A strange kind of courage — to speak your naked truth. To the listener—or from afar—it looks bold. But for you it feels almost physical — like a yawn, a laugh, or a gag reflex. Tension before and during it, relief after.
I first met this “urge” at the peak of a DMT journey. When I felt at my worst, an angel appeared from the dark. One woman in the group was leaving in the morning — she skipped the brew and simply stayed with us. In truth — with me.
Turns out, I needed someone to whom I could confess who I really was. In her presence, I spoke aloud the things I always feared to admit to myself. As I spoke, I felt lighter. The moment I stopped, the darkness swallowed me again.
By morning I was almost relieved she left. It seemed that someone else — not me — had turned himself inside out that night. That kind of exposure felt wild for an introvert — the person everyone, including myself, believed me to be.
Later, through psilocybin and MDMA, I studied this phenomenon. Gradually it stopped scaring me. Altered states birthed no stranger—no, the true me.
Now I could open up with a psychotherapist — without any elixir. Then, little by little, I started opening elsewhere too.
Telling the truth about yourself is always frightening. And not everyone can handle it. But when you find the right people, something precious emerges — a flow of sincerity, spontaneity, warmth.
That state is so entrancing that courage arises on its own.
Yours sincerely,
-Alexander
As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.
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