Should I Actually Track My High..?
Uh… absolutely! Cannabis Journaling is pretty much exactly as it sounds – ya jot down your feels/experiences while using cannabis! This can be a great way to keep track of what does/doesn’t work for you. My first experience with cannabis was pretty chaotic… After that, I wanted to keep a track of what I was consuming and how it made me feel! This really helped me to learn how to navigate my body while using cannabis. And now I can reference back to my favorite strains to vibe that pure, stoney bliss.
What’s It Good For – Absolutely Everything!
It doesn’t matter if you’re gassin’ up for recreational or medicinal purposes, but what DOES matter is that you’re cognizant of what you’re toking up and how it’s making you feel. For our rec-users, this is a good way to keep track of the strains and your consumption method to recall what’s your favorite! I don’t know about you, but I could count on my fingers and toes all the times I’ve toked up, absolutely loved the vibe then completely forgot what it was the next day . It’s such a bummer, man. Had I written that down on a piece of paper somewhere…
Now, our med-users: you guys definitely need to consider journaling out your experiences while using cannabis. Chances are if you do happen to consume for any medical reason, then you’re looking for help with some underlying condition and need to take special care in recording how your body reacts to it and if it’s able to provide you the relief you’re looking for! This is also a fantastic way to keep a clear record for your primary care physician.
Whatever the reason though, keeping a written record of your experiences during use, can help you make your mindful decisions for yourself in the future! This means getting the most of your experience, too.
What You Should Keep Track Of:
This one’s actually on you! But I’m going to provide some helpful hints for you to get started on your cannabis journaling journey! So, when you’re thinking of what things to consider to get the most out of your experience, make sure you consider this:
- Strain name
- Cannabinoid/terpene content
- Goals/desires out of experience.
- Amount of cannabis consumed
- Method of consumption
- Appearance/aroma
- Effectiveness
- Side effects (both the good and the gnarly ones, please)
Format Your Hard-Hat; Tactful Writing Tips!
Now that we’ve delved more into what cannabis journaling is and what sort of info to keep in mind to track your high, we’re going to explore 3 very different styles of writing that could help you structure and get the most out of your written experience! These are free writing, asemic writing, and automatic writing!
- Free writing: this style of writing can be appropriately described by its name; the writer freely writes whatever comes to mind without the general concern for structure or audience! This can be particularly great for writers that are experiencing the dreaded “writer’s block” or to even build confidence for newbies! As for our canna-journalers, this can be a helpful tool to build your own foundation for how you want to track your experiences while high – free writing allows you the freedom to explore yourself, your styles, and can develop better practices if you want to nurture your craft and go onto blog, or create other content around your experiences!
- Asemic writing: the easiest way to describe this is to take a look at an abstract painting: you see the colors, patterns? Maybe even a loose design? Asemic writing is a lot like an abstract painting because it combines loose text and images to create a meaningful piece of art left to the audience to interpret.
- Automatic writing: Sometimes mistaken for free-writing, automatic writing – AKA: psychography- is the process of producing written words without consciously writing anything down! You might have also seen this phenomenon in several paranormal films. This is based on the ideomotor phenomenon which is a psychological process where the user, while unconscious, has some form of motor abilities.
Whether you free-hand or somehow manage to channel energy back into your hands while baked, canna-journaling is a fantastic way to revert back and understand better how you are when you’re in an altered state of consciousness!
Lastly, To Consider…
Diving in a little deeper, you might also want to look into the nitty-gritty of how your product was made! For instance, if you happen to be using concentrates, how was it extracted? If you’re munching on an edible, how was it infused?? (Eg: cannabutter, canna-oil, etc.) Considering this will also help you decipher how to get the most bang for your buck when it comes to effectiveness. We all metabolize things differently. Personally, I stick to the vapes and flower because I know that’s what I’m going to respond well to. The afamed edibles, however… they’re very hit or miss for me! Being able to keep track of these varying responses has been super helpful in navigating my way through the canna-world.
Most of the pro-cannabis journalers utilize a template similar to the one I’ve provided for you, but it’s really all about your unique experience and jotting down the information that matters most to you!
I utilize cannabis daily, so my journal is a regular sidekick. Since I choose to incorporate cannabis into my daily routine, it’s important that I know the strain name and the amount that I’m consuming. Once I’ve got that information at the ready, then I write out my experience during. I can decrease or increase that amount for desired effect.
In totality, you don’t need much to build a good baseline for cannabis journaling; you just need: a writing apparatus, some sort of paper, the ganj, and your brain. Once you’ve got all of that, and a handy-dandy piece of reference for organization purposes… (aka: this blog!) then you’re ready to toke up and let the fun begin!
