'd heard that magic mushrooms...you know, that wacky drug from the 60's...had shown promise in relieving the frequency and duration of the headaches.

Fresh Brewed: That seems like the perfect point of entry for psychedelics in a conversation! How did this person react to what you said? I feel like a socially sanctioned medical application is a good way to throw the topic out there to test the waters.

You know, I make it sound like there is no one else in the world who sees psychedelics for what they are, but, really, when you do find someone else who cares about power plants, I guess it makes your connection with them that much more intense!

Realistically, that person probably never gave it another thought, and if he did probably would have had zero opportunity to act on it. BUT, I felt like if I hadn't at least thrown that out there, I would have felt guilty for not sharing.

Regarding isolation, I think a degree of this is natural, even in circles where use of psychedelics is common. I come from an area where psychedelics are common and have been for at least 40 years, yet DMT is still a relative rarity and while many try, most do not continue. This to some degree sets you apart as there is not much in the way of people who understand where you are coming from to talk to when you have things on your mind. A lot of people have thought I am a little odd for my interest in psychedelics (in fact my interest in pot and acid caused some reasonably serious social issues when I was in my teens), that is their problem though. Even if they do think I am a bit odd they seem quite used to me being odd as far as their understanding goes, we all get along fine. It is irrelevant the vast majority of the time.

However…

Any niche area that you get involved with is capable of creating this kind of situation. I don’t know many people who work in my area and are able to understand the stresses and strains of my job. A large number of people out there have something that they are seriously involved with and have this issue. We just have to come to terms with it if we are not in a position to change our lives to the point of being around others who have similar interests to ourselves.

Luckily…

We have the Internet! It may not be the same as having people physically with you, but it is a great tool to communicate and realise that we are not alone, whatever our fringe interest(s) may be. I seem to have collected a variety of things that I cannot find anyone to converse with outside of the Internet, yet I could spend all day and night with people online having deep conversations about my interests. Likewise, I have learnt to be happy to travel to find what I need. I don’t know many people who have the same musical interests as me, for instance. Most people I spend my time around can’t deal with what I listen to, love, and have devoted a large portion of my life to. This makes me feel quite stifled at times. This is easily dealt with by going to other cities, or even travelling to other countries. If anything, travelling and meeting new people, seeing new places and having new experiences all over the place is far more fun than being stuck in my locality, unhappy that there is nothing that fits me.

I agree with what was said already Even though it is not necessarily a direct substitute, it can certainly help to have the internet and to be able to communicate with hundreds or thousands of others around the world who have gone through similar experiences as yours... And I think you couldn' t have found a better community than this

Regarding isolation, I think it' s quite common that when people start taking psychedelics and having these experiences that are so beyond normal language, they feel some kind of isolation from others who havent experienced.. Considering these can be such life changing experiences and no description can do justice, its totally understandable that one feels hard to connect to others . And then many of these people that havent taken it have a negative knee-jerk reaction to the subject for several reasons (miseducation and misinformation, fear of unknown, etc etc), which seems to reinforce the feelings of separation.

But I think this should only be a first phase.... Upon closer inspection, I think we can see that so many of the ' normal' experiences people have are impossible to describe... Say someone has overcome many difficulties in their lives, has worked hard to achieve what they did, etc, and then they talk to someone who had it all all handed to them, been spoonfed all their lives.. How could the first person describe the value of hard work to the second one?

We are all humans, with similarities and differences. I think often our mistake is to want everybody to be on the same page about whatever is important to us, instead of realizing differences can also serve for mutual growth.

More and more I just try to relate to the common person from their perspective, learn whatever they have to teach, and find common points, without necessarily involving psychedelics into the equation.

When I meet a person, Im not going to mention psychedelics, unless I see some indication that they are aware of it already, or at least that from their way of being, they'd be open to the idea. And if I do mention psychedelics, I generally start with ayahuasca, which seems to carry less preconceptions and misinformation, and I generally mention both indigenous use as well as new scientific researches regarding it. That way it sounds less socially awkward by not being too related to the ' lsd-binging 60's' that people seem so unreasonably repulsed by.

Also its very important to just be patient.. Sometimes you may live without anybody around you that you can share this with, and in the meanwhile you have this (or others) online community, and it may be soon enough you' ll be somewhere with a lot of like-minded people.

Last but not least, I'm very lucky to generally have had quite a few people who are open to psychedelics around me in different places where I lived. Not that this should be the only or main reason for you to move, but maybe you could consider moving to somewhere where you are more happy with the people around you?

Good luck!

Brawndo got what plants crave...

http://youtu.be/g5Q-yNNu-tM

It's not related with psychedelics, but I feel this isolation nonetheless. it's also very conservative where I live and people just kinda don't understand me. I have nothing but a few very close friends who I can truly be myself with

I have to "play a role" to try and fit in society

I have less of that issue in bigger cities tho


to be honest, most of my social everyday life is internet. I try as much as I can to move around, but moving around isn't that cheap either (between hotel, transportation etc...)

it's important, still, to actually go out there and meet actual like minded people, even if it can be costly, you should do your best to do it.

With our interests it’s even harder because they are illegal. One must be very careful with choosing friends who he can be truly himself with. Some people may recklessly talk about it with others and we don't want to have any problems with law, do we?

Because oddity of our passion is a different thing. There are many people out there who has odd passions but they don't have problem with that. It's a matter of readiness to be who we are no matter what others think and say about it. And this comes with time and courage to face criticism. It's easier when we feel right with what we are doing.

But what we're doing is often against the law. The circle is closing itself. Sad story...

indeed, however, with true friends, people who know you, people you can be true around, you know that they won't judge.

in some way, doing that, being like you and I may be, it's both a blessing and a curse, isolation comes with the territory of anyone who, in his/her own way is on a journey to the truth.

but it's a blessing, because most of the times, life brings you true and valuable friends

isolation is difficult, but you can't change what society built during decades, you can't change how people feel about psychedelics, but not even psychedelics, even some self introspection can be misunderstood in that society that values success, certainty, confidence, ego etc...

sometimes I wish there were a way back, becoming "normal", but if at some point in life you end up on a forum discussing psychedelics and the possibility of actual alien life and taking contact with it, you're probably not wired to be "normal" to begin with.

there's no way around accepting it, but it will bring truer relationships, more valuable relationships, and in the end, I believe it's a win.

but it's a hard path to follow, day to day basis

Yeah, we are like elves - we act like normal people on everyday basis, but when weekend hits, or with just more spare time - we'll go to our land, a parrallel world where we are who we really are.

We are carriers of some higher, ancient ideas, spread throughout the world be means of the collective subconcious and more recently the internet, like mushroom spores... The ideas came to grow in our minds so we should cultivate them, and share with the world. But act underneath the social structure, not to get caught. Just like the elves

I had these thoughts on my last trip with shrooms

Are there any elves out there?!

I always try to keep the stories I tell about psychedelics extremely personal and make a conscious effort not to make any generalized statements. People react better that way I think.

One true story I have never had any bad responses to is the following true story of one of my most healing acid trips:

A little background info is essential, bare with me:

The right side of my face has been paralyzed since birth. I can not move my right eyebrow, can't close my right eye completely, can't move my nose, nor the right corner of my mouth. It is obviously visible: my right eye looks bigger, the corner of my mouth hangs down on the right side and my cheek is swollen and red due to a muscle transplant they put in there in surgery at the age of 14 or so.

During one of my solo trips I ended up staring at myself in the mirror. However, I did not recognize my reflection. It was as though I was looking at a complete stranger. We always view ourselves differently than other people view us so I immediately recognized that this was a chance for me to see how people see me when they first meet me! I saw that while the right side of my face demands attention, it does not cause any feelings of repulsion. It merely sparks a question and an interest and causes people to wonder what it is that I have going on there. This was comforting.

Then the view changed and the paralysis slowly took a background role. It diminished more and more and I could see that I have an extremely open and expressive face, regardless of one side doing nothing. I even started to notice some expression in the right side that I had thought impossible up to that point. I realized that this new view, with less, almost no emphasis on the symptoms of the paralysis, is how my friends and family view me! They always say: "I don't even see it anymore". I never believed them.

Since this trip a couple of things have changed, most notably the way I view myself in the mirror. Before the trip, without even realizing it, I always looked at the condition of my right side when I looked at myself in the mirror. I focused on the thickness of my cheek, the asymmetry, or the hanging corner of my mouth. But now, when I look into the mirror, I look myself into the eyes! I have become my own friend and I can say: "I don't notice it anymore.".

A powerful illustration of the potential of psychedelics from a very, very personal story. If I tell this to people in an engaged way, they can't react badly. You literally see them fight internal battles with their previous conceptions sometimes.

So my advice is, if you do speak about these substances, keep it very personal and small. Don't go around claiming they can make the world a better place. Simply tell of a healing experience.

Peace.

what a beautiful way to put this in words

Bravo GoldenEye. Psychedelics has pretty much been a reset button for me. Having dealt with depression for many years and never been open about sharing my problems with anyone out of fear of...I don't know really. Maybe I just don't want to cause any unnecessary worry to those around me. My best friend of 13+ years has no idea about my issues and my lover of 5 years only very recently found out because I had a rough break down.

I really don't bring it up to most people as I am afraid of the stigma that comes with it. I only tell those who either approach me first about their experiences or whom I think can benefit from its uses. MDMA was the first thing I tried and it really shaped the person who I am today as I was always really shy and got bullied quite often. It helped me break out of the shell that I was hiding my personality in really changed my life for the better.

Edit: I guess I should add more regarding the OP. I can understand what you are going through. Once you have that disconnection from your ego you want to run around and tell everyone you know about it because you want everyone to experience such a heavenly feeling. The internet is okay but there is nothing like being able to share experiences together with another person. I find myself doing things alone for the most part as I enjoy the spiritual journey and a lot of my friends take things to party. But at least there are communities like this around with like minded people

Personally, I don't invest much time nor energy in people that don't ride a similar wave, in terms of 'explaining much of my passion/s' regarding entheos. You can typically get a read on someone, more or less, being around he/she enough -whether it be at work or a friend of a friend, etc.

The best avenue that i've found - plain and simple - is to live hyperspace/entheos in your daily life. Live the teachings, everyday. For those who are close to you that can relate - excellent; and for those that are by the wayside - no biggie. Such is life.

Live through example, no matter how minute, do this every day. Let this come through in how you present yourself, how you go about your day, every little action you do - be that example. Some won't wonder, yet some will; some will raise an eyebrow more or less and wonder what it is 'about that guy/woman' - "what is it about that person?"

I've had this happen numerous times over the years (not that im some prime example), and it still rings true.

You actions speak volumes, especially when coming from authenticity.

Very wise words... It's good to live like this.

Sometimes I'm lacking a feeling of being understood when I speak of my experiences I had with entheogens. I personally know very few people who use them. Another thing is that usually I have very intimate insights into myself and even when I'm telling about them to my girlfriend, who is currently the closest person I have, I'm having a hard time telling her about them. Not always but it happens. For example when I've achieved something important during a trip or when I've stumbled upon something difficult and I need feedback, I won't get a proper feedback from her, because she can't really imagine what I'm facing. Then I need to work with on it on my own.

Maybe I'm just making it too big, maybe I shouldn't worry so much about being understood or not. I need to figure it out.

I hope I didn't wander off the topic...

I also live in an extremely conservative part of the country. It's southern Baptist primarily, and very closed minded about these sorts of things. However, I have made a few friends who are open to what I do and respect me as an individual. When you find good people like that, know that they are worth opening up to.

So the strategy I've developed goes as follows. I talk about my interests with the conservative person in a way that builds rapport throughout the conversation. I listen to their interests with sincere fascination and I don't just fake my way through to the entheogen discussion. If the conversation moves in the direction of marijuana legalization (which is a big topic these days), I will cite references to MDMA being used to treat PTSD. But then I will say that it's unfortunate that it's illegal. In the hands of a trained psychiatrist who knows the proper dosage, it could help a lot of war vets.

You've gotta know your target audience though. This is just my opener. It might not work on someone who is, say, someone with an alcoholic family member. Once you start talking about that sort of thing (especially if they're uneducated) they will immediately close you off. In that instance, you would need to build rapport until they felt ok to talk about alcohol with you and their views...then move forward.

When people come into my house and ask me what that weird smell is...I tell them that I'm burning incense (I actually am since I mix various scents in). And with regard to isolation...I'm very lucky to have at least 1 or 2 friends who are interested in talking with me about it who have also had their own psychedelic journeys. So I talk to them if I have a puzzling thing happen or am having a spiritual breakthrough. And really that's enough for someone like me. No matter what you do...you're going to feel estranged from this world even if you have people there to talk to you. It's your experience and no one can experience it except for you. So even if you shared it with your best friend and they understood you completely...there would still be something lacking in the transmission. It takes a unique type of person to be involved with entheogens. Most people either can't deal with the intensity or are closed minded. So while we shouldn't get an ego about it, I personally like to think of it as a unique chance to trailblaze consciousness.

GoldenEye: Thanks for your input! I agree with your advise entirely. Your response opens up a related topic: It's possible to attribute too much to entheogens. From what I took from your story, tripping was just the trigger to help you see your self image in a different way. Your strong emotions, however, were about seeing yourself differently. I find it so easy to attribute the powerful realizations I have on entheogens to the entheogens themselves. Entheogens help me see the beauty of nature, for instance, but it's delusional to believe they create that beauty. It's possible--and I've never thought about this before--to talk about most of the insights I've attained through power plants without even alluding to the plant. In fact, I'd have to go pretty far out of my way to even bother talking about the plant I was on when I had a realization.

Maybe power plants really come up naturally in very few conversations. I feel isolated not being able to talk about entheogens with people around me when, in reality, I wouldn't talk about entheogens with most the people I know even if I had the chance. I think part of the problem is a fixation on entheogens; feeling isolated, then, is neurotic anxiety. Most the time, at least. When it would be natural to talk about entheogens, however, and you can't, due to their illegality and general public misunderstanding, that's still infuriating.