What is this Blog?!

Memoirish musings, anecdotes and analysis related to my years of seeking the underlying answers to the “Why” of existence. Infused with hard-earned wisdom gained from experiences ecstatic, extreme and intensely cerebral. My own consciousness exploration, aesthetic adventures and identity dynamics inform a decidedly meta commentary. This blog integrates seemingly disparate interests encompassing metaphysics and the occult alongside science and reason, as well as fascinating manifestations within the collective and pop culture. Because not enough folks are seriously talking about all these things at once. Isn’t it high time we push beyond all-or-nothing thinking and compartmentalization in order to deepen our understanding of the true nature of reality? I believe it to be more surreal, paradoxical and stupendous than anything you could make up.

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About Josie Valderrama

I am a voracious reader of esoteric texts, particularly trance-based materials from a diversity of sources and timeframes—offering the most personally resonant and impactful insights into the true nature of reality. Mind you, much sifting is required to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to source material. And I’m not one to take any source as dogma. Rather, I believe in using whatever works to help connect to the inner compass, a guiding force in one’s sense of autonomy, freedom and value fulfillment.

Adept at naturally shifting my brainwaves, I have trained extensively in hypnotic methods from both Neo-Ericksonian and shamanic approaches, as well as explored expansive states via psychedelic journey and Vipassana meditation. My framework is generally aligned with panpsychism, New Thought and the concept of unity consciousness (we are all one). I endeavor towards non-duality and depolarization in my perspectives.

More About Josie

In my day job, I work as a psychotherapist in private practice. I studied History in undergrad with a minor focus in Geology, then earned a doctorate in clinical psychology. My family hails from the Philippines and Scandinavia by way of Minnesota. Born-and-raised Echo Park Angeleno, I have called San Francisco my home nigh on 30 years now. I enjoyed a seminal year abroad in England in the ‘90s, as well as immersions through Asia and Latin America. Here in the City by the Bay, I have been involved in various subcultures over the years including electronic dance music, Burning Man, kink, ENM, improv, rock bands, stand-up, muay thai, and scuba diving. I also worked in tech during the Dotcom era and before that, did investigative journalism on police brutality and other issues.

My memoir, Adrift in Adulting: My College Coming-of-Age in 1990s LA, was published in July, 2024. In the self-help realm, I was commissioned to write two Acceptance & Commitment Therapy books for Rockridge Press in 2022 including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Journal: Prompts and Techniques to Practice Acceptance While Building the Life You Want. Currently, I am working on a cyberpunk dystopian novel with plans for future books within the sci fi and fantasy genres. You can find out more about me on my author page www.josievalderrama.com and Goodreads.

A Return to Blogging

I blogged from 2003 to 2010, under the pseudonym of Xia, while I undertook the vocation of professional domination. Though my days of plying the whips-and-chains trade are long past, I welcome any readers who followed me during those wild times. My focus has greatly shifted from hedonic power exchange to synthesis and balance. Yet former readers of Xia may still find delight in the constancy of my writing style and eclectic observations.

To learn more about the tech platform that powers this publication, visit Substack.com.

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Natural Trancer & Erstwhile Epicurean's Memoir Blog of Consciousness Explorations, Esotericism, & Seeking in Many Forms

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Consciousness Explorer, Writer of Books, Psychologist, Trance Worker, Subculture Denizen of San Francisco, 5th Decade on Earth.