Let's talk about my psychedelic career path.

My goals and aspirations to change the world

My career role models do not follow the social norms. They are outcasts who are changing the world and living by their own rules. To name a few: Dan Buettner, founder of the Blue Zones; Jane Goodall, primatologist and anthropologist; Chris Burkard, photographer and explorer; Chris Kilham, ethnobotanist and medicine hunter (basically me in an older male form); Michael Pollan, journalist and author.

It’s not about money for any of these individuals. Although successful in their own right, it’s about helping the earth, educating about nature and living with adventurous spirit, like true nomadic humans can do. They truly love what they do and THAT is what makes them successful. They are the reason I had the guts to start this platform. Because I want to support myself and have my work make an impact on this planet. I didn’t want to keep working as a content director for health and wellness companies, I wanted to pursue my dreams more than on the sidelines, taking ethnobotany, journalism, travel and education more seriously.

So, what are some of my aspirations with my work?

While I was at Oxford last summer, I finally conceptualized a career-long project I have been trying to put together for years. For me, my dream is to work with entheogenic plants on a long term basis.

For those new to entheogens, they are plants or fungi that are ingested to produce a non-ordinary state of consciousness for religious or spiritual purposes. Basically, entheogen is an intentional word utilized to de-stigmatize the use of healing plant medicine for higher connection. Most people know them as “psychedelics”, but many of us feel that word is insensitive. Some well known plant/fungal medicines are ayahuasca, wachuma, iboga, hawaiian baby woodrose, peruvian torch cactus, yopo, psilocybe mushrooms, fly agaric mushrooms and many more.

So, it's threefold about why I'm so passionate about this work.

One, I think that entheogenic plants are the only option we have to actually sort out the climate crisis because I think the answers to climate change are through shifting consciousness. We keep bombarding people with what they are supposed to do or what they are doing wrong. But, people aren't going to understand and want to change unless they FEEL it.

This reminds me of a quote I heard by Joe Dispenza on a podcast years ago that changed my life:

“Nobody changes until they change their energy - and when you change your energy, you change your life.”

And I truly believe that entheogenic plans are the solution to that. I think it's amazing that the psychedelic movement is becoming mainstream, especially in clinical settings for mental health. But, when it comes to the environmental movement, I think that we need to consume the actual plants or fungi from the planet to feel that shift and hear the messages that earth is trying to say. We are an organism of this planet. We are ALL the same…animals, plants, trees, fungi, lichen, humans. *cue another quote ~ this time from my favorite tv show Avatar, the Last Airbender:

“If you listen hard enough, you can hear every living thing breathing together. You can feel everything growing. We're all living together, even if most folks don't act like it. We all have the same roots and we are all branches of the same tree.”

So, that's one thing - the actual sustainability of this planet and sorting out environmental degradation issues. 

Two is the sustainability of the plants themselves. It sounds counterproductive, but I believe and have witnessed myself, that ingesting these psychoactive plants helps us to understand why we need to preserve the plants themselves. The plants communicate why they are important and why we need to love the earth. I think that it would lead to more regenerative agriculture and more positive, CONSCIOUSLY symbiotic relationships to the plant kingdom.

In this way, humans would instinctually know or want to learn more about subjects such as wild foraging; or why it’s important to have healthy soil; why it’s important to have spray free plants…or just want to expand their vision. Imagine if humans could notice how they pollute the earth and how they treat plants when they throw their Whopper wrappers on the side of the road. 

Three is that entheogenic plants give us great insight into the importance of the preservation of indigenous cultures. I think these plants are an essential way for westerners to learn more about how these cultures have existed for thousands of years. I really want people to gain that education and cultural competency to honor indigenous wisdom and start to make amends with their ancestral genocide and exploitation. 

And, if that knowledge is allowed to be shared…because it is important to note that it is about what cultures want to share…it is important that we never want to exploit what is offered and never pressure anyone to share because they feel like they have to. Which leads us into an important discussion about indigenous reciprocity and cultural competency upon entheogenic consumption.

The truth is the psychedelic movement is here to stay. They have become a globalized commodity. It's a hot button subject that even the New York Times is covering and we're just not going to go backwards from this point. So, what can we do instead of getting angry and trying to remove these substances from modern society? Well, we can educate how to properly take these medicines and how to use them with cultural competency and ritualistic knowledge.

For example, as I start my work with ayahuasca in Brazil in mid 2023, a lot of my research will be dedicated to educating people in other areas of the world that there is an enormous amount of cultural relevance and sacred ritual practice that has existed for thousands of years with this medicine. I feel that taking ayahuasca in the middle of Silver Lake at a trendy house or an apartment in New York City with some half-assed shaman and then claim to be “self actualized” is not appropriate.

I think it's beautiful to want to seek inner growth, change and healing, but we need to have cultural competency when taking these medicines. So, educating westerners about indigenous cultures’ rituals is an important way to honor them.

Most importantly, we have to create a system where we are incorporating indigenous reciprocity into this globalization. Maybe its through direct compensation? Or maybe it is giving more cultures the opportunity to educate in modern settings? Or maybe it is making sure that anyone healing in western settings donates a portion of their earnings? Or maybe it is a deeper look into harvesting and sustainability of the medicines? Or maybe it is making sure that modern shamans are spending time with the plants for extended periods of time before offering healing? Or maybe it is simply more education on the cultural rituals? Or maybe its about localizing plant medicines to reduce exploitation and carbon footprints?

Another view to incorporate is that some of these medicines grow in our own backyards. The truth is we can extract DMT and other psychotropic chemicals from many plants beyond the small list of entheogens we rely on. I mean there are wild fungi growing right in the forests of Washington, and on almost every continent! There are medicines that we have the privilege of learning with ourselves. We can create our own rituals and community reciprocity when we harvest from our own land. But this is what is exciting about working with plants. We can create an entire mycelial network of gratitude and cultural competency around entheogenic plant usage. The possibilities are endless.

As for me, I am also passionate about tea and will probably do research on tea farms across the globe. From roobios in South Africa, black tea in Kumaon to matcha in Japan, I am fascinated with the art, ceremony and cultivation of tea. Or perhaps I will do more research into other plant medicines. Maybe discover new botanical wonders. Who knows where my career is going to take me…but, for the first time in my life, I feel its finally happening…and at rapid speed.

So, once again, THANK YOU ALL for following me on this journey. Thank you for your support and encouragement. Life sure is one exciting ride.