I’ve really enjoyed George Carlin.
I just finished reading his self-described “sortabiography” (Last Words). George started writing it years ago and his agent/manager finished it for him after his death.
Just like in his comedy show, George doesn’t pull punches. He writes about his pain and path.
George was a daily pot smoker (no surprise there), a heavy cocaine user, and a functioning alcoholic. What really disappointed me was Carlin credits his success to his use of LSD. He relates that LSD opened his mind to be more creative and lose the “bullshit” of his upbringing.
Carlin was raised to be hyper-Catholic in a dysfunctional family with an abusive alcoholic father and a manipulative-overbearing mother. Mom eventually left pops and then poverty became an issue. George, for the most part, was left to raise himself. Unfortunately this is not an uncommon tale.
George left home to join the US Air Force at 17. His plan was to become a radio personality, a comic, get famous, make movies, and then ‘have it made’. What George didn’t know is that leaving home is only a geographic solution. While you can move 1,000’s of miles away from home, your ideas of home/family still move with you. Psych docs call it ‘family of origin issues’.
Trouble followed George and, as can be expected, the military was not a good fit for someone railing against authority. His Air Force career was cut short and he started his broadcasting career.
George masked his pain and issues by self-medicating. There was the liquor and pot. And in the later 60’s he found hallucinogens.
I identified with George up to that point. I had serious ‘family of origin’ issues. My mom was a hyper-religious, manipulative over-bearing sort. My dad was emotionally absent and was not a good man. We were way below poverty standards. I escaped to the military. I left the Air Force prematurely. But I didn’t choose hallucinogens to “free” myself.
I’ve never used LSD or peyote or mescaline. I’ve never licked a frog to get high. I’ve never tried cocaine or heroin. I’ve never even smoked pot (gasp). I don’t understand ‘huffers’. I drink very little alcohol now. I did drink too much in my 20’s and 30’s. But experimenting with drugs is completely foreign to me.
Yet I did find ways to have the success I wanted without drugs. And I’m still working to achieve additional goals– chemical free.
I have studied the human mind. I have studied how to and have experienced an alternate consciousness via meditation/hypnosis/yoga. I don’t know if it’s like an LSD high, but it’s close enough for me. My first out of body experience came in 1987 flying back to the US from Spain in the webbing flight seats of a C-141. There was just enough engine noise and I was just woozy enough to experience this altered state. It was eye-opening.
I’ve been able to re-create the out of body experience several times and never with drugs. It’s like any exercise… the more you practice… the better you get.
Years ago I went to a class Alan Cohen taught. Alan’s course was how to live truer to one’s values…. How to be more authentic…. I’d read and enjoyed Alan’s books…. I liked the way he wrote. Alan inspired me. I asked him what the secret to his mind-expansion was… he said “LSD”. Another potential ‘hero’ down in flames….
But maybe that’s why I’m a good cop. I’m very ‘straight’. I don’t relish the idea of self-medicating and I don’t wanna ‘get bombed outta my gourd’. Maybe I’m a self-control freak?
I’ve realized I can learn from anybody. Even from those I don’t care to emulate. And I’ve learned I can be happy and create emotional freedom without medication…. perhaps that makes me the lucky one?
Of course, your mileage may vary.
We're All Just Tourists 