Marc Lewis Reflection

LSD has many effects on the body moreover the mind for example “An hour later Stanley thought he had gone insane. His head was filled with terrifying visions and his body seemed to tumble through time and space. Then his mind snapped and sent him into a frenzy of rage. According to Linda Hunt, "They told me the next day that I broke down the door and ran down the hall screaming," Stanley

In When We Fight, We Win by Greg Jobin-Leeds it says that “comparison can block compassion both for others and for ourselves.” I agree with such statement; I think that listening is a skill you learn throughout time. One can pretend to listen without really getting anything out of the conversation that one is having with that other person. In the Compassionate Listening workshop, I got to do it with Rachel Kurland and I sit and listened to her talking about the moment her friend treason her. I tried to understand her plight, why would she not cut that friendship off, I understood she loved her friend, however, I could not resist bringing my biases to our conversation. I asked myself, why is Rachel, such a good, loving, and smart person,

After watching the Eric Thomas video, My initial impact was feeling a great deal of disappointment in myself. The reason for this disappointment, was because I felt like his words were directed towards me. There are times when you realize you fail, but you cannot bring yourself to admit that it was your fault and your fault alone. And I tend to blame my failures on the circumstances surrounding me, rather than my incapability in putting one hundred percent of my effort in what I want to accomplish.

In my opinion, Chris McCandless was more centered around the fixed mindset. The experiences he took on, were a reflection of the way he handled his growth. To elaborate, an example of this was his passion for running. “McCandless viewed running as an intensely spiritual exercise, verging on religion. He believed doing well was all mental, a simple matter of harnessing whatever energy was available.” (pg. 112). His teammates noticed his intensity for the sport and when McCandless felt that he was not doing well enough, he would beat himself up for it. From this, it is evident that he believed that being successful was more important than the effort to achieve that or process of getting there. This goes onto my next point, that

This quotation is recorded from just one of the many letters sent in after Christopher McCandless’s story was published in the magazine entitled Outside. Many people believed that in order to do something as insane as he did that he must be “mentally disturbed”. While people native to Alaska saw him as just another person unprepared for the elements he was about to face. Despite the negative aura that surrounded the story of Chris some people still wondered how all this affected his parents. Any number of people believe that it takes a truly evil person to up and leave like Chris did. In some ways these people have an argument, to see your parents for the last time and not let them know it is the last time is pretty rude and selfish, but there

Furthermore, she first completed questionnaires, chatted with the monitors, and settled down in a comfortable space where the session took place. After taking a capsule of the concentrated hallucinogen psilocybin, she then reclined in a comfortable chair, with eyeshades, and headphones that were playing classical music to further endure that she was to have a comfortable experience. At the end of the session, after the psilocybin effects worn off, she completed more questionnaires. Similar to all the other 35 participants, her responses indicated that during the time spent in the session room she had gone through a “profound mystical-like experience similar to those reported by spiritual seekers in many cultures and across the ages--one characterized by a sense of interconnectedness with all people and things, accompanied by the feeling of transcending time and space, and of sacredness and joy.” A year later, as a follow up research, Andy regarded it as “the most personally meaningful and spiritually significant event of her life”. She felt it had “brought on positive changes in her moods, attitudes and behaviors, as well as a noticeable increase in overall life satisfaction”. But on the

Throughout human history people have sought experiences that somehow transcend every day life. Some sort of wisdom that might progress their knowledge of self and of the world that they live in. For some reason they believed that the tangible world just could not be all there is to life. Some believed in a greater force that controlled them, some believed of invisible beings that influenced their lives, some of an actual other world that paralleled their own. Many of these people also believed that it was possible to catch a glimpse of these forces, beings, or worlds through a variety of means that propel individuals into altered states of consciousness. These techniques include

We could see his effort in making his life better when he decided to leave the ‘drug life’ and tried to find a proper job. In fact, he got to show the skills that he never had a chance to which carpentering and be successful at it. However, life is all

At first, Hoffman doubted whether he had accidentally poisoned himself with the LSD. Days later, he decided to voluntarily intoxicate himself with 250 micrograms of LSD to see if that was the cause of his psychedelic experience earlier in the week. When he was debating about how much of the LSD to intoxicate himself with, he decided that it would be best to be very conservative and try just a small dose. Unknowing of exactly how powerful this new hallucinogenic chemical was, he thought 250 micrograms would have little or no psychological effects. Later it was determined that 250 micrograms was an extremely large dose for a human to consume. After ingesting the LSD, Hoffman describes in his own words the events that followed:

“The drug has had no long term effects on me, I’ve taken it for 2 years.” he said. “Colors are enhanced and my visions during meditation are more vivid.” “I usually start to feel the effects about an hour after putting a microgram on my tongue” The user says he had a change of faith during his first encounter with a higher being on acid. “I saw a figure floating above me, it was beautiful. The perfect shape yet I couldn’t make out a face. I could feel the higher being giving me energy. I Felt like I was born once again. I now feel like I have more knowledge about nature and my

Daniel Tammet sees the world a bit differently than most, and his uniqueness always made him stand out. His story tells of how the things that made others look down on him in his past now make him someone I and many others look up to. While his experience is so rare and only few people have gone through, somehow, his journey, his struggles, and passions are relatable. It’s quite ironic actually, while Daniel suffered from a disability which made socializing and empathy difficult, he was able to share his story in a way where I felt like I’ve had very similar experiences. I believe I loved this story so much mainly because I have quite a few things in common with Daniel. He’s a gay Christian who has a mental illness and I’m a gay Christian raised young man whose parents both suffered from mental illnesses. It was astounding to me to read about how much Daniel was able to grow personally, not even to mention the other things he was able to accomplish because of that growth.

In extreme cases, convulsions, comas, and heart/lung failure have been reported. The more insidious effects of hallucinogens are found not in their potential for physical impairment, but in that of their psychological danger. The hallucinations, or something that is seen, heard, smelt, felt, or tasted without really existing, that accompany this genre of substances are strong, vivid, and can last for up to 12 hours. Hallucinogen users’ brains are altered in such a way that they are unable to separate reality and the effects of their trip. This can cause severe anxiety, intense mood swings, impaired time perception and the sense that objects around you are distorted. In addition, those under the influence experience a God Complex, described as a feeling that a person is superior to their peers, and able to accomplish the impossible. At least 4.6 million emergency room visits per year worldwide can be accredited to the dangerous actions taken by users of the psychedelic drug that can include fighting, jumping out of windows, and running across roads with the assumption that they are invincible and stronger than their physical limitations (drugabuse.gov).

He knew the facts about the drugs that he would take, like the heroin he shot up deteriorated the white matter of the brain, but he liked it that way. He laughed at other junkies who got high without knowing the consequences, because they wanted to live, but more than anything

Multitudes of individuals’ are convinced of the idea that the world is a minor step away from achieving equality for all. Unfortunately, individuals often overlook various occurrences of inequitable treatment in their own lives; due to their modernized outlook on fairness, as well as what the term “being fair” truly stands for in society. Throughout the social justice unit, several short stories as well as seminars in particular have created a substantial impact on my perspective towards the contentious topic. These distinct works corroborate the adverse reality of the fact that oppressing others due to eminence as well as stereotypical views often generates prejudicial treatment towards the subjected individuals. The theme established is clearly illustrated throughout three specific pieces discussed in class, which includes the war/dictatorship seminar, the women’s equality seminar, as well as the short story “Harrison Bergeron”.

Shortly thereafter, Raymond slipped into a hallucinogenic state, one that revealed disturbing images of vicious attacks on those familiar to him. While he flailed about on the ground, an intense stinging sensation spread throughout his body. Several minutes later, he blacked out.