A Joint
It all started with a joint.
It was a few months after my 18th birthday. I just moved back to California for college after 13 years abroad. I spent most my childhood (that I remember) growing up in a culture that equated cannabis to hard drugs, and so the ‘stigma’ was instilled in me at a very young age.
However, I was always a curious person, getting into trouble for going against the norm. I remember I tried cannabis once when I was thirteen and I didn’t really feel anything so it never stuck. Still, it wasn't until I moved to California in 2007, did Cannabis truly spark my curiosity.
My best friend from high school and current roommate at the time brought it up. We were both studying at universities in LA, fresh out of high school, and “fresh off the boat” as they would say, the culture was still foreign to us. I think many people will tell you, that in California, Cannabis is part of the culture. He said he always wanted to try it, and although I was hesitant, the newly found independence of being away from my parents gave me a sense of adventure. But we didn’t know anyone who smoked weed at the time let alone sold it, but in California, that wasn’t a hard problem to solve.
We went down to the local tobacco store and sparked up a conversation with one of the locals who just happened to be from an area close to where we both grew up. Surprise, surprise, he knew where to get some ‘weed’ (we later found out we were getting ripped out, but you live and you learn). Later that day we met up and were handed a ziplock full of weed and 2 joints. At that time, it was the biggest bag of weed I had ever seen in my life (looking back at it I laugh because it was only an ounce) and the smell was intoxicating but also impossible to conceal!
Feeling like we were performing a criminal act, we called the only friends we could trust and would be interested in partaking, and isolated ourselves to an apartment in Westwood. We grabbed one of the joints and sparked it up.
All it took was one puff.
One puff was all it took.
And I fell in love.
Nearly a decade of negative programming disappeared in that single puff. It was replaced by an almost painful and prolonged smile followed by a lot of laughter. We spent the rest of the night gasping for breaths between laughs and drinking copious amounts of water. Oh yes, and then the oh-so-famous munchies hit; IHOP soon became a staple for this newly labeled "cannabis enthusiast".
I felt like an entirely different world opened up to me. The way I listened to music changed (little did I know a lot of the music and shows I watched growing up referenced cannabis). My appreciation for nature, for food, for culture. Deep discussions, good company, and enjoying the present moment; were all experiences I owe to cannabis.
Reminiscing on these events brings back a nostalgic wave of all the beautiful memories created on smoke-laden nights and, more importantly, all the beautiful people I was honored to meet, many I now call family. This is the "why" behind what I do because of cannabis's ability to bring people together.
This was the beginning of a journey—a journey I plan to chronicle throughout these blogs. (A super erratic and chronically confused journey).
How does any of this lead-in to photography? Stay tuned to find out.
You can also follow me on my visual journey on Instagram: @ginja.club
