I can say without a doubt that mushrooms saved my life twice.
The first time was the first time I ever took them. I had been living in a punk house basement working graveyard shifts in a restaurant and did nothing but drink in the basement and drink at work. I was at an extremely low point in my life and was only 21. I had just gotten off the street after being a homeless street youth on and off since I was 18. I had a lot of trauma to deal with and no tools, no support, nothing.
One afternoon I found two of my housemates giggling in the living room and asked what was up. They said they just got some mushrooms and were going to the forest to take them. I mentioned I had never tried them and they invited me along. I took them and started walking down the street with my friends. About 40 minutes later they started to kick in, but it wasn't like any high I had felt. At first I felt warm and tingly, a little while later I felt my shoulders relaxing for the first time in months. About twenty minutes after that I was smiling for the first time in a long time, and then laughing with joy. By the time we got to the forest I was basking in a feeling that was mixed love, comfort, forgiveness, and security. My friends and I ran around the forest laughing and playing silly games. We eventually got tuckered out and threw ourselves into a big patch of wildflowers and held hands while we watched the sun go down.
After the mushrooms wore off the feeling of security and love lingered for months. I wish I could say that incident put me on the right path, but I ended up homeless in New Orleans about six months later. What it did do for me was show me that I can feel better, that there is joy in life, and that I can be worth love. All this from a little fungus.
Fast forward twelve years and I was living in the mountains of Oregon. I was a SEVERE alcoholic. Those of you that remember me from before I'm sure remember my bizarre and aggressive alcohol fueled posts on here. I had spent over a decade not dealing with my PTSD from life on the streets and other problems in life. Just drank. I was also dealing with a failing marriage I was trying to save to no avail. One night I took mushrooms and just sat on my couch. I did not get the same feelings of joy and comfort. What happened is I walked into the bathroom to pee and did what we all do in the bathroom on mushrooms, I stared into the mirror. The person looking back at me wasn't even me. It was an alcoholic approaching middle age. Swollen nose, veins busted in the cheeks, eyes that didn't seem to focus on reality. Y'all know the look. It scared me, intensely. A gentle voice in my head told me to stop. Just stop.
It took about two two weeks, but I finally stopped drinking. I woke up after a reunion show for one of my favorite bands with a roaring hangover and immediately started vomiting. I began piecing the night together with the help of my friends. It had started well, but I got drunk quick. I got in a fight, I knocked a guy out, I scared the shit out of his friends after the show challenging them to step up as well. I drove us all home in my big truck drunk as fuck. I drove drunk, aggressively, in a city. I could have killed someone, it was a miracle that I didn't.
There and then I quit. I do not think I could have done it without the help of mushrooms. I wish I could say I saved my marriage by quitting drinking, but I got worse mentally before I got better. We ended up splitting last summer, but we are good friends now. We agree we make way better friends than spouses, and we still love each other very much to this day. I got therapy for my PTSD and I'm slowly improving my life. I still attribute this to to mushrooms.
ppp
Our plant allies can bring much into our lives, if treated with due respect.
