Since coming back to the world of Steemit 5 days ago, I've decided to get more involved with some of the community contests & questions that I'm always seeing and up-voting and re-steeming from @TribeSteemUp.

This particular question seems basically written for me, haha!

How has Natural Medicine Changed Your Life?

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In late 2011 #naturalmedicine first entered my life when I was introduced to Psilocybe Azurescens, one of the most potent psychadelic mushrooms on the planet. When I first got my hands on these fungi (about 1/4 pound at first), I had no idea that they were so potent, and had only had experiences with cubensis, always involving at least an eighth to get the desired result. Assuming that these new, tiny mushrooms would still require many grams to do their thing, I started my day with about an eighth, and continued to eat them like chips for the rest of the day. By the evening, my world was completely melting, and after a failed attempt at leaving to cross town, I settled into my friend's couch for the night. As we sat and talked, I had the realization that I had no personal sense of self; I was nothing but a faceless mind with masks I stepped into as needed for the situation (Kenny with my "cool" coworkers, Kenny with my "not-cool" coworkers, Kenny with my boss, Kenny with my mom, Kenny with my dad, etc.) This blew my mind at the time, and after a month of eating azurescens every day, I had the most insane, difficult year of my life, successfully breaking me out of the relative comfort of the world I had created for myself.

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Over the next year, I started delving into myself in new ways, and ended up getting a job at a beverage distributor, where I discovered kombucha & Juices. The juice was Naked (a Pepsi label), so it wasn't great, but was certainly better than bar food. The best thing about that job was definitely being able to drink free kombucha all the time, and my skin, mind, and gut all started to be the healthiest they had ever been.

Towards the end of 2012, I got my medical marijuana card, and began diving into the deeper levels of that plant (terpenes, cannabinoids, and so many healing opportunities). I had given up drinking, as well as cocaine, and was obviously much more psychologically stable for it. Right as I settled into this new, less destructive, comfort zone, I met an amazing woman at the dispensary on my way home from work. After talking many times and knowing her love of kombucha, one day I gave her my card and offered to get her wholesale deals on cases. Before I left, she came over and gave me her number on a post-it note. Over the course of our 9 month relationship, she introduced me to GMOs, artificial colors, and so many other things that I had been putting in my body. We eventually decided to step up the game in the MMJ field, and started Bud Kindly, producing healthy, consistent cannabis-infused products that weren't just made of sugar, wheat, and dairy (like everything else on the market at the time).

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A couple months into this business venture, I was running our table at a grower & manufacturer , giving away samples of some pulled pork & beef jerky I made using the BBQ sauce. The owners of the dispensary, The World Famous Cannabis Cafe, asked me to come cater for a live comedy show that Friday, featuring the Weediculous Comedy Tour (which never finished, tour or documentary). That night I realized that cooking for a group of people was the greatest high I had ever felt.

Over the past 5 years, I have dedicated the majority of my time to sharing #naturalmedicine with the world, through my cooking, the giant pouch of essential oils I travel with, tinctures, education, and by being an example of what mindful intake can do to reshape a human life.

I could keep going on and on and on about specifics, but I think these big turning points give a great glimpse of my journey, and how powerful the role of plants were.