“Memories” is a piece that, for me, evokes nostalgia. Nostalgia from my childhood; seeing those
small cigarette boxes on tables at family gatherings. Being at parties and see my parents and
elders just having a blast being happy and jovial; telling stories and cracking jokes, all while
having a ciggie in hand or resting at the side of their mouth. I used to watch the cigarette in
anticipation of it falling and yet it never did.
When I became of age I wasn’t drawn to partake until I was afford and dare I say peer
pressured to try one. It was a menthol Newport 100, cool and minty. I didn’t realize it but that
was the moment that I became a “smoker”. Haha yeah, that was me. I was officially a cool kid.
Plenty of fun times were to be had after that, not because I smoked but because that was just
my course of life. From intimate conversations with friends of that time to house parties and
road trips. Many events came and so did my tastings of different brands. I was a smoker for 6
years before I had an enlightened magic mushroom trip on my 30th birthday that freed me of my
addiction and my traumas that fueled my addictive behavior. WIthin a 7 hour trip I went from
Eyez So Deep to Eyez So KNEW. The shroomie friends showed me clarity on many aspects of
my childhood, it showed me things I already knew to be true about myself and my art that I had
lost touch with. I may be many things but a quitter is not one; yet, that night I found the strength
in myself to quit cold turkey. It will be 5 years this September and I couldn’t be happier.
Without regret, whenever I see a cigarette box I look back at all the good times that were had
and remind myself that more are to be had.