All brains house intelligence, to a lesser or greater extent; some brains require a state of mind. The metaphysical relationship between cannabis and our mind goes back centuries. From the Greek Pantheon to a stale smelling garage in some Seattle suburb, cannabis has always had our backs when creative inspiration strikes.
The thinking machine between your ears has 86 billion neurons firing informational volleys at will into a diverse connective assortment, and no two are alike. Yet despite being inundated with enough information per day to crash your laptop, we still manage—oscillating between that joint from last night and those salty licks on our guitars.
Old ideas get rearranged and shuffled, eventually giving way to nuance. But getting there is a problem that’s been plaguing free thinkers and artists alike for centuries. Cannabis shouldn’t be viewed as a magic-bullet solution, because it’s definitely not. Don’t think of it as a diet pill for inspiration, but rather, as an alternate perception tool. Using cannabis supplementally can really help one get in the proper state of mind. Letting ideas flow from their inspirational genesis to that breakthrough waiting ashore takes a mind that is both calm and collected.
For the purist, sliding your mind into an alternate state may seem disingenuous. Not every artist subscribes with the vice-driven party animal, like most contemporary examples. We get that the 27 club wouldn’t exactly be the type of place to have a bouncer. Still, good ideas hold their validity, even if they come from an unconventional place.
Not everyone can function while intoxicated. Sometimes lighting that joint will only end in three hours of streaming Broad City or eating what you thought was a normal cookie, as opposed to doing anything else.
Consider your approach before beginning on the project’s bulk. Try smoking during the conceptual phase. Doing this with a psychedelic makes an already ethereal undertaking much more seamless.
Keep a journal. Let it be your psychedelic sandbox for all your highdeas. Carl Sagan, an empirical man of science would leave introspective notes while high all the time. Give this a try. Wake up and say, “Listen closely you sonofabitch of the morning! This stuff is real!”
Cover art by wokeface.