An acid question for other old hippies

eace:Many of us dropped acid hundreds of times in our youth. Would you now have prefered that you never tried acid?

If so - are you unhappy with your view of the world and mankind in general - on your viewpoint of war and social justice? Or - are you glad you took acid. Are you satisfied with most aspects of your life and have trouble comprehending thinking any other way?

What would your life be like had you never experimented?

Personally, I am glad my personality and belief system was at least partially influenced by acid. There is certainly a price to be paid for its use - but the benefit, in my case, outweights the negative consequences. I may have made more money - probably would have made more money but that is not a good yardstick for a "good life". I have a wife of 35 years, a son, a home, a car and a bad case of empathy for my fellow man.

Bottom line question - Would you rather not have taken the drug?

 

I feel I'm a better person and much less afraid of dying as a result of taking those 30 acid trips.

I told my therapist that and she thought I was crazy.

 

Acid was a part of life and I've never regretted it. I've turned out how I've turned out and I'm quite happy with myself. I'm not sure if taking acid changed my view of mankind, I think it was the whole lifestyle at the time and the general feeling of togetherness with every other likeminded person. Anyway I'm 56, had the same partner for over 30 years and we're both doing alright so yeah, Ddoright, lifes fine and the only yardstick for a good life is to be happy and content with what you've got.

 

Nice answer - I like that. The only reason I asked was on another link someone suggested that once you took acid you will never know what you would have been like without it - indicating that perhaps you should not try it. I find that to be a strange argument, especially from someone who was an acid freak.

Every experience you have changes "you". Perhaps if I had never seen "A Clockwork Orange" I would be a different person - happier, more successful. There is no knowing what and how things will change you. Look inside and experience what you will.

Acid is just one more experience that puts together the total "me". Does it help or hurt - I don't know. It just is - and it doesn't bother me one bit that I am not a virgin to acid.

 

None of my past life bothers me either and I've done some pretty serious stuff but, hell, as you said, experience makes who you are and I'm fine with myself and that's all that matters. I tend to steer clear of all these threads asking about drug use because to be perfectly honest telling somebody my experience isn't going to help. After all it is just that - mine.

 

I have no regrets about my life and glad I experienced so much.

And taking psychedelic trips was just part of that journey.

Did not pursue money, just right livlihood and gained lots of experience in a number of diff jobs. Travelled a lot both in the world and I suppose within myself. And had a couple of long-term relationships.

What a specious argument to advise not to take acid because it would affect the rest of your life.

Riding a motorcycle by myself all half way across the country could have changed my life, or driving a VW beetle all the way to SF with three other young trippers may have changed my life, or building a shack in the woods and living alone there a few months may have changed my life (It did I think).

No, I am glad to count tripping on psychedelics as one part of my life experience.

 

I never had any regrets that I did it. It has had an influence on my art and my life and the way that I see the world and my place in it - more of a connection and understanding of oneness with the universe. When I find myself unhappy with the world and mankind in general -that it is because they have not understood the oneness of the universe. Where we all come from and where we will all go back to. So doing acid was good to experience that - and understand it clearer.

 

I'm young, only 22, but I think so called "trip reports" offer an invaluable lens through which to see the world, while I realize you could never come to completely understand the experience from the outside, like watching a movie (pity though). However, the universe/psyche is too vast to ever be completely explored by one person, so if you have found some interesting and valuable regions, you should try to share your experience as much as possible :cheers2: literary or verbal clues might enhance one's understanding or otherwise further open their mind. Also, if the universe/psyche and knowledge happens to be infinite (and I think most of us believe they are) then if you don't share your experience (provide a road map), what you explored may be lost forever. In fact, in some tribal cultures they consider it a waste, not to mention rude and greedy, if you don't share your visions. You shouldn't be afraid to try to communicate your experience, words open up doors of perception too, almost as much as psychedelics, I would say, so we need to "hear those beautiful thoughts coming up out of yo head"! YOUR experience: that's what you people (older than thirty now aren't you? lol) should be giving the next generation, now more than ever!

Keep your mind open, but not so open as so just any old thing could crawl through..

 

Yeah, I agree sharing experiences is a way of passing on knowledge and wisdom. In tribal cultures it is the only way that traditions and collective and individual wisdom can be shared; but sharing in an open forum situation is a whole different ball game so my experiences are going to stay private except within my "tribe"

 

I stand by my original statement, although your interpretation may not be totally accurate. I was indicating that perhaps the question poster should not try it. But perhaps the question poster should try it. I do think it should be a decision taken seriously and the potential first time tripper should be armed with as many facts as possible in order to make a sound decision. I have two young adult sons. The question poster was posting as a youthful and inexperienced person asking his/her elder for advice. I tried to answer as I would answer if posed the question by one of my sons. I doubt reasonable experimentation by my sons would destroy them, but I do believe it has the potential to have a strong effect on them and dramatically change them. I like both of my sons just the way they are. Their current life experiences are causing them to mature and develop into wise, thoughtful and compassionate men. No acid needed.

Why do you say that? Isn't that the reason for not doing many things in our lives, that it will negatively affect ourselves or others. Isn't the opposite also true. Isn't that why we decide to do many things in our lives, that it will positively affect our lives or the lives of others?


I took more than my share in the day. A more reasoned approach to acid experimentation would probably have been better. I'm sure it changed me and my life substantially. I would not change that part of my past. Some things might have turned out better had I not gone down that road but I'm happy with where the road eventually took me. My cummulative life experiences resulted in the life and family I have today. Any other path would not have provided me with the family I love. Another path may have led to another equally positive conclusion, but I'm very happy with what I have. All of this acid talk is causing my mind to drift again. I need to find my QuickSilver albums.

 

I don't think negative or positive was part of the question. I gave several examples of other things besides dropping acid that affected my life and I think overall they were positive. They could have gone bad; I could have crashed the motorcycle or VW thousands of miles from home, a tree could have fallen on me while building my shack in the woods. But I did those things, just as I did acid and the course of my life unfolded I guess as it should have. We can't really second guess how things will turn out or even if they would have turned out differently if taking a right turn instead of left.

It appears you are now looking at life as an old reflective person instead of the kid who just took stuff on faith and impulse.

It scares me to think of the chemicals I took in the '70s which I (and possibly the chemists making them) had no idea what it was. We judged it empirically by how we got off on it. I really wish there was a source of safe chemicals for young ppl to try.

I still count the psychedelic trips, upsetting all the preconceived notions of "reality" was the experience that benefitted me for the life thereafter.

 

That would be because that was the format in which the original question was asked. The question was posed in the "Ask The Old Hippies" sub-forum.

 

Shale makes a pretty good point that I would like to expand on, just a little.

Everything we do changes our lives from what they might have been, had we opted for any other choice. We can never know what our lives would have been like, or in what way our personalities would have developed, had we taken a different path.

The question is interesting though, because it makes me wonder whether I became the person I am because of acid, or if I took acid because I already was the kind of person I am.

Ultimately, I think acid helps us open the doors to the subconscious. It can release the self and help us to get in touch with who we really are and what we really believe, without the added baggage of learned repression. Unfortunately, it can also release some pretty nasty inner demons and cause some significant psychic pain. People have said that it is a personality augmentation and I think that's about right. It's like a magnifying glass that finds our true personality underneath all of the repression and denial, making it large enough for us to examine. Whether it changes who we are, or not, is another matter - and one we can never know for certain.

Taking acid is a highly personal decision and it shouldn't be taken lightly (although, in the exuberance of youth, I'm sure we all took it without much forethought.) I would advise caution and self-examination for any first-time users.

 

I just love conversations among old hippies. They are so refreshing - and have nothing to do with anal sex and nutmeg.

 

Yeah, I know that. Wanna hear how I was counseling my teen daughter about smoking grass in the '80s without appearing to be a major hypocrit?

Actually, back then grass was dangerous 'cause it was often laced with angel dust (PCP) a major psycho active drug that landed ppl in psych hospitals. I told her if she really wanted to try grass we'd contact her uncle who got home-grown stuff.

She was lucky to have old Hippie parents she could talk to. But, we know that young ppl will try stuff without any sense of danger or mortality. That's just what they do. (We did)

 

I only did acid a few times and decided it wasn't for me, and let's face it, acid definitely isn't for everyone. If you're going to experiment with it you need to carefully weigh its effect on you and decide whether to continue using it.

Most people I know don't regret using it, but there are some who exercised too little self control and dropped acid far too many times and it messed them up for a long time. Too much of anything is bad, but with acid and any other drug you need to be especially careful about overuse. And remember, it effects different people in different ways.

 

You ever try nutmeg? Nasty stuff. :ack2:

It gives you very little high and tastes horrible if you are eating a couple teaspoons of it suspended in honey to get it down. Sorta puts you to sleep tho.

 

God Yes - awful. Burping up that powder for 12 hours is just gross. I did get a buzz - but that taste -- uggggh!!

 

Oh, the things we wouldn't do to get a little buzz.
When I was an adolescent, we tried all the silly stuff, like baked bananna peels and such.
I had a friend who got ahold of a thing called Asthmador. It was asthma medication that was made from belladonna (AKA deadly nightshade). Someone told him that you could get high by eating a teaspoon of this stuff. It was usually administered to people with asthma by inhaling the steam from a tablespoon of the stuff simmered in water. He tried it and it did get him high, but hokey smokes, Bullwinkle... that was some dangerous shite.

 

Wait... this isn't a topic about anal sex and nutmeg?

I'm out!