Writing During and After Trips - Opinions?

[RAM]

I had a rather nice mushroom trip today, and although I did not really have any major revelations, I had a great time with my friends. Many of the things we came up with were hilarious, enough to the point that I remembered to record them afterward. I am very used to taking notes during longer psychedelic trips and immediately after DMT experiences, so I can preserve that state of mind and not risk easily forgetting the amazing things I just experienced.

However, sometimes I feel guilty trying to put these almost ineffable things into words. This generally occurs when I try to relay certain experiences to others, but the notes in many cases simply remind me of that mindset, which is very satisfying.

So do you have something akin to a "Tripper's Notebook," or some kind of file on your computer with all of your trip notes? Do you ever feel the need to record your thoughts, sensory input, and realizations? And if not, how do you reconcile possibly forgetting a lot of the amazing things you came across?

 

[Felnik]

I went through a period where I was journaling all my experiences . It's really interesting to go back and read this stuff . I think it's important as well for doing long term explorations . Going back and seeing the evolution and development is really fascinating. It also helped me with remembering and integrating .

 

[Bonné]

Immediately after an experience is over, I will usually find some friends and try to explain everything I went through to them, while the memory is still fresh. Then, within a week or two, I will usually write a full trip report on all the aspects of the experience, as I've had some time to go through all of it again in my mind a few times. This is primarily only my most notable experiences though. It does indeed help memorizing them at a later point, even without the need to bring forth the report or the notes you took.

 

[ScientificMethod]

I find that it's really important for me to try and maintain a memory of the experience, and that's sometimes hard with DMT. Even with mushrooms it can be challenging, especially if you journey often--the memories just don't embed themselves as well. For this reason, I do two things (or three). With DMT, I always try to talk through the experience immediately after returning to earth. Sometimes I do that too early, and I'll start explaining the experience but I'll just get distracted or lost by something in my visual field or I'll remember how weird words actually are.

So as soon as I come back to earth, I start talking through it (whether there's someone there to hear it or not), but a step better is to get up and grab my phone's voice memo recorder. That way I can have it all recorded to listen back to.

Then the final thing that I try to do (in conjunction with the aforementioned whenever possible) is listen to the audio recording later that day or week and put it into writing. I don't just transcribe it verbatim, but try to make it more coherent. I find that the audio recordings (due to their proximity to the trip) are a bit hard to follow sometimes, so a few days of fresh air tend to put me in a place where I can kind of understand the experience a bit better and maybe even learn how it relates to the rest of my life.

So to answer your question: Yes. I do, and I feel that it's very important, especially if you journey often.

 

[null24]

ScientificMethod, i take the voice recorder into hyperspace with me, while the results are often nothing but silence punctuated with whimpers, they help me remember, and after listening, i yes, often write what i remember which with the recordings is more than without.

 

[ScientificMethod]

I've toyed with the idea of bringing the voice recorder into the journey, but haven't for a few reasons.

Firstly, I like to listen to Native American flute music when I go into the trip (which I play through my phone and can't play while I'm using the phone for recording).

Secondly, I usually don't talk much during the journey itself. If anything I'll just make weird groaning or moaning noises. There isn't much "meaning" to take from that. I usually want to start talking about 5-10 minutes after the hit. I"m usually coherent at that point.

I've thought about using the recorder throughout entire mushroom experiences, as they're not quite as intense, and there are often moments in the mushroom journey that I want to bring back, but I've not wanted to have 4 hour recordings on my phone. If I did, there would be maybe 5 minutes of good stuff to sort through.

So that's why I tend to use the voice recorder afterwords.

 

[null24]

Yeah, the duration of a mushroom trip doesn't lend itself to that too well, but it's perfect for DMT.

I started doing it because i wanted to hear some of the vocalizations in a sober state. I've yet to capture that tough. :?

 

[ScientificMethod]

I've never really had vocal reactions to DMT except to ask my sitter if everything was okay on the outside or to say that I think I popped my pants. Even in really deep mushroom quests I've yet to feel verbal urges. It's more to do with my ideas and so I just vocalize things like, "falling through tunnel... Weird, stripped things... Etc. " and I've always been able to remember what I've spoken when I go back over the experience immediately after reaching baseline. So to each his own I guess. Even with all the similarities in experiences, they're still so subjective.

 

[RAM]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. It's comforting to see that so many others also choose to record their memories of trips shortly afterward, even if it risks describing the trip with imperfect words and symbols.

null and SM, your talk of the voice recorder reminds me of the multiple times I've used it with my experiences. The best times have been when I was high on MJ with friends, and we would record (sometimes without the others' knowledge) moments of pure hilarity. I am very grateful that these are on tape, as I wouldn't have been able to remember such hysterical moments otherwise.

Also, one time after my friend and I vaped some DMT, we talked for about an hour about the future of technology, consciousness, and human evolution. I always feel that post-DMT trip I am much more attuned to these topics. We had such an inspirational talk that I had to record my thoughts and much of the content of our conversation afterward on my voice recorder. This is another wonderful recording! During trips I am silent however, but the enhanced mindset after is perfect for getting these awesome thoughts out.

At least there's not a lack of things to be learned.

 

[null24]

Ha ha dmttheory, i wish i had one the other week when myself and four other people were trying to find Metalocalypse on On demand tv, and finally gave up after about ten minutes of futilely trying to spell it. Oh yes, ml was involved, it was brutal!

 

[null24]

EDIT/DELETE
Double post.