“When the shit goes down, you better be ready,” as I remember B Real singing in my ears as I hit some random hippie homegrown without a care in the world. “When the shit goes down...” We knew there was a storm coming then, the landscape of upstate NY was bleak, but placid. Promise of a better future in a metropolitan area was becoming more appealing than the local bagel shop or community college. Fast forward to 1999, it was the first opportunity I had to vote in a presidential election. If you don’t know how that turned out, well, it basically set the precedent for the neck and neck bipartisan race. Gore won; Bush took the presidency; a lot of uncool chain of events ensued.
The century turned
The colony burned
We fled
We bled
We learned
We laughed, cried, and died
We became reborn
Into the void or new paradigm.
The shit went down. Commercial flights plummeted from the sky between NYC and Washington DC; and that was just the beginning of the glaring polarity of humanity; it kept going down. We collectively lost a lot of faith through bubbles bursting, recessions, wars, rampant gun violence, racist authoritarianism, homelessness, global pandemic, and climate crisis. Through continued intentional work, we are now seeing the emerging results of collective growth to gain back hope and foster real systemic change. Humans are resilient!
This is what Afterglow represents. A common colloquialism in psychedelic experiences; this is the phenomena where you are met with an arduous event and come through the other side with more lightness and wisdom than before. In this edition of Cheechable, we explore ways to experiment with psychedelics, share how people experience creative epiphanies, claim personal identities, and ascend into the apex of lightness through physical challenges. Afterglow flows through inspiration and provides tools for working through challenges in collaboration with community.
Afterall, B Real’s days of smoking weed from guerilla grows are over and he is now a driving force in one of the largest multi-state corporate cannabis operations in the world. We have no time for old paradigm. As we move forward, I only have on question for you. Are you ready? ORDER YOURS TODAY!
Photography by SESH Creative: Founder of Cheechable, Alicia Navarrette. PICA: TBA Festival Installation patron. Sound Pieces Photo Installation by Angie. Glitched Ice Cream on Sidewalk. Digital Art Compositions.