Temptaion Laid On My Cold Living Room Floor...

...I leaned back in my chair, stretched my neck and as I turned to my left noticed a small baggie on the floor...faded batman insignias on one side...even against the built up grime on the hardwood floor, behind the semi-transparent zippie I could see it. White powdery residue. Cocaine. There is cocaine in my home. I knew this already, I saw the rolled up dollar bills on the table a few mornings ago...turns out my one-month-subletter enjoys a little nose candy on the weekends after his long hours at the IT company...I picked it up and looked at it...a strange sensation, desire came over me...wanted to smell it, then had a fear that some of the drug could be inhaled, causing a high which I don't think I am ready for.

In a matter of seconds thoughts are speeding through my mind..."what if I put this on my gums? Would it work? Is there enough in here to have affect? How crazy would that be, my first time, perhaps only time, doing coke by myself on a friday in my pajamas while reading a book on love and journaling?"...(my thoughts turned positive, probably the devil on my shoulder)... "it seems pretty artistic...could take me to an interesting new depth"...(the angel then chimes back in) "could also create an addiction," (the devil sends one back across the net) "maybe my writing and essence would be so raw and conscious that I would become hooked on the stuff, never bothering to write unless I was on coke...a speed freak trying to take my own writing to the next level, competing with Jack Kerouac's ghost, following his example...using narcotics as a way to open up my mind"

...I stared at this small baggie no bigger than a quarter and saw the power it had, or that I had given it...I had two choices: to do, or not to do, that was the question...

In a moment I could see my entire existence explained...the make or break point...I would look back 40 years later saying to the camera, "it was in that moment, at age 23, I chose to take the chaotic road, pushing my body to unhealthy extremes, choosing to know addiction so as to learn a new high...thinking, logically explaining to myself that it would be worth it because pain and pleasure come as an inseparable pair, I cannot know new depths of one without the crest of the other...If I ever wanted to live, this was the way..."

...And after that 15 seconds of thought, I set the baggie down, picked up the laptop with the flickering screen, and decided to write down my thoughts instead. Maybe it is fear, and maybe I am missing out on a piece of life...but part of my soul knows there is something very dark about this drug...and I'm just not sure that is a road I want to walk...

However, it is clear to me that not to allow my mind to even wonder about the possibility, or open myself up to the opportunity is a great mistake...How can we really know something without exploring it? As this example proves to me, I do not believe it is necessary to actually take the steps, to act on impulse...but it is crucial, if we are to have any objectivity in our thoughts and opinions, to allow for the possibility...We must at least walk these lines (cocaine or otherwise) closely, get right up to them and study them, sometimes must cross them to find out how we really feel about them...By banning something outright in your mind, you choose ignorance for fear that by exploring it, knowing it, you may then think differently about it...and this new idea or belief may contradict a pre-existing idea you have about your identity, then you are left asking the ultimate frightening questions, the ones that society and culture want you to forget about, encouraging you to buy handbags and watch 'Desperate Housewives' instead...

"Who am I? Were my ideas about who I was in the past false? Have I been living a lie?"

...and once you've asked the questions, if you are at all honest with yourself, it is impossible to go back to living in the old patterns, you are now too aware of other possibilities, too aware of yourself...you question any and all of your actions, "Is this actually me, or am I acting in accordance with the rules of society? Am I merely mimicking everyone else? Am I playing a role?"

...today the real me sat in my pajamas, in my chair, in my brooklyn apartment and considered trying cocaine...at least I think it was the real me, I could have just been hoping for an interesting experience to write about...you never know with these exhibitionist-artistic folks...

*upon further examination, I would like to note that there was really only what would be considered a "trace amount" of cocaine, and my ponderings were more in the "what if" zone...my intention was to share an example of my mind playing with an idea, less of an actual struggle with a desire to do cocaine...to be honest it really doesn't excite me, but in that moment I played the "but what if i did?" game with myself...no need to fear folks, I am not about to slip into a Lindsey Lohan-drug coma....