Microdosing At Work: The Psychedelic Breeze | part 2

Continued from The Psychedelic Breeze | part 1

The psychedelic breeze can be problematic sure, but it's usually only ever due to being in the wrong environment. By lunchtime on Dose Day, if it was a high dose, I would be through the storm and have come to terms with the level of “psychedelicness” that I was living with for the day. This is the sweet spot of Dose Day - it's time to ride the psychedelic breeze - It's time to walk.

SAILING WITH THE WIND

Last time we looked at how an out of balance DOSE, SET and SETTING trinity can produce some ‘windy’ mornings on Dose Day. On days where the dose is too high, and we have been a little overzealous with the amount of acid in the eyedropper, it is much easier to slip into a bad head space due to being in the wrong environment. This is where an awareness of how “The Trinity” works can help save a difficult day.

If the setting is not right it will affect the mindset and it can be a downward spiral. The only answer is to change up one of the factors. At 3hrs into Dose Day, changing the dose is not an option and SET and SETTING are the only things under our control at that point.

Unless you are a master meditator who can change their mindset like a lightswitch; changing the SETTING is going to be easier. For me, it's as simple as going outside.

Getting outside fixes everything in my experience. The world is a fascinating place. With the sun on my face and the trees waving “hi” in the distance, any memories of a difficult time I may have been having vanish. One deep breath outside brings “The Trinity” back into alignment and the stage is set for a lunchtime adventure.

THE PSYCHEDELIC FLANEUR

One thing I have come to enjoy doing on Dose Day is the art of “flaneur-ing”. A Flaneur as it is in the dictionary: “is one who saunters around observing society.” It was big for French surrealists back in the 19th and early 20th century. They would wander the arcades of Paris letting the sights and sounds pull them this way and that. The art of the flaneur goes hand in hand with microdosing, and in this context I like to call it “riding the psychedelic breeze.”

I have often thought that one of the things that defines Dose Day, or even day two and three to a lesser extent, is how the Dose can ‘lead’ you. Like the modern day flaneur, I like to just walk, and let the breeze take me wherever feels right.

Maybe the French surrealists were microdosing too?

Who knows, but they were definitely onto something. Turning your inner voice off and letting yourself be drawn wherever the soul wants to go is a powerful experience.

I work in an area of the city that is a bit edgy, it's “hip”.. Sometimes so hip that it is hard to tell if someone is a hipster or homeless. But this milieu of hipster influencers and ice addicts looking to steal your shoes is where I find myself - it's an interesting place and always something to find with the wind at my back.

THE FLOW STATE

Before I know it I'm walking down streets I have never been down and sparking up genuine conversations with random shopkeepers who I would usually avoid. I'm an introverted guy for the most part, so I generally don't go out of my way to make interactions with strangers in my day to day life. I do try, as I know positive things come from interactions. But on the whole I'll generally avoid you, lost in my own thoughts and any conversation will be limited to the essential communications. It's not that I try to be like this, it's just how I naturally am. I'm a quiet guy, and I'm cool with that.

But on Dose Day there is something else in the mix. On Dose Day it's not a cockyness or a flamboyance that I carry with me, but I move with confidence and self assured-ness. This is different to “dutch courage” you may get from alcohol, or artificial confidence from cocaine. It is something subtler - something more in tune with the soul. It's like my conscious analytical mind gets out of the way and my subconscious gets to sit in the driver's seat for a bit. This brings with it a genuine-ness and honesty to my interactions with other people.

There is definitely an element of this that is due to feeling like I am in a “flow state” sometimes. The voice in my head is turned off and I don’t pull myself up or check myself. 

The result is interactions that flow and are genuine. This in turn gets me more psyched on the whole experience making me WANT to approach people and put myself in situations where interactions are possible. This could be a benefit to microdosing that is maybe felt more in people who are usually a bit quieter, I don't know. But for me, it is definitely one of my favorite aspects of Dose Day.

THE ART SHOP

I remember one Dose Day clearly where I had set out for my usual lunchtime walk and ended up vibing my way through town letting the breeze take me where it felt right. I got to a street and turned down it, without thinking twice, curiosity leading me on. I passed an art shop that had some cool artworks in the window. They caught my eye and I entered.

I was approached by a young skater kid who worked there asking if I needed help with anything. An over eager salesperson would usually have me forcing a fake smile and trying to backpedal out the door. Not today though, I greeted him with a smile and sparked up a chat about the paintings in the window. It turns out they were his, and he had them there drying. He took me around the back and showed me a few more he had in progress. They were amazing.

They were abstract and textural with big lumps of paint that had been applied with a trowel.

This was exactly the type of artwork that I liked. Seeing it on Dose Day just made it speak to me even more. He asked if I painted, I said no - I draw a bit, but have always wanted to try and paint.

He saw my passion for what he was doing come through as he talked me through his process. I was hooked and he could tell. It turns out this guy was the son of the shop owner and he offered to let me buy whatever I wanted to get myself started painting and he would give me the ‘family’ discount. He would give it all to me at wholesale price, as long as I didn't tell his parents. :0

I walked out of that shop with a bag full of supplies and a friend for life. 

I now go back into that shop regularly and whenever my young friend is there we chat for half an hour or so. I quiz him on painting techniques and hear about life as a 20yr old artist whilst he learns what it's like as a middle aged man with a kid on the way.

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

Maybe it's just how I think anyway, and maybe it's the psychedelics in my system. But at the end of a good Dose Day it’s hard to not get philosophical about what it all means. I can often think back on interactions like the art shop above, and I know for a fact that had I not been microdosing I probably would have trod my usual circuit on my lunch break before heading back to the office and missed out on making a new friend, and sparking my love of painting.

More often than not, these little interactions can be the turning point in a day. The small actions will have in some way opened up a whole new experience for me that I can only put down to the microdose effect - to riding the psychedelic breeze.

I can usually pinpoint moments like this in my day where I have had a brief conversation with the voice in my head. This conversation would usually go something like this:

Me: I wonder what's down that street Mind: Doesn't look like much, let's head to the coffee place Me: Yeah probably right, doesn't look like much..

But on Dose Day it may go something like this:

Me: I wonder what's down that street? Mind: Doesn’t---------------------------- Me: **Already halfway down the street smiling at a guy in an art shop..

Some people may microdose for depression, some may microdose for anxiety, but for me they have never been something I have struggled with (which I’m ever grateful for). For me, microdosing helps me by short circuiting the voice in my head. It gets me in a flow state and the little voice that may usually pop up with doubt or hesitation, doesn't get a look in. This in turn helps me live my life just that little bit fuller.

It reminds me of the film About Time (greatest movie ever made) and the idea that life is to be experienced wholeheartedly, investing in every moment. It's a simple concept, but one I know is difficult in this day in age with all the fuss and fluff that we have in our modern lives.

To some degree I feel like microdosing helps me cut through that mess and gets my doubts and ego out of the way, even just briefly, so that I can engage with the world in a more meaningful and more embracing way.

Sure, this may mean weathering the odd storm when the psychedelic breeze whips up stronger than expected at an inopportune time. But that's the game we are playing - there are no free lunches :)

~

Stay Safe