^ I like that quote... I interpret it to mean, "aim high, but don't become proud or vain". Do post a picture of your back when it's done.
I asked this in Second Opinion, but I'd like to get the swirly folks' opinion too. I'm moving out from my parents' house soon. I want to find an environment where I'm comfortable tripping balls, so my question is, should I try to get my own private apartment, or do you think it's feasible to find shared housing with cool, open-minded strangers?
One of my biggest regrets over the past few years is my insistence on living alone at every opportunity. My reasoning was similar - I like taking drugs, and psychedelics in particular demand a safe and comfortable environment to take them in. Living along can indeed be a nice comfort... But it also means that nobody will notice or care if you start to go off the rails and make really, really bad decisions. I can't imagine that anyone I would have chosen to live with would have sat by without a word as I slipped into multiple times a day heroin use and periodic 3+ day meth binges. At the time I would have been annoyed, maybe even angry, and wished that I lived alone... But oh, what pain and misery a nosy roommate could have spared me over this past year! I never would have guessed when I first moved into this place 2 years ago that I would dream of using either drug. In 3 days, I'm going to my first SMART Recovery meeting to help make sure I stay away from both, but even as I type this I get flashes of memory of how good it feels to chop up a line of H, or that peculiar taste of smoked meth when you get it just a liiiiiittle too hot, but not hot enough to burn to the pipe... I don't expect those flashes will ever go away, not completely.
Of course, not everyone who lives alone ends up abusing hard drugs. But to generalize my experience to a broader point that is relevant to most, if not all people: we humans do better together than we do on our own. It can be painful and frustrating, at times, to be stuck with other people when you'd prefer solitude, but sometimes pain and frustration are productive in the long run. And if you find the right people to live with, people who share some of your most deeply held values and convictions and who respect boundaries while also knowing when it's time to reach out with a helping hand or words of concern, the pain and frustration should be minimal compared to the benefits accrued. We've taken very different paths in life and aren't in regular contact these days, but if I ran into any of my college roommates tomorrow (with one exception, but that's a long story), I would be delighted and we'd pick up right where we left off as close friends. They're some of the only college friends who I would invite to my wedding if I were to have one, and who I would expect a wedding invite from if they did.
Oh, and trozzle - I dig the tat, including the skull. I think the context of the overall piece is interesting/unique enough that it won't seem like "yet another skull tattoo." Just don't get another extension adding crossed bones or flames
