Before anyone gets too excited please know that first and foremost I'm writing this solely out of personal opinion. I speak from the point of view of the late 20s - early 30s type, working middle class, news watching, personal life having person. I also will be speaking from the point of view of someone who's had some years of experience working in the Medical field - Pharmacy and Nursing to be exact. I will also briefly speak from the practicing Occultist's point of view - as there are some good thoughts to consider on that avenue.
I would say first of all when talking about mind altering substances - I'm talking about a substance you put into your body and feel an effect from. There all kinds of mind altering substances out there ranging from relatively harmless to full on life changing. People who take drugs generally fall into two categories - people who are taking them for medically, and people who are taking them to illicit a desired pleasurable effect, or for "recreational" purposes. The Current system in the U.S. divides drugs into schedules. I'm a little rusty on this but I believe it's 1-5 ... 1 being the most dangerous, highest potential for abuse, and NO medical benefits. 5 being the least harmless, least habit forming, generally widely accepted medical use. If you look at that information alone, just in and of itself it tells you that there are drugs that are very addicting / dangerous and drugs that are more or less ok to take... The big question in my opinion for a lot of young people is (since the medical system of using drugs appropriately is already quite established) whether or not they should have a relationship with substances RECRETIONALLY...
My thoughts on that subject is to learn to "know thyself" - This means (in my opinion) you are the best person to judge your own body, what it can handle, what it can't, and what it "sometimes" can. Genetics, current societal morals, you're Grandma's opinion of things, your Doctor's recommendations, etc. I believe all become secondary to what you feel and know in your heart and soul.
That's not to say what we do doesn't have consequences... If you decide to drink your life away every night and wake up one day with nothing to show for it - A rational human would probably think it's time to re-evaluate you position on things. If you go against your Doctor's orders and stop shooting insulin daily, eat garbage day in day out and end up losing a limb, again any rational human being would say," well that figures"... Keep in mind, however, that feelings are funny things... One weekend of hard drinking and doing something stupid is enough to make someone SERIOUSLY CONSIDER a lasting change of life habits... for a little while at least, but come next Friday when you're healthy, functioning again, and tired of a long work week the second your friend calls you're out the door to get smashed. - You gotta know thyself. Know how much is too much, know when to say this is not me, know your values.
When does occasional fun on the weekends become a "problem"? ... Again in my opinion this is very tricky... but generally according to society we live in (and incidentally the path of least resistance to being acceptable) - if it's starting to interfere with your professional life, If you're friends or family have suggested that you might have a problem, or to put it more directly - if you yourself ever thought you might have a problem with it.... your life could most likely use some improvement. The important thing to remember in this case is that help is VERY available. Good non-judgmental, medically professional, real deal help Is more or less a phone call away. I also think at some point our souls will intervene and let us know when something is going very wrong. You'll know when you need help.
One thing to consider is that not all drugs are created equal... Coffee once a day in the morning is American. Double bagging Heroin three times a day is a very serious issue. Smoking cigarettes is a dying but more or less socially acceptable occurrence. Waking up in the morning and hitting the crack pipe is quite evidently plunging into the depths of problem city. Generally speaking - knowledge is power. Know what you're dealing with. It doesn't hurt to do research, get the facts. If you're going to be messing with your body it pays to do your homework.
When all is said and done - Is it even worth it? Considering the legal ramifications, the potential for death or injury, all the social issues that can crop up, possibly embarrassing yourself, hurting your family, and all the other risks you're taking... As weird as it sounds personally I would absolutely say that in some instances - yes - drugs are worth the life experience and the knowledge you gain from it. On the other hand... If you're the type that frowns upon drugs and you follow the morals and ethics we've as a society established - you're probably better off not doing them.
Again - KNOW YOUR BODY and KNOW YOUR SUBSTANCES - Speaking as a medical professional and also as someone who has had my personal life effected from it - There is a very real threat of becoming addicted to substances. Addiction is worse than anything. Addiction is worse than trying something for the first time and having a sick weekend. Addiction is worse than drinking all night and doing something you regret. Addiction will ruin your life. Hands down... no joke, addiction will cut you off from anything beautiful and worth while. Addiction will throw you into a cycle where there is no more learning, no more growth, no more relationships, no more anything except your own selfish black hole. The truly sad thing about addiction is that very often addicts can't help themselves. They become something un- natural and once they've crossed into that lifestyle they carry it with them for life, and believe me it can steal years away from them. I've seen it time and time again whether it be from behind the Pharmacy counter, or on Nursing Clinical, and even in my own personal life - It happens, and it happens more than you think. People become dependent on something and then their brain NEEDS that substance. Thankfully we live in a time where addiction treatment is an actual medical aspect and there are ways to help get people out of that "downward spiral" as they say.
My opinion is that once you become familiar with your own body as well as your own values it can become easier to develop a more or less tolerable relationship with the substances you have chosen to be in a relationship with. But buyer beware - Through natural laws of the Universe and Chemistry.. there are very few substances out there that anyone can have a real relationship with.... Caffeine and stuff like that seems to be acceptable, alcohol and marijuana even on occasion is becoming more and more acceptable, and of course drugs that you're on while under supervision of a medical professional (and your insurance company lol)...but aside from that it's pretty much zip to nill. There aren't many 60 year old smack addicts who only shoot up on the weekends... There aren't many people who only hit the crack pipe on special occasions - you feel me?
Now speaking from the point of view of someone who is studying Occultism - Mind altering substances is mostly thought to be an absolute and total no-no...Unless you're prepared to face the consequences that will inevitably occur... This may be a little hard to wrap your mind around but it's just as simple as that. If you use drugs there are consequences to your health, mind and spirit. This is universal law, there's no getting around that. The human is a multi level being and all the levels are linked - when you do drugs they effect your physical being, but through chemistry they effect your mind, and through emotions they effect your soul. Using drugs to promote a pleasurable effect, open your mind to higher realms, become more in tune with the universe, etc... is certainly ok to do so - as long as you are totally and utterly OK with consequences such as social isolation, having NO money, or as Dion fortune puts it - and I'm paraphrasing... "going about life like a cheap clunking automobile." To be honest that doesn't sound all that great to me. Drug illimunism is often considered a selfish endeavor and generally grouped with acts of the "left hand path" - Which is absolutely just fine for some people... but doesn't sound too appealing to ME these days. This is just my humble opinion... Again - the real key is to know yourself and your values.
One final thought - the course of time... I firmly believe that as we go along in life we begin to realize that there is no substance quite as amazing as our own free will, our own freedom to feel, to do, to love, to be loved. As we get older we become more and more preoccupied with things that last, things that give back, things that are rewarding. How many of us have parents that used to do drugs but then stopped or cut way back after they had kids, or after they got involved with a decent career, or found their true love. I also think that future generations are going to get more in tune with this concept at a much earlier age. I'd bet within the next few generations doing hard drugs drugs, smoking, drinking to excess, etc.. will be looked down upon and seen more or less as something that our caveman ancestors used to do.
........................... My old Creative Writing teacher once told me, "To become a good writer you must... write." That really got through to me. "Get in the habit of writing something - Anything. Everyday. Pour your thoughts onto paper. Make it good, make it bad, expand your horizons." So without further adieu, here is some writing concerning my thoughts on a rather mundane subject. My Air conditioner:
Sometimes I feel like the air conditioner is making things too cold. But then again I love coolness... I feel the cold air makes me sleep better at night.
I'm betting it took many trials and tribulations to make what I consider to be a grand and wonderful invention. It MAKES the AIR around me COLDER. This is truly a feat beyond my personal capacity.
The noise of an air conditioner does not bother me. I actually prefer it. It seems odd to consider - but pure silence overwhelms me. I'd rather have constant background noise as opposed to empty nothingness and in this case an air conditioner is just fine.
I've certainly increased the length of time I REMAIN ASLEEP since getting the air conditioner. Before I got an air conditioner I would get up 3-4 times a night, but now I go to sleep once and wake up once.
One image of air conditioners that seems to stand out for me is the image of a really big air conditioner. One that controls an entire hotel or building.... Another image that comes to mind is one I've seen in many movies, in many scenes - Someone is crawling through vents / ducts that seem to be related to air conditioning.
I've seen air conditioners for sale at the store as well. You can probably buy them online also, but the feeling of taking something home the very same minute you purchase it is very rewarding... I think it's funny that some stores (more likely second hand stores) will tie little streamers to the vents of the air conditioners so while it's turned on they get blown around and dance for you.
Buying during the "off" season I've heard is the best time to buy an air conditioner - or any other product for that matter that's designed specifically for use during the Season it's not currently in. There's a trick to this idea though... For example you can't wait until the middle of ice cold Winter to buy an air conditioner at any sort of significant discount... You need to buy it right at the start of Halloween or so when they have a shit load of them and need to make room for more seasonal things. I'm not sure if this is proof positive in terms of actual savings, but it FEELS like it is...
...................Lemme tell ya a little something about Kmart. I had what I feel to be probably the last straw experience for me at that place yesterday. No joke - I'm talking like never even thinking about that place again type experience. Allow me explain:
I go out a lot with my son when I have him and we often buy toys and games and things - and every so often we will go to Kmart. Mostly we go to Kmart because it's the kind of place that rests in the back of my mind for weeks and weeks and occasionally I'll get the feeling like, "well maybe since we haven't been there in so long we'll get lucky and find something amazing"... NEVER. I've never found anything amazing at Kmart. Quite the contrary to be exact.
For the third time in three consecutive trips I bought an electronic toy for my son, brought it home, opened it up, untied all the stupid pieces of plastic, had to find the scissors, had to find a small screwdriver, had to find batteries, put everything together and then... pow! nothing happens - another useless piece of shit that got damaged during shipment or unloading or God knows what... After cooling off from the total melt down I had I gathered everything all together... tied the little stupid pieces of plastic back onto the cardboard, nicely folded the instructions back up, made the whole thing look as unopened and nice as I possibly could and brought my unhappy son back to the store in hopes for a refund or exchange...
To my surprise - Kmart's new awesome policy is that since I didn't have the receipt (I threw it out or it got lost somewhere) - I could only receive 30% of the item's total cost back on a gift card. So I could ultimately do what with? Spend it on some more cheap Kmart shit. Well Fuck-a-doodle-doo... I bought a floor mat and some cat food. ... But I will never go there again. Maybe to get little Ceasers but that's it.
Thanks for reading ; P
"All my friends and I, we own the night."
