1. I lived in Marin and worked as a software engineer and then later a research fellow for ten years (still sometimes on and off when they need me). Then I got really bored and moved across the country to start an art commune with old friends from college. We did our thing, went separate ways and I decided to invest what I had left in some land by a river / waterfall. Well one of the people we met from the art commune's dad was an exec, like VP level, for Fiji Water and one day we were driving around and I showed them the land and they loved it and bought it from me for double what I paid. I used that cash to buy a house outright in a dinky little town with enough leftover to mean I only had to work like 10-15 hours a week to be able to retire at 47. I didn't want to program, didn't want to be a landlord or do more flipping, so I went on an acid trip to figure it out and my friend floated the idea as a "startup" as a joke, but it's funny because he was associated with the Body Actualized Center which was basically the same thing before it got shut down (there's a bunch of articles about it, probably the biggest one to get busted in years). So yeah sorry to ramble but essentially I wanted a really weird part-time job and so I just invented one.

2. I personally am not the biggest fan of ayahuasca, but am in awe of it. I respect it and let it do its work upon people but I rarely take it and I have a feeling I never will again. I usually just smoke a bit of DMT mixed with THC shatter when I'm coming up with the client(s) to get into a similar headspace but other than that I'm sober and there to guide and work with the psychonauts. I've taken it four times, each time was different and each time I found new words and new ways to express myself but I'm much more careful about it now. LSD on the other hand I do about every month or so. It is, in my opinion, the finest substance known to man besides cannabis. If you want to have a profound physical and mental experience that takes over your body and melds your mind, by all means drink the potion. LSD lets you have a little bit more control and is less, in my opinion, 'religious'.

3. Do them with people you know and love. Don't go into it expecting wisdom or enlightenment and don't be surprised when the work you create or the thoughts you write are inane and obtuse once you see them through sober eyes. Do it because the mind and body and spirit need to be explored and known in ways that some may see as meandering or even farcical (how many times has acid been the butt of low-rent sitcom gags?) but to the determined can be a wellspring of experience and, perhaps most importantly, a joy that is inimitable.