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@Wildcattt555 I recognise your concern and do agree that psychedelics can be overused. Of course they can. But every body and brain is different. And not every psychedelic trip is the same. Most people are not using them even close to properly/safely. I don't agree with this paragraph whatsoever. And i've been watching since 2016. In my view the opposite is true of everything you're saying here:

@Roy @soos_mite_ah Thanks for the advice guys - much appreciated!

Guys, I need some advice! I've been on 4 dates in the past week or two and I have 3 more lined up. I'm very inexperienced with dates so i've been learning a lot. Each date I go on, I feel less anxious, more prepared and i'm slowly figuring out what works, what doesn't work etc. However, i'm really struggling to make the dates exciting. I started thinking to myself last night, 'damn, am I really just a boring person?'. The conversations during the dates are nice, but they're very platonic, standard get-to-know-you type conversations. Not rigid interview style, but just nothing beyond 2 friends chit chatting. It just feels completely weird to make a sexual move, go for a kiss etc, whilst we're chatting about the girls favourite travel experience or her favourite movies. I'm kinda in the dark here, i'm really not sure what i'm doing or how to make a date exciting. Is it just the setting? Evening drinks dates are nice, but its just kinda boring! I'm also usually exhausted by the time the date comes around because i've been working all day and usually day-gaming before the date so by 7,8,9pm I have to force myself to be engaging and add to the conversation. I'm usually in bed by 10pm. 3 of the dates i've been on have been evening drinks dates, and 1 has been a hiking date. I feel like the hiking date was the best setting but then you have to wait until the weekend because girls work the usual weekday hours. I'm not sure how to go from normal boring conversation into something more exciting and interesting. Or am I overthinking this? Maybe it's just that I don't vibe or match with the girls? Maybe we're just not a good fit for each other and when I do end up dating a girl I really resonate with the conversation will be much more stimulating? I feel like this is probably the case. I also realised i'm not sexually attracted to most of the girls I go on a date with. But i'm just going on lots of dates to get loads of social/dating experience. Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

For sure - I understand. But the things is, i've been on dates where I am really attracted to the girl but the whole date experience was still very platonic. I guess I just don't know how to properly escalate. I'm pretty sure that if I escalated physically with a few of the girls i've dated recently then there would be a strong chance of sleeping with her. But I have pretty high integrity and I don't want to just sleep with a girl for the sake of sleeping with her, even though i've been dry for like 10+ years. It just feels off for me.

Hmm. Thats interesting - I never thought of it like that. I mean, its not like I had completely made up my mind about not sleeping with them before the dates. There's always that possibility. There has always been some level of attraction, otherwise i'd never go on the date in the first place. So I think that is what makes the 'dates' distinct from a platonic networking/friend experience. My thinking was, ok there is some attraction going on here, presumably from her as well, so let's see what happens. Maybe i'm trying too hard to rationalise my actions here. Either way, I have still learnt a lot from the interactions, even if they were very close to completely platonic. And certainly 1 of the dates out the recent 4 there was strong attraction from me. I was very attracted to her. But it was my first date in a long time, and I had a full body anxiety attack the entire date (literal physical shaking). So that one didn't go anywhere for obvious reasons. I was actually thinking about this yesterday. It's definitely the case when i'm day-gaming. I noticed I was avoiding the more attractive girls, the girls i'm genuinely attracted to, out of fear of rejection. Says a lot about my self esteem and how I view myself. Damn. That is attraction. I've literally never thought about any of that when with a girl so I think that says a lot.

Awesome. All makes sense. Thanks very much. Yeees, I understand what you're saying - It felt weird to make a sexual move simply because I wasn't attracted to her and I didn't feel excited about being there. Making a sexual move just wasn't authentic in that moment. In terms of conversation, I guess I should take the similar attitude of moving the conversation into areas that genuinely excites me? Shifting the focus to what works for me, rather than thinking about her reaction? I'm still a little unsure about the conversational side of things to be honest. I tried playing question games with the girl but honestly it just felt inauthentic and too logical/formal, even though it allowed for more intimate, emotional and personal questions. Gotcha. So the main thing is to have a few locations to move around to. Doesn't have to be some special location, its just the movement and multiple locations that makes things interesting. I get why you're saying not to date her if i'm not attracted to her, but at this point for me any experience is good experience. I need any kind of dating experience so that when I do end up on a date with that awesome girl I don't fuck it up. And as I said in my original post, i've learnt a huge amount just after 4 or 5 dates. But I will definitely start being more selective in the near future. Just watched this video of James' which shows him moving around to different locations (food -> *sexual escalation* -> sitting down -> bar -> back to his place) in a small area in London, with mostly walking about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HEYLHugyEQ&t=1s Yea I think thats the same with me to be honest. Thats pretty much what i'm gonna try and do more of going forward. The only issue is that most girls work 9-5 weekdays. Well, thats my assumption atleast. So then you have to wait for the weekend, which is not always ideal. Still, better than evening drink bar date I reckon. Nice one! Will definitely keep this in mind for next time

@Leo Gura Seems like a bunch of people on twitter are reporting similar price hikes.

Roger that brother! Much appreciated as always! Thats exactly it. A fear of messing up and looking weird. In day-game, if you mess up and do something weird you can just walk away. On a date, you don't really have that option. So it's the ultimate test of manhood. I know I can do it, it's just a matter of pushing past those moments of hesitation and dealing with the physical anxiety. Potentially got 2 or 3 dates lined up next week so we'll what happens

I'm assuming this applies to the date context as well? I've been on a bunch of dates recently but they all fell flat, weren't sexual/intimate in any way. Would you say this is because I haven't made a move? I guess i've just been waiting for some sort of indication of interest from the girl (I'm not sure what that would even look like tbh). I never saw any ioi's so I always felt hesitant to make a move, go for the kiss etc. But I would touch their arm or shoulder amongst conversation and I never had a bad reaction from that, so maybe they were down for more. I also get ridiculously anxious when thinking about making a move beyond light touching/hugging etc, which makes it damn near impossible to escalate. Something I need to push through I guess?

No this isn't going to happen whatsoever. 5-MeO isn't the kind of substance you take and start thinking about all your personal stuff. It's far far more profound and metaphysical. All your personal stuff will completely dissolve if you take a large enough dose and are ready for it/able to fully let go. Even at low doses, personal stuff doesn't come into the mix. No reason to when you're God. After the trip the personal stuff reforms and remains mostly untouched. Not saying 5-MeO cannot create a permanent transformations - it can. But not in the realm of relationships, personal beliefs or other personal stuff etc. If there was an impact on your relationships, 5-MeO can only improve your relationships, in my experience. I don't really see how it could be otherwise.

Experiment. Do what works for you. People absorb and manage information differently. Like I said, don't over think this. At this point you just need to watch the videos for a year or two. Only after you have learnt everything can you go through the necessary process of unlearning. I took some notes very occasionally. If I know i'll need that bit of information at a later date I might make a note. If there are practical steps I might take notes on them. But for the high level stuff, metaphysical stuff, I never take notes. I've taken more notes from things discussed on the forum tbh. Making notes on videos doesn't really help me. My intention isn't to memorise everything. My mind works much more intuitively and non-linearly. Making notes is too logical and linear for me. It also takes loads of time and effort.

I just watched and listened with intense curiosity and an eagerness to learn as much as possible. I also cross referenced what Leo says with dozens and dozens of other teachers. Don't over think this. No need to be making copious notes or contemplating everything in a rigid way. Just watch the videos and listen to what Leo is teaching. Sometimes thats all you need. This isn't just consuming content. You're re-wiring your brain and learning a whole new way of perceiving and understanding reality. It's more than just 'content'. Just absorb the information with an open minded eagerness to learn.

@Yoremo I feel like you need to go back and start watching Leo's videos from around 2016 and watch them all chronologically. Because there is so much material to learn and understand. And also Leo's understanding has developed and changed over the years so it would be useful to start near the beginning and kind of develop/work through stuff with him. I was lucky that I started watching back in 2015/16 so my understanding of the actualized.org topics has developed and grown with Leo. There are so many things in his recent videos that link back to old videos which link to another 5 videos and so on. So to properly understand Leo's recent videos, the really advanced stuff, you have to have watched his older stuff. It's perfectly expected that you don't really understand this stuff after 3 months.

Your wording of this sentence created an interesting shift in my perspective also. Like it deepened my intuitive understanding of no self. Sometimes its useful to hear things you've heard before in a different way.

@animani Join this facebook group and ask your questions there. There are lots of experienced people + professionals in that group that'll be able to help you with specific questions. https://www.facebook.com/groups/acfanatics

@ZenSwift Yea this is part of the technique to astral project. Remaining conscious of the moment of unconsciousness. Never done it myself.

@7thLetter I don't think that investing into crypto is a bad idea. It's a good investment imo. Just definitely don't put all your money there. My portfolio is about 5-10% crypto. But this should not be your main focus or source of income. 26 IS young but you need to start making some serious decisions about what you're going to do over the next 5 years. Might be an obvious question but have you sat down and written out exactly what you want/don't want? When I was 26 I made the hard decision that I was going become a world class illustrator and I would put all my attention, focus, and plans towards this goal. I dabbled for years prior to this, in a very similar way to you (spent 2 years doing Amazon FBA). I spent years working a shit job in marketing whilst grinding my illustration skills outside of work. It was brutal. But guess what? 3/4 years later I am a professional illustrator earning enough to pay my bills and live and do whatever the hell I want without a boss. This shit works. I literally escaped wage slavery. You gotta just pick something that is in line with your interests and natural abilities and stick to it! Without fail! Investing my money carefully also contributed to me being able to leave wage slavery. This was a hard decision because I could have chosen 10 other professions or paths to go down. Part of life is having the discipline and maturity to let go of a lot of shit in order to fully pursue one or two goals. No one has a singular life purpose, everyone can become great at many things. But you gotta choose something and stick to it. Ultimately it comes down to what skills are you going to focus on learning and developing? You can't learn everything so you gotta work hard to make a firm decision about what you're gonna do. But it's all about knowledge, skills and then become so good they can't ignore you. Hope this helps.

Well I usually do my preliminary sketches with pencil. But everything after that is digital, yes. Mostly use Adobe Photoshop. Typical day is fairly uneventful, in a good way. Usually start working at 7:30am or whenever I want, and work on my computer until lunchtime. Then a few hours after lunch. I just spend most of the time producing work on my computer or exchanging emails with clients. Basically, you just need a good amount of high quality work that shows you can do the job. You don't need to separate the portfolio into technical aspects and then creative thinking. It's all the same thing really. Decide how many pieces of work you need in your portfolio before you start reaching out to prospective clients/employers. Unique original style is the style that identifies your work to you. To be successful you need one style and you also need to show that you can produce that style consistently. Style is developed through lots of work and experimentation, and then more work. Its good to practise with different mediums but don't jump around too much. Find something that works and then stick to it. I don't know too much about the comic industry tbh. But the bottom line is, just focus on what you genuinely enjoy doing and get really really good at that one thing.

It's never the wrong timing. There is always a need for artists. Basically everything we own and consume has been designed by artist or designer so there is massive demand for it. I don't have any experience with comic art, but I am a professional freelance illustrator now. Ultimately it comes down to 2 things if you want to be any kind of artist, illustrator or designer: 1) Having a really good portfolio of work that shows technical skill, creative thinking and a unique original style. 2) Being able to consistently produce good work. You want to be in a position where you a consistently good rather than occasionally great. So if you don't have those 2 ticked off then get to work. Its totally possible to get into the comic industry, but i'm not sure it pays all that well and theres a shit ton of work, similar to animation. But if you're genuinely passionate about it, then absolutely go for it! Job satisfaction is more important than money tbh.

A recent piece of editorial illustration I completed. Simple composition but I felt it was relevant for the forum

@universe I love Anna. She's so charismatic and expressive

Secure

Thats right. You'll have to let go of either graphic design or illustration in order to fully pursue the other. Graphic design can definitely provide more work opportunities, but if you love drawing and creating images then illustration is the way forward.

@Advocate Wonderful! Sounds amazing. A few questions: 1) Have you ever done MDMA by yourself, and if not would you consider it? 2) Following on from the above, how important is having other people to communicate to during the trips? 3) How does a low dose of 60mg MDMA feel? Do you get any of the hyper-stimulation, restlessness, jaw clenching etc?