I had a super useful idea once, while I wasn’t feeling well. I don’t recall whether it was during a psychedelic trip or a hangover, but it was definitely one of the two.
Those are two pretty different mental states, as you may know if you’ve sampled both. But one thing they have in common (for me, anyway) is that your thoughts can guide your experiences while you’re in those states, even more than they do in everyday life.
When I’m on psychedelics, for instance, even just thinking about a cute, cuddly cat from my childhood can make me burst into tears, or can flood my body with happy chemicals that feel like the god-given message “Everything is going to be alright.” On the flipside, when I’m hungover, thinking about last night’s hamburger and fries for a second can send me racing to the bathroom to puke.
You can see, then, how either one of these two states – or perhaps both of them – could lead me to the idea that your thoughts are the roiling ocean beneath you, but they are also the ship you use to navigate that ocean. And if you want to find your way out of the storm and into safety, you have to know how to steer the ship.