I was surprised last night by a friend who bought a bag of dried shrooms. We're pretty close, so naturally he was excited to share them with me. I've never done psychedelics before (the only thing that comes close is a powerful THC high I've had), but I like adventure and I've never been afraid to try new things, so I went to bed fully expecting to take them today.

For context, I'm 31, 5' 10", 160 lb, and in athletic shape. I like to think I have a healthy attitude to life but I'm also a natural cynic and realist. I read that a person's trip could be heavily influenced by their subconscious thinking, so I decided to have my trip while riding my eBike to a pool hall to practice by myself. I've been having issues with my stroke lately so I figured what better way to analyze what I could be doing wrong than by doing it on a psilocybin magic carpet ride.

I woke at 11, drank a bottle of water, then chewed and swallowed the four dried shrooms I was gifted on an empty stomach. They didn't have a pungent odor or bitter taste and were easy to chew into mush before they went down the hatch. They did have some crystallization around the cap and gills, but I thought nothing of it. I then left the crib around 12:30 and rode to a Filipino restaurant for a generous plate of rice, chicken adobo, and eggs before continuing to the pool hall. My trip started along the way, so by the time I arrived I was in the weeds.

I typed the following notes in my phone while experiencing the trip. They're not edited in any way, but I'll add details that I think are important.

A lightness, lightheadedness, jovial nature to life.

That sensation and feeling started while I was on my bike. I decided to listen to songs from Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here during my trip, and it felt noticeably different to sing along. My voice would crack when it otherwise wouldn't and I became more emotional than normal while reflecting on some of the lyrics while singing. Oh, and I smiled a lot. Next time I think I'll listen to some Joe Satriani.

Slight numbness, then a haze, almost a fog over reality, and it's easy to smile.

Everything that I'd initially felt intensified by the time I settled in the pool hall, but not harshly. I wasn't so numb that I couldn't feel parts of my body and the world wasn't so hazy that I couldn't identify and navigate through my surroundings. It was a pleasant sort of disorientation.

This is coming in waves. When one ends, it feels like reality is coming back, but there's still a weight in the back of my head/mind, as if some anchor is still holding me back from grasping hold of reality. It's not overbearing though. It's very subtle, and if I close my eyes and give in the weight will pull me back to the ground, and quite possibly into the very planet itself.

This was about two hours into my trip.

It's been a few hours now. The haze has lifted suddenly, and in its place is almost a hyper reality. Colors are more vibrant and brightness intensifies and subdues in waves.

I first noticed this "hyper reality" when I thought the pool hall was having electrical problems. The lights above my table would shine bright, dim, and the process would repeat. Then the green felt on my table would slightly glow and the balls would become more colorful. I was amazed, continued to smile a lot, and started to laugh at things that weren't really funny. Note that I say this happened "suddenly." It happened just as fast as if you were able to control it with a snap of your fingers.

It's interesting that it's never been difficult for me to retain my faculties, whereas when I had that THC drink, the high was so sudden and powerful that at its worst it HURT TO THINK.

DON'T down a 1,000 mg THC drink in about 15 minutes.

I ate lunch about thirty minutes after chewing and swallowing my shrooms, and I've had about 40 fl oz of water since, so I don't know how that's been affecting things.

I was wondering how eating food and drinking water might be influencing my trip. I sipped water almost the entire time.

Oh yeah, I've taken about 2 grams.

As told to me by my friend.

It's been about thirty minutes since the haze lifted and it feels like it's almost entirely gone now.

Although the haze lifted earlier, some fogginess remained. At this point everything was almost perfectly clear.

I have to take a piss now. I don't know how that'll affect my trip, but I'm doing it anyway. I'm not holding this shit in. Actually, I wonder if my trip's about over. I'm starting to feel more like myself. What does that even mean lol

I would transition from periods of intense focus while trying to pocket balls to periods of loose reflection. When I got down on a shot and focused on what I needed to do to sink it, the intensity I could build made me feel so powerful. It was also easy for me to shrug off misses. I remember telling myself, "Pool's a better game with a smile on your face." Near the end of that mental volleyball game, I felt myself becoming "me" again. I don't know how quite to describe it. It was almost as if, for a little while, I was evolving? Growing into a more advanced version of myself? Shaving away at some spiritual fat, if such a thing as "spiritual" exists? I noticed this because I started to sound like myself again in my head. I know that sounds strange, and it was to me too. I wasn't a different person, but I would lapse into a way of thinking I normally wouldn't adopt? I think what I'm trying to say is that it was easier for me to be positive. I didn't have a negative moment during my entire trip, even when I missed balls.

The trip is over. It lasted almost four hours. I feel like myself now. Whatever that means.

The trip ended easily. The world became the world again and I wondered how much different my trip might have been if I'd doubled the dose.