Hey, Dev, I hope this reaches you via the intertubes between your rehearsal sessions..

So, I saw the following tweet from you -

Yeah, I quit drugs, booze, meat, porn, and began to meditate, and damned if I'm not actually heavier and more pointed than b4.

and a couple of questions came to my mind.

1) Quitting meat.
What diet are you on - vegan or lacto-ovo vegetarian? What were the reasons for quitting meat (it's mostly harmless). Did you notice any change in your mental landscape when not eating meat for some time? Is it easy to keep up?
... What's your favorite vegetarian dish/snack?
2) Drugs.
What about coffee and green/black tea, do you still drink those?
You've had bipolar disorder in the past. Do you still have that, do you still take pharmaceutical drugs for it, or have you found another way to fight it... or maybe when stopping alcohol and weed your brain found its own balance? Very curious to know.
3) Porn.
Really? It's the most harmless addiction in existence. The question is - what do you do when you find yourself alone on a rainy afternoon, bored beyond death and with nothing to do?
4) Meditation.
What technique do you use? Do you practice daily? How long are your sessions? What are the main benefits and are they worth it?

Never really considered coffee to be a 'drug'

Porn is hardly the most harmless addiction in existence.

not trying to be a dick or anything but most of this has already been answered in one form or another

[swervedriver]

I find it interesting that you think porn is less harmful than meat.

I find it interesting that you think porn is less harmful than meat.

If you are someone who doesn´t smoke, doesn`t drink too much, doesn`t eat meat, doesn`t take drugs - but masturbates every day 3-5 times to porn (without harming anyone, with enough time for managing job and so on, no "real" problems) you may think that it´s just one and your only addiction and mostly harmless compared to all those other addictions other people have. I think it´s quite hard to see or tell, why you should stop it. What Devin says, that it changes the view on people may be the best point on that. But to realize that maybe you need some specific experiences in life (regarding women, sex, love maybe) which make that visible. Or just time, i don´t know. But i don´t think it´s very obvious (for someone who consumes it), what´s the bad thing about porn.

Meat in my opinion isn´t harmless at all, especially for the animals.

Meat in my opinion isn´t harmless at all, especially for the animals.

Meat has quite a lot of effects on your mind and body including increased body odor and mood swings. I think the 'saving the animals' thing gets passed around a bit too much, selfless, but animals are still going to get eaten just the same regardless.

Hey, Dev, I hope this reaches you via the intertubes between your rehearsal sessions..

So, I saw the following tweet from you -

Yeah, I quit drugs, booze, meat, porn, and began to meditate, and damned if I'm not actually heavier and more pointed than b4.

You've had bipolar disorder in the past. Do you still have that, do you still take pharmaceutical drugs for it, or have you found another way to fight it... or maybe when stopping alcohol and weed your brain found its own balance? Very curious to know.

Bipolar disorder doesn't go away, as you're born with it. It does vary in the frequency and intensity of episodes (manic or depressive) that you have. The symptoms sometimes diminish with age. But you always have it. You're born with it, you live with it, and die with it, but hopefully not from it.

Having said that, it's definitely true that drugs/alcohol just make everything worse. They provide temporary relief, but ultimately the intensity of the "episode" will just increase, especially during depressive states. Mixing alcohol with some of those meds, for example, atypical anti-psychotics and benzodiazepines (anti-anxiety agents) can be very dangerous. You could very well die just from combining the prescribed drugs with a high intake of alcohol. Withdrawal from some of these meds can be horrifying. The meds themselves become addictive in a way. If you don't get your dose by 6 PM, you start turning into a bitch. It's like smoking. If you don't have a cigarette for a couple hours, you start turning into a bitch. At least, that's been my experience, whatever the male equivalent of a bitch is.

So really, it's not about whether you have it or not. It's just how you choose to deal with it. For some people, medications can be enough. For others, therapy works, or maybe therapy and meds. Many people find solitude in spiritual beliefs.

Many people also find solitude and gain strength through meditation, recognition and acknowledgement of thoughts, feelings, and acceptance. Getting a clear head, embracing a certain situation as just being what it is, and then figuring out how to deal with it. Rather than letting your emotions control you, you embrace and acknowledge your emotions, accept them, and then figure out how to deal with the source of your emotions, after your head is clear. Much easier said than done, of course. Oh, and exercise is extremely helpful, both physically and mentally for everyone who is capable of doing it. Every time I say it, or type it, it makes so much sense to me. But I'm so bad at actually executing it. So, the major component that ties all of it together is:
DISCIPLINE

Don't know why I said all that. It's just a topic that I'm very familiar with and I kind of jump at the chance to help others understand it a little better.
Sorry for the rambling.

whatever the male equivalent of a bitch is.

ha.

Getting a clear head, embracing a certain situation as just being what it is, and then figuring out how to deal with it. Rather than letting your emotions control you, you embrace and acknowledge your emotions, accept them, and then figure out how to deal with the source of your emotions, after your head is clear. Much easier said than done, of course. Oh, and exercise is extremely helpful, both physically and mentally...

Good piece of advice for all who are interested. And just to clarify, you don't need to have bipolar to embrace this way of thinking.

Getting a clear head, embracing a certain situation as just being what it is, and then figuring out how to deal with it. Rather than letting your emotions control you, you embrace and acknowledge your emotions, accept them, and then figure out how to deal with the source of your emotions, after your head is clear. Much easier said than done, of course. Oh, and exercise is extremely helpful, both physically and mentally...

Good piece of advice for all who are interested. And just to clarify, you don't need to have bipolar to embrace this way of thinking.

Very true indeed.

After years of therapy, the best advice I received was to explore mindfulness meditation. I bought a few books, got the gist of it, and have not gone back to therapy since. It is extremely beneficial, especially when you have the discipline to practice it often!

I wonder, if I were to have known how to deal with my emotions long ago, would I be taking medications now, or even be aware that I have a "disorder?"

Well, time for bed...so that means another dose of benzos.

[The Dev]

1) Quitting meat.
What diet are you on - vegan or lacto-ovo vegetarian? What were the reasons for quitting meat (it's mostly harmless). Did you notice any change in your mental landscape when not eating meat for some time? Is it easy to keep up?

-I've been vegetarian, not vegan, pretty much for 20 years. (a few months off here and there) No 'Peta' rhetoric or what have you. Essentially it's a daily discipline that extends to every part of my life. My favorite food is steak, but I don't eat it because it leads to wine, and then drugs. Seriously. I find that vegetables and tofu are basically vehicles for sauce for me. I have protein (tofu vs chicken) and a great sauce, and I don't really miss it. I believe in vibration as the underlining relity to all physical form, and because plants consume light as a food source, the more vegetable matter I eat, the more I fill my body with the vibrations of light (cue hippy flute music and an eletist nw agey dude whos a dick to hang out with) but it's true. Animals get killed in such a brutal way, that what you consume is trauma. Every bit helps I think when trying keep find the center.

... What's your favorite vegetarian dish/snack?

- I love SPICY food, I don't dig wimpy food. I like my food to be strong, basic, and hurtful.

2) Drugs.
What about coffee and green/black tea, do you still drink those?

-Yes.

You've had bipolar disorder in the past. Do you still have that, do you still take pharmaceutical drugs for it, or have you found another way to fight it... or maybe when stopping alcohol and weed your brain found its own balance? Very curious to know.

-My brain found an unbelievable (but not total) balance when I quit those things. Everything contributes to balancing it out. As someone here said, there are certain life skills emotionaly that if you were not taght, can really fuck with us. Discipline is truly the key.

3) Porn.
Really? It's the most harmless addiction in existence. The question is - what do you do when you find yourself alone on a rainy afternoon, bored beyond death and with nothing to do?

- Porn is brutal brother, the industry is fucking brutal. There are very few women that get into that out of a passion for the 'art'. And by engaging in it, we feed a brutal industry. Plus, (for me) it makes me objectify women in a way that is not healthy for my social world. I have to many things to consider to get caught up in a sexual fantasy with strangers. I want to see people for who they are, and not be clouded by sex thoughts. It's like crack on the internet...free, everywhere, and viewed as benign....but thats just me...and I do slip once in a while.
I've been friends with a few prostitutes, and they are dead inside in a very vital area.

4) Meditation.
What technique do you use? Do you practice daily? How long are your sessions? What are the main benefits and are they worth it?

-It's very hard for me, my brain is a trainstation...Every day I try for at least 5 minutes. I'm taking classes in it, nd I try for a good session with exercise in the morning. Hard though. The main benefits are discipline, and a btter connection to truth. It's incredibly powerful. I hear 'om'

I believe in vibration as the underlining relity to all physical form, and because plants consume light as a food source, the more vegetable matter I eat, the more I fill my body with the vibrations of light (cue hippy flute music and an eletist nw agey dude whos a dick to hang out with) but it's true. Animals get killed in such a brutal way, that what you consume is trauma. Every bit helps I think when trying keep find the center.

I agree with you there, I have my own very personal spiritual views, plucked from anything I read that resonates with my understanding of the world and the absorbing of what I call exo-nutrients in food is something I am always aware of. I do eat meat however, as long as it is sourced from Scotland, I grew up on a small farm there and the animals have a very good quality of life, and the fact that the cow, sheep and chicken species have been modified as a product of domestication, they rely on humans for life, as much as we rely on them for food. I digress though. Basically, in life the sheep on my dad's farm are very well looked after, their death is not pretty, but their lives were lived good and that to me is the underlying importance. I'd ritually kill each animal if it were feasible.

And on the porn... this is why amateur porn is key, two people fucking because they are into each other is infinitely hotter

I'm at a time in my life where I'm realising how much of an achievement the changes Devin has made are. The amount of self-discipline needed for those is, I can tell you, immense. Devin, you have my utmost, utmost respect and admiration for your achievements. I'd be proud to have done any single one of them, let alone the whole package. May it bring you happiness and prosperity.

Dev your such a metal buddha

That was an interesting read. I respect your progressive outlook and lifestyle choices.