My name is MC, I'm 21 years old, and I'm just an ordinary girl from my country's capital of Ottawa, Canada. Life to me has always been as normal as it could get. I grew up in a typical french-canadian family, graduated high school and made my way to college in 2009. Long story short, I lived a very textbook life until the day that changed my life, January 28, 2013.
A few months after turning 21, I lost my boyfriend and best friend of 8 years to a heroin overdose. Now, there's a very long and complicated story that led to this, however this blog isn't about the dramatic story that led me to where I am today, but it's worth saying that it changed me and my outlook on life.
Long story short, the first 5 months after Scott's passing were probably the darkest and hardest months of my life. Needless to say, being a social butterfly and coming from a very large family, I had tremendous support from family and friends, and I feel so blessed every day for the amount of love that surrounded me through that time in my life. What I'm really thankful for, though, is for my friend Heather who I had only met a few months prior, who first introduced me to electronic music. I loved the sound, and with time I really started appreciating the builds and the drops and everything else in between.
In September, I attended my very first rave in Toronto at a 2-day event called Labour of Love. I saw Sander van Doorn, W&W, Showtek, Tommy Trash, Dannic, Hardwell, Dyro and many more. Not bad for my first rave experience, right? Well, sure enough, I was hooked. After coming home from Toronto I started researching music and my knowledge and especially appreciation for electronic music reached a new level. I went to shows at almost every chance I got.
The rush I got from going to shows and raves was absolutely euphoric. Anybody that's had the experience knows what I'm talking about. Before I go on with my story, though, I want to clarify that by no means am I encouraging or endorsing drug use of any kind. The thing is with drugs is that there's a very fine line between right and wrong. It's such a slippery slope and caution is definitely a must for anybody looking at experimenting or enhancing an experience with any type of drug.
So let's talk about the lady of the hour. Molly. MDMA. M. She's absolutely everywhere. It's becoming so common and so accepted amongst the rave and electronic dance music community that people have started wearing shirts and glasses that straight up say "Where's Molly?". I've done M. Many times. It's quite the high and honestly, it's given me life-changing nights, experiences and moments specifically. That being said, with my past experience with people in my life struggling with serious addiction, I'm very conscious about the risks and what can happen.
So, cool story bro, you like electronic music and raves and you've done drugs. Big deal right? Well, believe it or not I haven't started this blog to talk about myself. I've started this blog because I've developed an overwhelming amount of respect for the core values of the rave and electronic music community. While some people use raves as an excuse to get fucked up and try to pick up vulnerable chicks, if you meet a true, purist and respectful raving enthusiast, you will realize quickly that the message behind all of this is truly inspiring and humbling. PLUR. Peace, Love, Unity and Respect. Those four words are huge amongst ravers but at the end of the day, words are just words. But when the moment hits that you think "holy shit, these really are words to live by", it really does change you.
Ravers and enthusiasts that really believe in the PLUR movement go to raves for an emotional and spiritual experience. For myself, I go to raves and shows and drop M to unwind from the every day stress, meet people and simply become a better person. Going to raves, enhanced by an educated choice to do MDMA, truly has given me a positive outlook on life and has given me so much more respect for people at raves, and outside the clubs. Because at the end of the day, raver or not, what most people want is to have a happy, fulfilled and peaceful life.
Alright, so where am I going with this? Am I trying to get the entire planet to go to raves and be happy? World peace through electronic music? No. The point I'm trying to get to here, is that electronic music and raves combined can really change people if done right, with the right intentions. I've grown so infatuated with the PLUR movement and the rave experience that I really want to pass on my experience and my knowledge to others, who without even knowing it, might be totally clueless when it comes to raving and more importantly, doing drugs.
You hear about all these crazy stories about young adults dying at raves and electronic music festivals. Most people will read the headline and stop there. I guess they think that "19 year-old girl dies at Electric Zoo" says it all and they already know the story. But if you keep reading and read the whole story, you'll understand that there is always an avoidable reason for why these things happen. It all comes down to lack of education. Quite frankly, I think it's extremely disheartening that people just like me, on the pursuit of an euphoric experience, have to die because they don't know what they're doing and don't know any better.
You know, when you're in high school, you have that stupid sex & health class, where they're supposed to teach you about safe sex and drugs. Well, that class usually ends up being a semester long of repeating the same two things: "no sex till marriage, and don't do drugs." What the fuck. "Don't do drugs." Really? You think that's going to motivate teenagers to stay entirely sober until the day they die? As much as this angers me, I know it's unrealistic to think that the educational system will ever truly educate kids about drugs and what they do. I would be willing to bet my life, that if teenagers were properly educated about drugs, there would be far less addiction and overdosing issues.
That's where I come in. I want to educate people on how to do this shit safely and properly, because if done responsibly, the results can be life-changing. Now, since this is going to be an EDM blog, and since I have no experience with anything but MDMA, marijuana and alcohol, I will only be writing about the latter. I want this to be a resource where people can come have a short read and leave informed and more confident about their choice on how they want to experience their raves. If I can inform just ONE person on how to get the most out of a trip to planet euphoria, and even possibly save them from crashing their shuttle into a wormhole on their way up, I'm happy. Call me a spaceman.
I would like to add, before I continue, that by no means are drugs necessary for the enjoyment of music. I've been to shows entirely sober and have thoroughly enjoyed the experience as well. Known DJs and electronic music artists have reached out to their fans time and time again to discourage them from doing drugs. In a way, I agree, and in a perfect world, drugs wouldn't exist, but realistically, MDMA and ecstasy are so common now at raves, that I would rather people know what they're doing instead of being completely in the dark about it. Because at the end of the day, people are going to do this anyways, it's inevitable. I hope that people can appreciate that.
Every few days I will be posting threads covering different issues: addiction, dosage, psychology, chemistry and whatever else seems like a good, significant idea to write about. To add some flavor, I will also be posting threads on EDM news and events, new tracks, up and coming DJs and more importantly, stories and experiences from other ravers from different parts of this crazy blue globe we live on.
Have a story to tell? Suggestions? Comments? Pictures? Tips? Need some advice? Please feel free to message me! Like the concept of this blog? Sound off in the comments below!
Oh, and before I leave you, here's a nice snapshot of myself and my friend Kayleigh (@kaylieghamber on Instagram) at Labour of Love 2013, in Toronto and one of us from last night, enjoying a fulfilling trip (yes, I'm a little bit sketchy from last night as I'm writing this)
Thanks for reading!
xoxo, MC (@mcdrizzey on Instagram)
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