Monday, August 4, 2008

Berkeley and LSD

LSD and Berkeley seem to go hand in hand. I do not think LSD is necessarily a bad thing, or a good thing, but an experience that is what it is for those who choose to indulge. Like most other things, if you do not do it in moderation, it will rot your brain, and affect your longterm memory, and really screw up your mind. I know of a fight (a duel, perhaps) about ten years ago. Two potheads got into a fight, and one was on LSD. Ten years later, one of the people did not remember anything about the incident, and then one day, all of a sudden, right here in Berkeley, came up to his forgotten enemy and it all came whooshing back. I don't know, I don't judge crazy Berkeley, it saddens me, though that two grown men cannot come to peace, and let bygones be bygones. I remember I was at a protest once, and someone yelled, "peace, love, and LSD," but a lot of the other protesters were saying, "hey, don't talk like that, it's illegal!"

Well, I think that's the problem with this country: people don't talk it out. They don't look each other in the eye. They don't talk shit to each other, and then they don't have the ability to rise above their egos, and admit when people are wrong, and in the end, there's no peaceful closure. This is a hard world to live in, a hard time, and one hell of a society. It saddens me that I rarely see people come to terms with each other. If people got a long more, and forgave each other, I think they'd have much better trips.

That fight that I spoke of, happens every day. Even in Berkeley, where we are so liberal, and yet...people who call themselves men, really act like big kids. Maybe it's part of their trip. Maybe it's part of reality. Maybe it's the monitor melting into the desk, or seeing M&Ms when you look at yourself in the mirror, or hearing the radio through the microwave. Maybe Jimi Hendrix really is on the fence over there, and then maybe my CP gets better on this trip, but the bottom line is, folks, we're all on this trip together, and the journey would be a hell of a lot more fun if we could all put aside our differences, and just get along. Just imagine how easy it would be to come down from a high if everyone had the same vision...I can't save the world, and I can't tell people what to do, but I think that when you can come to terms with differences, it shows who the real men are, and it shows that as a group, even if it's a small group of people, we can change the world together. Also, if people choose to live in the park (People's Park), they should all respect each other. It's a historic place in Berkeley, and should be treated as such.

2 comments:

Vanessa said...

I can't agree with you more on this subject. Those big kids should let bygones be bygones. No, you certainly can't tell people what to do or how to act. All you can do is advise them and wish them well. Since your heart so big, I know that you want everyone to have and love in this crazy world.

SophieD said...

I think there is a growing disconnect occuring in our society. Drugs is partly to blame. Our attitude towards attaining goals (whatever they may be) is another,
We live in a world that expects instant gratification without any real effort. A world where comprehension is becoming harder to find.
Without comprehension there is no logic; no sanity. Everything deteriorates into chaos.

There is this idea in our society that the one who speaks last and the loudest is therefore the one who is right, What terrible consequences such a belief has.

I believe that love can change the world one person at a time. But love is hard. Hate and anger are emotions that are much easier to attain and act upon. And we humans are fond of taking the path of least resistance.
I know. I have walked away without the last word even knowing that I was in the right. It was the hardest thing to do. But, in the end, what does it matter if you are right if everything around you lay in ruins?

I remind myself how hard love is everyday. And so, even if I am angry or aggravated with someone or something, I try and work it out within myself (sometimes quite loudly) before I really let go. However, I am only human.......

One last thought, very few people have any respect for the earth, much less themselves. And if you do not love and respect yourself, you cannot do the same for anyone else.

How very sad what humans make this world to be.

~SophieD