Hello,
I am contributing a second Introductory Essay, hoping that is ok while I still await membership and the ability to connect with the other members at large.
I have a very close friend who was diagnosed with a terminal disease last December (11 months ago as of writing). She is one of the most well-read, scholastically fearless and unique minds I have ever had the pleasure to have known. Since we were children, she has been my closest confidant, and whether it has been navigating love and friendship, scientific articles, book and film deconstruction, the best lure to catch trout, or some obscure blues artist from the 1940s, I have never valued the insights and opinions of another human being the way I do hers.
This news has devastated us both.
Naturally, we speak a great deal about making plans for her death which she feels would needlessly burden her family and although the subject is quite painful, out of our deep love for one another and seemingly limitless capacity for the darkest gallows humour you can imagine, we are finding our way forward.
Despite her scientific and skeptical mind, she has always had an incredible curiosity for and towards foundational human behaviours like religion and mysticism, and the links between biological evolution and the role of psychoactive substances. (Incidentally, my first encounter with McKenna's work was not with his research into DMT, but rather the first time she explained his radical 'Stoned Ape' theory to me).
In any case, we both have had a handful of experiences with a few common psychoactive substances such as LSD and Psilocybin, and would discuss these fascinating drugs from time to time and what we brought back from some of these experiences. We have for several years now talked about DMT peripherally, but there seemed all the time in the world for us to consider trying it, and if so, figure out how to facilitate a chance.
Over the course of the last year, she had increasingly brought up the fact that this was one of the experiences she would like to try before her situation becomes one where this is no longer going to be a healthy possibility for her, and so I tasked myself with learning what I could about DMT and as much as possible over the course of the last half year. Without too much detail, suffice to say I have created the opportunity for her to consume some, but we both are very concerned and hoping to make connections and ask specific questions of people with similar medical conditions before moving forward.
Time is a factor, and so I would like to know if there are any of your out there with either serious degenerative disease, particularly of the brain or nervous system, or are living with terminal illnesses and still consume DMT? I would be tremendously grateful to be able to ask questions, (respecting your comfort and privacy of course), as well as finding some informed and supportive members who have advice from this unique perspective.
Please reply to this essay or PM me if that is preferable. It would be greatly appreciated by us, and thanks in advance.
-GA.
***PS: Moderators; I can appreciate your wish not to be pestered or prompted by prospective members about getting promoted to full membership status, but I feel like we would have a lot to contribute towards the subject of DMT & Dying, and time is most decidedly a factor for us to search out and actively post amongst the group to find people in this vanishingly small pool of people to connect with.
It has not even been half a year since signing up, but anything you could do to speed up this process would be incredibly helpful for us both, and help my best friend do her very best to use your wonderful resource for harm reduction, informed use and to perhaps connect with others who can help her overcome some unique problems in the way of a DMT experience. In any case, this has been a wonderful resource so far and we appreciate you more than you know.