Psychedelic trips and the language of travel

Read Sober Psychonaut disclaimer for people in sobriety exploring psychedelic medicine

Reading Michael Pollan’s book, How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Pscychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence.

Setting my own intention...

I recognize that self-love and self-compassion are a weak area for me. No wonder my regular therapist repeatedly prescribes compassion podcasts as homework between sessions. Although I've gotten pretty good at self-care during the pandemic and post-midlife meltdown (December 2019), I miss feeling great about myself. I miss loving who I am. Self-care does NOT equal self-love.

Self-care does NOT equal self-love."

​​I had a tiny glimpse of self-love recently though. Living in Costa Rica for a month, my last four days there, I went off on a solo adventure to the remote Osa Peninsula on the southern Pacific close to Panama. On the hour-and-a-half boat ride there, as the bow of the boat rose up and smacked down against the increasingly rough waters and passengers laughed nervously, all around us there were green lush mangroves creeping along the fringes and not a hint of civilization. It was then that I remembered who I was, the version of myself I like the best, the one who's out there without a past, exploring the world newly, and no one knows where I am.

I get to be “Carolina” (Cado-leena), the Spanish name assigned by my sixth-grade Spanish teacher, and my mind goes quiet. Awe, wonder and gratitude take over, and I am transported.

“Transported” being a key word here and relevant to the ketamine experience I am soon to have. A different kind of trip. A journey. An adventure. Psychonautical if you will⏤sailoring of the mind.

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