Lightning in a Bottle 2018- My Psychedelic Experience Part 1

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Lightning in a Bottle, better known as LIB… (sigh) where do I even begin? When I first heard about this festival years ago, what I remembered was that it was a music festival that provided yoga classes, art, good food, and amazing classes such as learning how to cook healthy foods, and even listening to inspirational lectures, what more could I ask for?! I just didn’t ever take the initiative of planning for this festival and plus I never heard any of my close friends talking about it so I just kind of put it to the side thinking hopefully, one day, I’ll go. (**SIDE NOTE: That’s what most of us tend to do. We see things and talk about things we, ourselves, want to do but because we’re lazy to take that first step of planning, that “one day” ends up becoming “I wish I did..” when we’re on our deathbed. So remember, it’s all about taking initiative and ACTION for your life, my friends!)

So a little backstory of how I even got to go… One day I was teaching a private yoga class to my friend Kahoa. After class, as I was packing up my things, we were just chatting and I asked him a normal question, “So, do you have any cool plans this weekend?” (It being Memorial Day weekend) He then replied, “Yea, have you heard of Lightning in a Bottle? I’m going to that!” I then said, “Oh yeaaa?! That’s so cool, I’ve always wanted to check that out! It sounds super awesome!” His response after a slight hesitation of thought was, “Oh, really? I think we actually have an extra ticket if you wanted to go.” At that moment, I paused and my mind started skimming through my plans for the weekend but it was completely empty! I had no plans! So I said, “Dude, I think I could totally go!! Let me know about that ticket!”

A couple of hours goes by and I get a text from Kahoa saying, “LIB caravan leaves Friday 4amish. There’s a spot for you and a ticket avail if you are interested for a trade. Teach yoga for our JT retreat and the ticket is yours.” Nooooo freakin way! I was soo stoked! I told him I would get back to him by the end of the night because I had to make sure I could go. Mind you, we would leave early Friday morning and it was already Wednesday.

Can you guess what I did??? OBVI, I was totally in! The offer was just TOO good to let pass and why would I give up an opportunity to experience something completely brand new that I always wanted to do? The great thing about it and what also made my decision easier was that I already had all of my camping gear, so I was totally set.

Friday, May 25, 2018, around 12:40am, Kahoa, Richard, and I set out on our journey. A journey I had no idea would change my perspective forever!

When we arrived to Lake San Antonio, which is about 5 hrs north from Orange County, California, we met up with Richard’s friends so we could caravan to our campsite together. When we got to our site, I noticed that we were camped literally right next to one of the stages for the festival, The Grand Artique. SUPER VIP!! YEAA!! Right then I knew this was going to be an epic weekend!

There were already people at the campsite so I realized, Yayyy, new friends! They were all super kind and sooo welcoming. They made space for us right away to put our tents and things down. Instantly, I felt this surge of trust and love in the air. These strangers just met us and already they shared their space, and took us in with open arms. I took a step back to take in all that love. OOOooOoO.. that feels nice! 🙂

After we settled in, we just hung out and walked around to the close stages and exhibits before the REAL party began. Do you guys know that saying, “The calm before the storm?” Well this was the PERFECT and ultimate example of that! I knew the storm was coming so I had to really prepare myself. LOL

Some friends had mentioned that for the night, they were going to take LSD, also known as acid. (GASPS) Acid??? OMG, isn’t it that drug that fries your brain and makes you hallucinate?? Yup, that’s the exact same reaction I had when I first heard about it in high school. I always thought acid was sooo bad, “only major druggies do that!” Just the way “acid” sounds, it always left a negative and bad taste to my tongue. (LOL, pun intended) But throughout the years as I heard more and more about it, it seemed as though when people were experimenting with it, all I heard were good reviews and most people would express that they had a wonderful time when they were on it. I mean some had bad “trips,” but overall the ones who had the good times definitely outweighed the bad. Also, as I was doing some research on LSD before I wrote this blog, studies show that out of the millions of people who have done it, there have only been a handful of people who have overdosed on LSD. And to really put things into perspective, studies show that about 6 people die of alcohol poisoning EVERYDAY, just in the U.S. alone.

Wait, hold up, so you mean to tell me that LSD is prohibited and known as taboo whereas alcohol is legal and accepted?? What’s up with that? …But anyways, that’s a whole other story I’m not going to get into right now.

So yea, my perspective on this psychedelic has changed a bit since high school and I’ve become a little more intrigued. Also because I read that successful people like Steve Jobs has experimented with LSD and the legendary Beatles! To be completely honest, I’ve experimented with quite a few different psychedelics out there already so I wanted to see what LSD is about, so at least I could compare it to the rest. Some might read/listen this blog and think I’m some sort of “druggie,” but I really don’t consider myself to be one. I’m not addicted to any drugs, nor do I let it control my life. I just like to experiment. To me, life is about stepping into the unknown and seeing where your own mind and body can take you. Why do you think I quit my stable career to follow my dreams? The exact reason why I said, “Sure, I’ll take that mint infused with acid.” 🙂

So after I let the mint dissolve in my mouth, about 35 minutes later, Adventure Time began!!! Join me next week as my LSD journey unfolds!!! #tracytreks

NOTE: Lightning in A Bottle is NOT responsible for any experimentation with drugs nor do they provide it. It was solely my choice and I assume all responsibility for my actions.