[TVCasualty]

i've found that when anxiety manifests at the beginning of a trip, it means there is either an unresolved issue bouncing around in my head that might intensify as the trip progresses (get worse) or it's just a heavy body load affecting my thoughts and will pass soon. If anxiety occurs at/near the end it's almost always been a blood-sugar crash and probably some dehydration. A spoon of honey or some fruit juice (and a glass of water) almost instantly wipes out negative thoughts/irritability after the peak has subsided. That, and smoking a bowl.

If a trip gets dark or depressing it means I either failed to do my 'homework' from a previous trip or I've been neglecting some sort of psychological maintenance that I'd better resolve before I eat them again (my new 'homework' assignment). If I have a lousy trip because I'm focusing on my house being messy, and I don't clean it up before tripping again, then the next trip is much much worse as far as obsessing about the unresolved issue goes. I should add that my trips often have negative elements (fear, paranoia, depression, etc) but they never dominate an entire experience. Sometimes the trip ebbs and flows from great to shitty to great again.

The analogy I use for tripping is surfing; it's riding a huge, powerful force that I can't possibly control but that I can align myself with. I can sense it changing directions, and I can't stop that change, but I can make small adjustments of setting or set (eating honey to stop a sugar crash, for example) that allow me to continue enjoying the ride. Changing the music (or turning it off...or on if there was none), adjusting the lighting, moving (even if that means simply going into another room), smoking a bowl, going outside (or inside), or whatever else comes to mind can all alter the nature of the trip if it goes somewhere undesireable. Did I mention smoking a bowl? Good...this is my 420th post, so that's what I be doin'.