2024 in Review & What’s Ahead for 2025: The Psychedelic Blog
Welcome to the Psychedelic Blog. I write about the Impact of Psychedelics on Grieving, Relationships, Culture, and Death. This week, I’m reflecting on 2024 & sharing what’s in store for 2025.
Note for the Reader
It was a great year for the blog. As a general rule, I don’t announce or celebrate subscriber milestones. To me, doing so reveals the writer’s intent: growing a big audience. If that’s your goal, then inevitably, you start writing with your audience in mind. And once that happens, you’re pandering.
Substack already displays subscriber counts in the bio, making such announcements redundant—and candidly, it’s not my style.
The author Seth Godin famously removed the comment section from his blog after realizing he was allowing future comments to dictate his writing. Readers deserve better. They deserve to hear what the writer truly thinks, not what they think will resonate with an audience.
Some of my favorite contemporary authors & thinkers—Robert Greene, Sam Harris, Douglas Murray, Gurwinder, Freya India, Jordan Peterson, Marc Andreessen, Nathalie Martinek, Michael Shermer, to name a few—are often ideologically opposed to one another. I disagree with each of them on various issues. But I admire their authenticity. They offer nuanced takes on controversial topics—chances are, some of you reading this had a strong reaction to one or more of the names listed. These thinkers stay true to their values and consistently do their homework.
They stand in stark contrast to figures like Tucker Carlson or Dave Rubin, who seem willing to say anything for likes, comments, or views. Both have pivoted on their ideological positions overnight—not out of genuine evolution, but because the country’s mood shifted and they wanted to capture as much market share as possible.
Whether you agree with me or not, you can trust that I will never say what’s merely expedient.
Best Performing Pieces of 2024
Looking back, it’s always interesting to see which pieces performed best. What fascinates me most is that it’s rarely the ones I would have predicted. For whatever reason, these articles resonated the most in 2024:
Psychedelics Don’t Create Hallucinations, They Are Portals to Another Realm
Psychedelics Don’t Heal Addiction—They Return us to Wholeness
The Substack ‘Notes’ App
Two years ago, I quit Instagram—the last social media app I was using. Life has been infinitely better since, as I shared in this post:
This creates a bit of a conundrum: my decision to forgo social media limits my ability to promote my work. For those who don’t know, in 2024, Substack rolled out their ‘Notes’ app—essentially an in-house version of Twitter/X. Unlike Twitter/X, it doesn’t constantly amplify the most deranged voices. Instead, I’ve found it to be a space for constructive dialogue and a great platform to promote my work.
If you haven’t already, download the Substack app and join the conversation!
I am Moving to Mexico
In the New Year, I will be relocating full-time to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
The Hawaiian concept of ʻĀina speaks to a Sacred Connection to Land: the ʻāina is not just the physical ground beneath our feet; it is considered sacred & alive, a source of life & nourishment. The word itself translates to "that which feeds" or "land that provides sustenance."
For me, the mountain-framed ocean of Puerto Vallarta is my ʻĀina. Over the past four years, I’ve spent significant time there and have always felt energized, clear, focused, and creative during my stays. Some of my best experiences—and the most engaging pieces I’ve written—were born on the beaches of Mexico.
Before writing The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle relocated from dreary London to sunny Southern California. He later remarked that the beauty & energy of the ocean were essential to creating that book.
Life is short so I’m excited for this new adventure and for the experiences I’ve yet to have—experiences that, I hope, will inspire stories that resonate with my readers in a meaningful way.
What to Expect in 2025
For Free Subscribers
Thank you for your support! My goal remains the same: to write engaging pieces that challenge how we think about life, relationships, culture, reality, death, and more. In 2024, I experimented with adding more structure to the blog, but ultimately, I stepped back from that approach—it felt too limiting.
In 2025, I’ll be making a significant change by incorporating more news-related content on a weekly basis. My (admittedly ambitious) goal is for The Psychedelic Blog to become the premier digital magazine for all things Psychedelics, Spirituality, Vitality, Love, and Death. To achieve this, I want the blog to become a trusted destination. While I will still publish every Friday, you can expect more updates on microdosing protocols, insights into the best retreat centers, policy changes, and other relevant news.
This shift also allows me to focus on writing one truly thought-provoking piece each month, which will publish on the first Friday of each month. Reflecting on 2024, the most impactful articles took significant time to research and countless hours to edit, ensuring they met my standards. Undertaking such an ambitious task weekly simply isn’t feasible while maintaining quality, I believe this change will elevate the blog overall.
Lastly, starting in 2025, Trip Reports (which I call Tales from the Other Side) will be moving behind a paywall. At the blog's current scale, sharing deeply personal journeys on the internet has become a risky endeavor. However, the insights & downloads these experiences generate will continue to shape everything I write.
For Paid Subscribers
Thank you for upgrading to a paid membership—your support means so much to me. Until now, I’ve operated with a trailing paywall, meaning all my content has been free, and your decision to contribute creates a profound sense of gratitude.
Regarding Trip Reports: In 2025, I’ll be communing with Peyote for the first time, and I’m excited to share that journey with you. I also plan to revisit LSD for the second time and embark on a long-overdue hero’s dose of Psilocybin. These will be the extent of my journeys next year, and I can’t wait to document them for each of you.
Additionally, I’m thrilled to announce that I’ll be rolling out video calls for paid subscribers. Whether you’re curious about Psychedelics and don’t know where to start, need recommendations for the best retreat centers, or want guidance on protocols, I’ll be available to help. I’ll send a separate email in the New Year with details on how to take advantage of this opportunity—I’m looking forward to connecting with you!
Wishing you all a wonderful New Year! See you in 2025!
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Thank- you for your blog! I think this quote sums it up best, “ Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow “ . Your writings have done all of the above, you have also helped navigate, educate , open our minds to this evolving world of “Psychedelics “for that I have gratitude….Keep writing , I look forward to you sharing your journeys, experiences and guiding us in 2025!!