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What I Learned After Serving Eight People 5g of Mushrooms Last Night
It was a diverse group but three themes arose.
One of my favourite quotes comes from Mahatma Gandhi: “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
I had the privilege of serving 5g of mushrooms to 8 people last night.
Here are three lessons I learned.
It’s never too late to grow
Among the 8 participants, there was a 55-year-old man who was going through a divorce, an ex-soldier who had suffered massive childhood trauma and PTSD, a young man who witnessed his girlfriend get sexually assaulted and then who was assaulted himself, a woman who found her mother after she had committed suicide, a 60-year-old man who had battled addiction, and a young woman who was suffering from depression.
Many of them had been carrying their pain for decades. Some experienced it as anger while others felt guilt, grief, shame, sadness, confusion, and fear.
Taking 5g of mushrooms doesn’t cure any of that in one go. However, they can support the healing process. Last night, I witnessed the 55-year-old man forgive himself for the pain they’d caused his ex-wife, I witnessed the ex-soldier be vulnerable and share his story for the first time, I witnessed the young man begin to feel parts of his head that had been injured during his girlfriend’s attack, I witnessed the woman understood her mother’s pain a little more, I witnessed the 60-year-old man continue to find the strength to stay sober, and I witnessed the young woman’s depressed eyes light up again.
This reminded me that it doesn’t matter how painful our past has been or how bleak our future might look, it’s never too late to learn, grow, evolve, and open our hearts to love. Or as Tom Robbins so wonderfully said:
“It’s never too late to have a good childhood.”
There’s nothing to fix
The man with the addiction sat quietly most of the following morning as we gathered in a circle around breakfast to share our experiences.
Then as everyone had shared what they wanted to share he asked if he could add a little…
