🍄 Family and patience


Hi Reader,

Welcome to this week's edition of the Maps of the Mind newsletter.


🍂 On Patience, Family, and Showing Up

It’s Thanksgiving in the US today.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my readers there!

Even though I’m not there, I’ve been thinking about family and how funny it is that the people we love the most can be our most difficult relationships.

This week, Daniel from Tam Integration shared that old Ram Dass line again:

“If you think you’re enlightened, go spend a week with your family.”

Classic.

Recently, I’ve noticed I haven't been as patient with my Mum as I'd like to be.

Her pace is physically slower now, and walking with her takes much longer than it used to.

Sometimes I rise to it. Sometimes I don't, and I get impatient. It’s not easy to admit, but it’s true.

Even though I know she doesn’t have long left, I still find it hard to be the person I want to be with her all the time.

Loving, patient, gentle. Present.

But since I started thinking about writing this, I’ve actually been better with her. Just bringing it into awareness has helped. Maybe that’s part of the practice, not always getting it right, but being willing to look. To notice. And to try again.

If you’re spending time with family this week — especially if it’s challenging — I hope you’re able to show up in a way that future-you would be proud of. Like if you were watching a video of yourself later, you’d smile and think:

Yeah. I like how I handled that.

Not with regret, but with warmth and respect for who you were trying to be.

Next week I’m taking my mum away for what she’s said she thinks might be her final trip.

It seems like we are at what Tim from Wait But Why called 'The Tail End' in his essay of this title. It talks about how, if you’re lucky, you might have a couple dozen more times to see the people you love. Not years, times.

This one hits harder now.

Anyway, I just wanted to share where I’m at this week.

I should have something exciting to share with you next week on my psychedelic playlist finder project, but let's see.

Wishing you warmth, love, and patience this holiday season, especially with the ones you care about most.


Did this bring up anything for you? Hit reply to share your thoughts, I read all replies.


📚 Microdose of Wisdom

“Love is a thing that sometimes has to be done tired.”
— Andrew Garfield

🪞 Bonus Practice

Make a short list of the people you want to stay connected to, and how many more “times” you might get with them.

Don’t do it to be morbid. Do it to pay attention.


🎵Psychedelic Supplements

Psilocybin soundtrack, from Polaris Insight Center

artist
Psilocybin • Polaris Insight...
Breathing Space • Sacred Ear...
PREVIEW
Spotify Logo
 

And one from Angela Ward:
"Covers opening the ceremony, MDMA, then transitioning to mushrooms in the second half."

artist
Doula Exchange Nov. 2025 • A...
Long Tail of the Quiet Gong...
PREVIEW
Spotify Logo
 

Live set from them Viagra boys on KEXP

video preview

❤️ Love and mettā to you all,

John

John Robertson
Psychedelic Facilitator & Educator
Webdelics' Top 100 Psychedelic Thought Leaders and Content Creators​ 2025

Maps of the Mind

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