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FILM UPDATES:

* Hosted a leading educator from the Telepathy Tapes series for a 5MEO experience and it was beautiful. They will be speaking to their communication partner about it and once I hear back, I’ll let you know.

* I’m meeting with leading researchers from Imperial College to discuss 5-MeO specifically and some of the most advanced studies on what it does for people.

* We’re heading to the Psychedelic Science 2025 Conference next week to meet many of the leading minds in this space. Hoping to get lots of behind-the-scenes footage and insight, I can update you shortly.

Let’s get into today's issue: Your Identity Is a Costume That Got Stuck

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Hey friend,

Picture a Halloween party.
You throw on a costume, maybe a ninja, a pirate, or a sexy accountant (I don’t judge).
You get laughs, compliments, maybe even a few weird looks.
And at the end of the night, you go home and take it off.

Now imagine this:
You never take the costume off.
Not the next day. Not the next week.
You forget it's a costume altogether.
And soon, you genuinely believe… you are the costume.

Welcome to the human condition.

Identity: The Original Costume Party

Let’s break it down…

Your “identity” isn’t who you are. It’s just a strategy, a survival script your nervous system wrote to get love, approval, and a sense of safety.

It’s the polished Social Media version of you.
It’s the hyper-reliable fixer, the lovable rebel, the overachiever who definitely isn’t exhausted, thank you very much.

But it’s not you.
​It’s a well-rehearsed routine held together by trauma, repetition, and a double shot of espresso.

But most of your “identity traits” are just coping mechanisms that calcified.

The Neuroscience of Getting Stuck

From a brain perspective, this all makes unfortunate sense.

The brain is a pattern-recognition machine.
And once it finds a pattern that seems to work (even poorly), it sticks to it like a toddler with a blankie.

These patterns form deep neural grooves.
Every time you act out a belief, whether that’s “I’m not good enough,” “I always mess things up,” or “I have to be strong”, you reinforce the wiring.

Eventually, the wiring becomes a wall.
​And you can’t tell where the costume ends and you begin.

It doesn’t feel like you’re “performing.”
It just feels like… you.

But just because something feels familiar doesn’t make it true.
It just means your brain has practiced it more than the alternative.

So Who Are You?

Ah yes. The existential crisis portion of the newsletter :)

Are you ready for the fun (and terrifying) truth?
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Who you really are can’t be reduced to a role, a resume, or a personality quiz written by someone named Brenda.

You’re not the character.
You’re the awareness of the character.

You’re the space it moves through.
The screen it plays on.
The consciousness watching the costume do its little dance.

And once you start to see the costume as separate from you?

You’re free to take it off.

Or better yet… to stop mistaking it for your skin.

The Unmasking Practice

Here’s a very simple practice:

1. Pick a trait you strongly identify with. (e.g. “I’m a people-pleaser.”)
2. Ask: When did I first learn this got me love or safety?
3. Then ask: Is this actually who I am, or just who I became to feel okay?
4. And finally: Who am I if I don’t believe this today?

You don’t need a psychedelic trip to discover your true self.
Just the willingness to question what you’ve never questioned.

Final Thought

You’re not broken. You’re just wearing a costume that stopped being useful 10 years ago.

And maybe it did serve you once. Maybe it got you through hard things. Maybe it helped you survive.

But you’re not here to survive anymore. You’re here to wake up.

And that begins with one bold move. To stop confusing your coping strategies with your identity.

You’re not here to be the best version of your mask. You’re here to remember the truth beneath it.

Costume off. Awareness on. Let’s go.

All the best and see you next week

Nic “dropping the identity” Kusmich

PS. → Ready to shed the costume? Join the Neuroscience of Change - an online program rewiring what’s really running you. And right now, you can name your own price (Pay What You Can) as all proceeds go towards me helping to complete this film.

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