The Zip File: Intro

Unpacking a psychedelic download of consciousness.

In September of 2022, while on LSD, I received a ‘download’.

While walking in the woods, as the LSD concentration in my system peaked and I walked out to the edge of a drained lake, I became suddenly overwhelmed with ideas.

As my default mode network shut down, I experienced more thoughts than I could process. Information previously suppressed due to the need to filter information and utilize selective attention was now flooding my system.

I couldn’t even think at the rate I needed to keep track of the thoughts, much less talk. I got the sense that I had so much content and material that I needed to write it all down - I needed to write like a madman. I also felt the need to speak, to share these thoughts.

I got the sense that I am only on this planet for a short amount of time, and I get to feel and experience all that life has to offer. I’ve been given a perspective that is unique, and I need to share it. I need to document as much as I possibly can while I am here. I got the sense that I am already drastically behind, and I should have already been publishing things long before now.

As the overwhelming thoughts peaked, my partner sensed my uneasiness. We sat upon the edge of the drained lake basin, and she instructed me to hum a mantra, ‘lammmmmm’. As I did, I heard a bug buzzing up by my ear at exactly the same frequency and sound as I was humming. In amazement, I was grounded and brought back to reality. How could this bug tap into the frequency vibration that I was expressing, match it, and come right up to my ear to share this moment? I felt a deep sense of conscious connection and interaction with the world around me.

Alas, I wouldn’t be able to write all that I needed to write while I was still tripping. I knew that after the trip was over I needed to make an effort to start to produce more content.

If you follow me, you’ll see that my content production has really ramped up. I have been on five podcast episodes now, and have started a weekly newsletter. I have also published my first poetry book. This is on top of the LinkedIn page where I regularly post and contribute. I also am writing two scientific manuscripts that are taking a dreadfully long time to create. Obviously, I am here on Substack also, where I publish poems to paid subscribers, and have the newsletter available for free.

I still feel that I need more. All of these outlets are concentrated, focused. I have a niche topic that I write on consistently. The ideas that I have pondered on and explored for years lay nascent in my subconscious, waiting to be made manifest. Thus, I have decided that I need a platform to unpack my ‘download’.

If you have ever downloaded a very large file (or package of files), sometimes you get a ‘zip’ file. This file is a compressed package of information, that is condensed enough to be uploaded and downloaded. Then, some software can ‘unzip’, aka decompress or extract, those files to where they can be read and viewed. The raw zip file is only a vehicle for information transmission.

This is what I feel that I experienced. A received a ‘zip’ file that is laying (mostly) dormant in the confines of my mind. My goal, with this new series, ‘The Zip File’, is to unpack (unzip!) this file, to where it can be made sense of and read.

I don’t really know where this is going to go. The guidance I’ve received is that, basically, it doesn’t matter - like I said, I just need to write like a madman and get everything down.

I’m unsure of what it will look like to not have an ‘agenda’ - to let the thoughts unfold naturally. I’ve wanted to write consistently for many years, I’ve started blogs that died on the vine. I was never able to really find my voice, or a platform to share it. I hope that ‘The Zip File’ is topic enough. I want to be able to let this thing unfold through the lens of consciousness, as a natural manifestation, waywardly finding its way home. This is my attempt to unzip my information download, to be a vehicle for all of the thoughts that I have had churning in my head for years, for new ideas and thoughts to be generated.

I hope that you will follow along! I want to make this free, so that people can access it. While it would be nice to receive reimbursement for my time and energy, I feel that it is important to disseminate this information for free. If you want to support this work, you can contribute by becoming a paid subscriber, where you will have exclusive access to my poems. You can also donate here. That’s it for now! Subscribe to updates directly in your inbox here: