An Article by Ziggy: Yes, You Can Be High, Active and Productive (Pt 1)

Yesterday after work, I went to a waterside to smoke, my favorite spot since I got to this town some weeks ago and every time I go there, I always meet fantastic humans and yesterday was one of it.

The rain started falling so I moved under a shed with some Yoruba men, three of them. They were smoking igbo too, big ass jumbo rolled with white papers. At first I was listening to music and not paying them attention but at some point I started listening to them.

To my surprise, they were talking about the general idea of marijuana, how it started, how “touts and agberos” were the ones who bastardized the real image of marijuana, how philosophers, lawyers and professors like Fela Kuti and Wole Soyinka smoked weed and became successful people in the history of our country, they talked about the advantages and disadantages, if marijuana really ran people mad as people say and a lot more. We talked in turns and I can actually say that was the most interesting smoking session I’ve been in a long time, quite memorable too.

I remember the pot bellied man among us said something but in Yoruba, “when I smoke weed, that’s when I am more active and inspired to pursue my goals and there is nothing wrong with that.”

That is just the truth and what inspired me to write on this topic today. So yes, you can be high, active and productive.

In my first write up on this blog The Stoner Lifestyle 101, I started by defining a stoner in the layman’s definition, “…someone who is always high, hungry, unorganized, who's always trying to remember stuff” and it’s a fact there are actually people like this who smoke weed and become lazy, nonchalant and irresponsible, but it was never the weed…it’s their personality, their choice of lifestyle and that negative energy was channeled into their weed smoking. 

Honestly, it’s a shame that the general society judges every stoner from this perspective but the truth is that marijuana effects are dependent on the kind of energy that you channel it into. So the first thing for me, according to Michael (@ugly_Obaagram) is to, “Channel everything towards positive ideas and thinking” and Edwin (@that_ijawboy), “Never let the euphoria take charge...Channel your cruise.” That's all.

You see, there is a great number of us out there, legit stoners who actually have dreams, aspirations, ambitions and a good life that we’re living. Definitely not all of us have it perfect at the moment, but sure, we have hope and we still keep the spirit alive. This write up is meant for these legit stoners.

Many a times, I get messages from people asking me how I manage to stay high and productive at my jobs at the same time. Yes I have two jobs running; I’m a Secretary slash Executive Assistant in a nice company, an online handler too and I’m currently writing this from my office personal desktop lol. These jobs are good and actually take my time sometimes, but I still get high, active and productive because one, I always set my high straight, my intentions real and my priorities right.  Lady Moore (@bibianmoore) already said “Priorities... If they are placed right weed can never ever be a limitation” and K (@_2stones_1bird) seconded by saying “Get your priorities right + don’t get high on every little chance you get.” Very important.

As an individual, I always wake up with goals and things I intend to do before the end of the day. Sometimes I write them down if they’re very important and I don’t want to forget. As stoners, we need to keep this kind of organized lifestyle so as to get things done effectively. It’s no news that marijuana has an effect on the memory sometimes and you tend to forget things but by having a list or an idea of what your daily activities are and giving them a time frame, you’ll set your intentions and priorities right. Start with a soft wake and bake session in the morning, because you know what we say “One spliff a day keeps the drama and evil away”. Have a shower, listen to music, eat and  think of what you want to achieve in that day, then get to it asap. Godfather (@ebukafrank_) says “Get the right things done first then high should be your reward for job well done…works for me.” I think this says it all.

As important as anything in this write up can be, I think the most important would be this, know what you’re smoking because that would determine greatly the effects weed will have on you. Don’t be a mediocre stoner who doesn’t know the difference between strains or what effects he’s looking forward to. Do some research and know your strain. Allow me to break it down a bit. There are three common strains that marijuana can be a categorized into.

• 1.      Sativa Strains: These are known to get you active, motivated and keep your energy levels up while getting stuff done.
• 2.      Indica Strains: These will stimulate calmness and relaxation in you.
• 3.      Hybrid Strains: As the name connotes, they’ve got a bit of the two above strains in them and can harness good physical attributes of both indica and sativa strains. You could go for a hybrid if your work requires less movement.

In SugarZaddy’s  (@DC_Barz) opinion, “Choose the strain that fits the activity you're about to engage in. Some strain makes you less active and relaxed while some others make you really active.” Solid. 

Now that you already know what the appropriate strain would be, the next important thing is the appropriate consumption method and quantity.  Ask yourself, how do I elevate myself? How much do I smoke? How high should I be for this activity? These are important food for thoughts because they’re equally important in the activeness and productivity of a stoner.

The methods of weed consumption that I’m familiar would be vapes, pipes, bowls, joints/blunts, edibles, creams, pills, oils and some other DIY methods like the apple bong thing and gist is that they all vary in the way they work so as a stoner, you must know the most suitable method for your environment and activities.

Knowing how much you smoke and should actually smoke is a factor too. Don’t smoke too much and get too high that you become lazy and unfocused. That is irresponsible. Similarly, “getting too high before you begin a productive day can lead to feeling burned out, a term used to describe the tired and groggy feeling one can get after the high from consuming a large quantity of marijuana. Give yourself a small amount of cannabis to consume before and during breaks when you’re working, and don’t consume any more until you’re finished. This can help pace your consumption and keep you from becoming too high to concentrate.”

Also, choose the right environment and be sensitive to it. Where are you? Are you working from home? The office? Running errands? Answers to this will help you know and control your smoking methods, habits and quantity. If you’re home, you have to be self disciplined to keep up with the points we’ve discussed up there. If you’re at the office, I hope you’ve smoked reasonably and enough for the day to get through your work. If you’re lucky and have smoke breaks, don’t smoke too much on the job. If you’re like me and unlucky that’s where edibles are most respected. But keep is minimal too, because edibles can be crazy when you eat too much. Watch out for the red eyes too bro.

Moderation is key, already said that in my last post and Konstantine (@jon_lyk_no_otha) also says “Moderation. If a joint gets you there, smoke a joint. If loud is too loud, try a diff strain. Find out what works for you and stick to it. It's not a competition. You don't have to prove anything to anyone. Get your priorities straight n go about your bi'ness...happily!” Well said.

Wow, this post is already getting longer than I intended so I”ll stop here for today and my next article will be a continuation. I hope you’ve learnt something today. 

 Finally, let me add this, blaze up because Local Weed Man (@LWM_4_20) says "In my opinion, you gotta get high to be high, active and also productive." Make sure you stay hydrated and eat throughout the day. Remember Kulture Fam, stay elevated and go get that bag.

            Thanks for reading this. Kindly drop your opinions and reviews in the comment section. 

(p.s.: all handles referred to in the post are from Twitter. You can check them out and follow them.)