Your post really "uplifted" me. Thank you. My response is ditto what you said. Plus for my kids.

That’s an interesting take about the walls. I’ve always thought of it more like pathways. There are certain pathways of thought and action that I tend to take on a daily basis. Those pathways get pretty well worn in which makes it all the more easier to continue taking those pathways even if they aren’t serving me well. Experimenting with psychedelics has been a great way of showing me that there are other pathways or even that I can pave my own, but in order to actually not go back to my old habits entirely afterwards and ways of thinking after the trip, I have to make a conscious effort into choosing to take the new pathways that I discovered on the trip. It’s not usually some big profound change, but I think that following some of those new paths and wearing them in has had a positive influence in my life in ways that can continue. With some of my more profound psychedelic experiences, I’ve found that there’s a little bit of an afterglow effect where for a couple days, I feel like the trip I had, that has since worn off, is still totally valid and profound and meaningful. That, I’d say, is the best time to start incorporating some new habits or practices (or maybe getting rid of some old baggage), before the walls start to go back up.

You're absolutely right. And I did take some positive steps forward. It's just that for a brief moment after the trip, everything seemed manageable and any question seemed answerable. But then the feeling faded and my old being immediately clouded everything. To use your words, the old paths appeared.

My advice is to sit yourself down and try to write about some of the things that you are thankful for. If you can sit down and make the post that you just did telling us all about how you feel, you also have the ability to try sitting down and finding a few things that you are thankful for. Maybe just start it out as a little practice a few times. No pressure. Start writing and just let it flow for a little bit but try to focus on some of the things that you feel like you might be thankful for. Even if it's the silliest things. I bet you can find a few things that you are thankful for... It may sound corny and to be honest, it's truly an obvious ploy to trick your mind away from feeling the way you wrote about into finding the foundation of at least something that you like and feel good about even if it's just in this moment. Perhaps maybe there's something that you can focus on that does make you feel good. Start there. You might even find some things that you are passionate about. If you're not already, I also recommend getting some fresh air and exercise. Even if it's just going for a walk.

My thoughts exactly

That sounds more like absurdism.

Thank you. These are necessary functions of society that require hard work that although maybe rewarding To some people in some capacity is mostly not desirable labor if other alternatives are available such as spending more time with family and reading whimsical books. How do you convince enough people to clean poo or raise and maintain livestock or climb inside a fuel cell in order to fulfill necessary the needs of society? We know how communism and capitalism traditionally have coerced people to do so. The reality is not pretty from either angle, but are we really even close to that alternative yet? It’s a noble premise but we have a long ways to go.

I like the taste of tea but one of my favorite things about tea is the effect. Apparently some or all of the effect is the result of the combination of caffeine and L-theanine. So I'd likely pass on this one and just have an herbal tea if it's too late. I'm not much of a fan of non alcoholic beer either.

Gyokuro (and Matcha) tea spend some of their life growing in the shade, which increases the concentration of L-theanine.

I've had good results with Gyokuro cold-brew (created overnight in the fridge).

I have a load of L-theanine capsules, i will have to try this.

I never noticed much effect. Anyone have an anecdote?

Did two things: 1. Got my caffeine intake to zero over a month. Basically, no coffee or tea (don't drink sodas or anything else) for four weeks. 2. Started to have a strong espresso with two L-Theanine pills very morning before workout.

Noticed a much improved ability to concentrate on mundane tasks, and much less procrastination. I think, effect lasted for some 6-8 weeks, after that got off by drinking coffee during the day as well, so not sure what actually stopped the effect - caffeine or l-theanine tolerance.

I've been on and off L-theanine in different forms but regulated regimens for around 8 years. Of course my experience is just anecdotical and applies only to my metabolism and psychology but your case sounds like what happens when I get tolerance to L-theanine. The capsules do that for me pretty fast, but if I rotate between L-theanine rich Korean Sencha, Oolong and Gyokuro/matcha the effect never goes away.

I only need to not get too high on caffeine and to not repeat the same tea so much, if I do when I realise and switch to the other one the effect comes back.

Getting Oolong's and senchas with good theanine content is hard, specially finding one that works for you. Glutamate rich smell is a good indicator as well as the color or whiteish spots. Gyokuro or matcha is a safer source but if you only use that you get the tolerance thing too.

Yellow bag Lipton also works a little bit for me but not as effectively.

Is there a reason to believe the L-Theanine was a factor there? What you describe sounds exactly like the normal effects of caffeine.

L-Theanine makes caffeine's effects last much longer.

As gp said, 1 espresso, 6 hours.

For me it also cuts down the side effects, all around a very useful substance.

It gives you a calm focus. Sometimes (rarely) I realize I'm cranky for no reason after I respond to something with more emotion than it deserved, which isn't good on relationships. L-theanine works great for me to take the edge off.

I take 400mg before interviews when I'm job hunting. Unlike benzodiazepines, it doesn't seem to affect my problem solving ability at all. The effect is pretty mild compared to stronger anti-anxiety medication, but for me it seems to take my anxiety down a couple notches.

During a regular onsite interview, without l-theanine I might have some heart racing, and I might not be able to focus well enough to even understand what an interviewer is asking me. With l-theanine, the anxiety is still there but I can at least understand the problems I'm given.

IIRC it doesn't have any effect by itself but makes the effect of the caffeine less "jittery"

Caffeine is tasteless so technically it should have the same exact flavor.

Caffeine, like nearly all alkaloids is characteristically bitter. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/caffeine#section=E...

It's very bitter, decaffeinated tea and coffee both taste very mild relative to normal tea and coffee.

But cold brew (which has same amount of caffeine but less acids) tastes less mild than decaf, so it’s probably acidity as well.

I really found her modesty refreshing. If you’d like to hear more, she’s also on the Humans of Ultrarunning Poscast episode 1. One thing that stands out is her absence of formal structure and training plan. She just really enjoys running and does what her body is up for at any given day for in training. http://humansofultrarunning.com/episode-1-courtney-dauwalter...

Well, I don't know about that, on the Rogan podcast at one point she mentioned that one time she actually temporarily got blind of the exhaustion, but still kept running, so clearly her body was not up for it, but she was/is "crazy" enough not to stop.

I’m pretty sure that was during the actual 240 mile race. Not training.

All well and good until you get visited by men with guns for breaking the law.

if the gov has to physically send someone with guns to someones door to enforce a law, the economic feasibility of enforcing the law has already shifted massively away from the passive data scoop of a mass surveillance system. Why hasnt the gov won the war on drugs by just busting down every door?

I'm reasonably sure that it's enough to imprison a small number of dissidents to drastically reduce the number of people using surveillance countermeasures. Making examples of dissidents worked reasonably well for all kinds of oppressive governments.

Then you need media and potentially a sizable revolution on your side. Lawyers too.

Seemed to work out alright for Cliven Bundy.

“I have friends who are "marijuana addicts", who are pretty horrible to be around when they're not stoned, but fine when they are.” Change the word “stoned” to “have-had-coffee-at-least-in-the-morning” and you would be describing a large percentage of the population. It’s interesting which addictions are stigmatized and which ones are normalized.

Oh, exactly. I mean, we make jokes about how bad we are without coffee and no one says boo about how coffee should be banned.