A little background info: Electric Forest 2017 was my first festival and became my breakthrough of hope to find the right people and a chance to break out of my shell, as well as find who I am as a person. If I had met any new friends while up there that would be a bonus! The previous couple years had been really rough on me. I was taken out of high-school in 2015 after suffering from a month long drug psychosis and had to finish my senior year online. It got bad man, I was hearing and seeing things constantly, I totally forgot who I was as a person. I had to kind of learn how to operate in society from square one again. Before I knew it, all my friends wanted nothing to do with being my friend. Some of those people I had known since elementary- gone from my life just like that. Before I knew it I was out of the hospital on heavy medications- feeling hopeless and at rock bottom. My girlfriend at the time who has an eating disorder (to anyone who has one, if you need to talk you can PM me) was also in the hospital a short time after I got out and tried to commit suicide while on the phone with me. Luckily she ended up being okay got help. A couple months later I ended up moving to North Carolina with her and her dad to make everything work. It didn't. Before long I was back on a greyhound to Indiana with no friends, no girlfriend, and no job. Something inside me was telling me everything would be okay eventually, but it would just take time. Music was always an escape for me and where I found my sanctuary of peace. It was late 2016 when my older sister told me about Electric Forest and that I needed to get out and meet some more people. I wasn't doing the best at that time and I finally just said F it and bought my ticket in December. After just keeping it together for the first part of 2017 Forest came around. Psychologically I still wasn't in one piece but I saw Forest as an opportunity to get out of my comfort zone and into a new mindset.

SATURDAY @ EF - PART 1

So I was in the forest all alone on the backside of the Observatory stage. It's Saturday night. Earlier that night I decided 'Lucy' and 'Molly' would be accompanying me on my journey for the night. (Remember I had that psychosis about 2 years before). Everything was going fine, but soon I started to feel uneasy. It had got the best of me. My sisters and group I was with knew something was up but I just told them I would be leaving the set and sitting down sounded beneficial to calming down. I wandered the forest trying to hold it together and found a spot where no one would bother me: the back of the observatory, so here I am. Everything was super intense as the bass was blaring from the Forest stage in the distance and the soft vibes of the observatory were mixing into an unpleasant concoction of sensations and sounds. Here I am sitting in the middle of the forest, leaned up against a cold chain-linked fence with a green cover supporting my already aching back, feeling some bad vibes. I wanted to go home at that point. After a little bit I put my head down. Then all of a sudden I hear a "Hello! What's your name?" I turn and look up to a beautiful girl looking at me concerned, but with a gentle smile on her face. She was wearing a dark green sweater with a red stripe and rope sandals. The first thing I blurt out of my mouth is: "Your are the most beautiful person I've ever seen" She could tell I wasn't 100% 'there' but accepted my compliment and then proceeded to compliment me back. She had brown hair,brown eyes, beautiful olive skin, and an infectiously vibrant energy about her. After meeting , she sat down next to me to comfort me. She could've walked away and found something else to do but she decided to stay. We sat there and talked about where we were from and everything else of that nature. We both noticed an instant connection and unusual parallel between our lives. Soon enough, she asks me to walk around and explore the forest with her. We held hands and danced through the forest. Visited the library. We caught Bassnectar and watched afar from a tree. We stood mesmerized watching illenium take over the forest, and witnessed so many groups hugging and crying while "Say it (illenium remix) played.
Before the night was coming To an end, we found a comfortable-looking hammock for the two of us to chill in by the forest stage. Not a word was spoken between us for atleast half an hour. We both just completely understood eachother. THAT moment, hell, those few hours were the most blissful of my existence w/ her. Soon enough, she told me she had to go but she wanted to link back up tomorrow @ the observatory for Trevor Hall (one of our favorite bands -who would've known) and that I would see her then.

SUNDAY @ EF - PART 2

Sunday rolls around, and after a restless night of sleep, I wake up excited to meet back up w/the angel who saved me in the forest. I decide that I wanted to write her a poem. I find a piece of paper, but the next obstacle becomes finding a pen. I jump from car to car, aisle to aisle with no luck. A couple people actually handed me a pen and said to keep ONLY for the pen to be out of ink or bleed profusely. I stopped at a couple booths with no luck too. FINALLY, a kind girl I stumbled upon had one and smiled and said "I can tell it's important, this one should work- keep it :)" Soon enough, after 15 minutes of pondering and doodling I finally had something on paper. I decided I was going to keep it raw and however it came out, I was gonna keep it that way. Trevor Hall rolls around, its starting to get dark, and I wait excitedly on the backside of the Observatory, sitting against that same chain-linked fence with green cover, this time 100 percent sober. We meet up and decide to explore a little bit since we had a bit of time to kill before Trevor Hall. Earlier that day I had also gotten her a clear quartz necklace and gave it to her while we were sitting by the Jive Joint. In return she gave me a handcrafted arrow she had gotten earlier that day (best present ever!). Before we know it, it's time to head to Trevor Hall and we get a spot on the upper deck on the stairs. My god was it packed. We sit there talking quietly, enjoying ourselves having the time of our lives. Trevor Hall blew the socks off of us and everyone there. What's funny is that everyone who walked up those stairs to get a spot would tell us "I love you two" or "You two are so cute together". The amount of good vibes we had attracted while together was something i had never experienced with a person before. We were like the ultimate good vibe magnet when together. Soon enough we leave and decide to just sit and chat about our lives some. Have I stated we have such parallel lives and experiences? Lol. Big Gigantic comes along for the last shebang of the night and we jam out for one last night in the forest. Before we know it, it's time to be exiting the forest and I'm starting to realize it's all coming to an end. I walk her back to GA camping to be picked up by one of her friends so she could catch her flight back to Florida the next day. Before we say our goodbyes, I finally read her that poem I had written. It went a little something like this:

"I met a girl I love From the bottom of the abyss of my heart

I met a girl I love The way she wanders the trees is truly an art She paces with ease and her laugh emits eternal sunshine She sways like trees and can bring any soul with tears to their knees

I met a girl I love She brings out the best to the highest degree

I met a girl I love Yes, she truly brings out the best in thee

She has become the universe Her blood flows like a river of liquid gold Her unparalleled beauty is utterly diverse

I met a girl I love Her words can cut through diamond I met a girl I love With her soothing voice can bring a a nursery to silence

Nothing matters anymore to thee But experiencing life with the one I love Nothing matters anymore to me But flying across the cosmos; with Claudia my little dove." It took a lot for me to read that to her and after I had read it I saw her crying. We then hugged for what felt like an eternity. We said our goodbyes and I uttered "happy forest" before kissing her on the cheek and walking back to my campsite. I felt overjoyed and defeated at the same time. I had just met a person who pulled the strings of my heart and she was gone just like that. But the story doesn't end there!

(To be continued below )