🫠 Ask a Guide Anything

Welcome to Tricycle Day. We’re the psychedelics newsletter that has a dirty little secret for staying inspired. (It’s exactly what you’d think.) 🤫

You can’t force creativity.

But that doesn’t mean you’re helpless. You can at least create the conditions for creativity. If it matters to you, that is.

Whether there’s a platinum Reggaeton album within you waiting to come out, or you’re banging your head against your laptop on an engineering puzzle you can’t seem to solve…

Sometimes a walk, a shower, and lowering your standards waiting for divine inspiration simply won’t cut it.

So for today’s newsletter, we asked our network of licensed psilocybin facilitators: What can a psilocybin journey do for a creative or career block? 

Here’s what they had to say.

It’s really happening.

The FDA is now reviewing not one but two new drug applications for psilocybin. Both Compass and Usona have filed their paperwork.

We’re praying the FDA green lights them both.

But approval would be limited to treatment-resistant or major depression. That leaves out everyone coming for personal growth, well-being, grief, chronic pain… the list goes on.

The good news is, you don't have to wait on the FDA. Althea is already open to adults 21+, no diagnosis needed.

We’ve overseen 5,000+ psilocybin sessions, and 97% of participants called their experience beneficial.

A mushroom journey can get a stalled project moving, but it doesn’t work every time. Kate Schroeder is sorry to burst your bubble: “A psychedelic experience doesn’t guarantee a creative breakthrough, career clarity, or even a meaningful shift in perspective.”

Masha Steiner-Renoir won’t make any promises either. Even though creative breakthroughs do happen, she cautions that when we approach psychedelics “expecting a specific answer,” we “may miss what the experience is actually offering us.” Terry Turner’s advice is to stay “open to the unexpected.” 

Case in point: Clayton Ickes once guided an author who suffered through a difficult psilocybin journey and felt they’d gained nothing. After a hard integration session, the author announced, “Wow, if I was willing to go through THAT for creativity, I should just sit down and write.” Suddenly the blank page looked like the easier gig.

Most ruts have a backstory, and psilocybin may help bring it to the surface. Melissa Grossman describes what comes up: “A journey can help illuminate the underlying cause of whatever behavior isn’t serving you.” 

Some of what’s underneath is emotional. Benjamin Dancer points to a usual suspect: “Being stuck signals to me that there might be shame in the system; the medicine is great for resolving shame, removing burdens, and giving us access to our creativity so we can be more aware of our choices.”

Other times, moving past a block means letting go of who you think you’re supposed to be. Monica Ramunda has seen clients reconnect with what they truly want. Sometimes, she says, that takes “peeling back layers of ‘shoulds’ that no longer serve them and making space for a more authentic direction.”

Seeing what needs to change doesn’t mean you have to act on it immediately. Heather Hart says the real test comes later: “An insight can feel extraordinary during a journey; its usefulness becomes clearer through integration.” She suggests starting with two questions: “What small action could you take afterward? What could you try, reconsider, or release?” 

Think of these small actions as a trial run for bigger changes. Sarah Mark knows it’s “hard to push pause” on sudden clarity, but also advises patience: “The right moves will hold true and a planned shift can make the difference between a launch and a mess.” 

Naturally, slowing down is easier when you stop obsessing over the finish line. Char McKendrick, a facilitator and designer who has worked through creative burnout, says the heart of the creative process is “exploring what’s possible without needing to know exactly where we’ll end up.”

Gather ’round, Cyclists. It’s time for a history lesson.

In the 1950s, Aldous Huxley and Humphry Osmond planned to supercharge the world’s most brilliant minds with psychedelics. (Einstein and Jung were on their wish list.) They called their project Outsight, as in insight aimed at the external world.

Sadly, it never got funded. (*cue the sad trombone*)

Something similar did come to fruition in 1966 though. Researchers in Menlo Park gave LSD or mescaline to 27 working men, each with a real problem from their job. Many cases were indeed cracked.

Now Bruce Damer, who co-founded the Center for MINDS, wants to bring the idea back. Not for nothing, his own origin-of-life theory came to him in an ayahuasca ceremony.

Look, Huxley and Osmond never got Einstein, but our guess is they’d settle for Bruce, Steve Jobs, Kary Mullis, or even Harry Styles, who each credit psychedelics with shaping their best work.

So go on and bring your toughest brain buster. Worst case scenario, you end up abandoning it completely and moving to Bali to become a surf instructor. ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

Reply to this email to shoot your shot. If it’s a juicy one, we may select it for a future issue.

That’s all for today, Cyclists! Whenever you’re ready, here’s how we can help.

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DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. The use, possession, and distribution of psychedelic drugs are illegal in most countries and may result in criminal prosecution.