Dr. Jonathan Carlson is building a dream-team of practitioners to carry people over the threshold, using the psychedelic experience as a catalyst for developing a richer, more examined life.
My origin story involves meeting Timothy Leary at his house in Hollywood in the late 90’s, when the internet was still a cyberpunk fantasy that, in real life, consisted of plain text blogs and Space Invaders level graphics. But Leary – who was ghostly frail, physically, but mentally every inch the wild-eyed iconoclast – foresaw that this new medium would become a way for the collective unconsciousness to manifest itself IN REAL LIFE.
He also, standing as he was on the brink of death, saw it as a way to cheat mortality. Teaming up with a bunch of San Francisco hackers (who are probably billionaires today), Leary had set up a website that was scheduled to auto post his missives from beyond the grave. Not one to miss any tricks, he also planned to have his brain cryogenically frozen (!) and even pulled a posthumous stunt where his followers released footage of his head being transported from his house to a waiting ambulance to be whisked away and preserved in … amber?? Formaldehyde??
While his antics kicked some movements into high gear (remember ‘tune in, turn on, and drop out”?), his infectious enthusiasm for networked tech started me on the path towards creative digital flourishing. If I hadn’t met Leary, I may have remained a granola crunching, technophobic zine artist until getting caught up in social media many decades later. I’m SO glad it happened when it did. The internet has been a playground, an amphitheatre, a public square and a confessional for me, and has helped this nomadic, impulsive, scattershot activist maintain a huge network of collaborators, friends, and heroes.
So it feels like a fun full-circle moment to be helping people who are part of the second psychedelic revolution (one that Leary arguably derailed with his populism and stunts back in the 60’s) to get online. I wish Dr. Jonathan every success in reaching people who can benefit hugely from the liberatory and awakening mirror that psychedelic medicine can offer. His grounding in ceremony and community offers a safe container for widening self exploration : check it out at https://delvecare.com
What I did: Branding, logo design, website development, writing.
