How Bufo Alvarius Helped Me Beat Fentanyl Addiction and Create ‘Music With A Purpose’
Artem SmirnovFull Interview with Nate Ostrowski at the bottom of the page
Nathan Ostrowski, a Navy veteran from Tucson and founder of Music With a Purpose Tucson, shares his journey from addiction to recovery and purpose.
For 35 years, he lived in “chaos” without direction, using alcohol and drugs to avoid his issues. During COVID, his fentanyl addiction led to two suicide attempts. After surviving, he committed to change and entered detox.
Watch: Navy Veteran’s Journey with 5-MEO-DMT – Fentanyl, Grieving Loss, & Finding Purpose
For me, once I found that self love, I found my purpose. I couldn’t be more thankful for the Seri tribe and for Mexico.
-Nate
Read: How Bufo Alvarius Helped Me Beat Fentanyl Addiction and Create ‘Music With Purpose’
Two months into recovery, Nathan met Michael at a drum circle, leading to his introduction to Bufo (5-MeO-DMT from the Sonoran Desert toad). In Mexico, he had a transformative experience he describes as a “baptismal rebirth,” helping him find peace and self-love. When his sister later died from fentanyl, he turned to medicine again rather than relapsing, processing his grief in just five days.
“The natural DMT. That’s where it is. That’s where you can tap into yourself and who you are and have a different understanding of why we’re here.”
These experiences transformed Nathan from a self-described selfish person to someone dedicated to helping others. He founded Music With a Purpose Tucson, which hosts reggae concerts to fund healing experiences for veterans in Mexico with the Seri tribe. So far, they’ve sent four veterans. Nathan believes people shouldn’t wait for the “right headspace” to seek help, as waiting keeps them trapped. He sees reggae music as inherently healing and unifying, using it to create healing opportunities for others.
Q&A With Nate
How did your addiction escalate to fentanyl and what happened as a result?
When COVID happened, I hit a real rough point, still struggling with addiction and, just let the struggle get the best of me. My addiction led to, you know, me doing fentanyl and getting hooked on that, and that started a real big spiral downhill. I was looking for that one that would just take all my problems away. And in that spiral, the final straw was just, miserable with my life stuck in that cycle and the lowest of lows. So, I tried to take the easy way out and take a bunch and not wake up and, tried it twice. And it’s funny cause every morning I woke up the next morning I was pissed. It was like, damn, it didn’t work.
What was your experience trying Bufo (5-MeO-DMT) for the first time?
Two months into my recovery, I was introduced to Bufo. I put it off for a long time. I kept using life excuses to try to hinder me from what the real work I needed to do. This is one of those things where Mike showed up at the park and said, ‘Hey, we’re going to go do this.’ And I said, ‘Oh shit. Are we? I’m not ready,’ but when are we ever ready? So I’m thankful we went to a park, middle and just a big open field.
I could just imagine if people were looking at us, what they were seeing, like, what are those guys doing? And instantly I knew it’s what I needed. So three weeks later, I was down in Mexico. And that was the life changing moment for me. My most profound experience was on Sunday. We went across to their island and a shark island. And my Sunday ceremony was floating in the ocean. It was one of the most beautiful, unexplainable experiences, but the best way I’d describe it is it was my baptismal rebirth. It was a cleansing of everything that I was running from, and when everything was said and done, I felt peace and I felt self love.
What is Music With a Purpose Tucson and how did it start?
I knew this changed my life. And I talked about previously being selfish. One thing I learned is selfish doesn’t get you anything. Being selfless is more rewarding. And I knew this changed my life. So I’m like, how can I create an opportunity to help other people get this experience? So I’ve always been big into music. I love reggae music. So that’s where the concept of music with the purpose of Tucson came into play. The whole vision is to provide a space where the community at Tucson can come together to help a veteran.
Why do you focus specifically on reggae music for your events?
For me, I’m a reggae guy. For me, reggae brings all walks of life together. That’s one of the beautiful things I get feedback from. You know, at a reggae show I got everything from those hippies to motorcycles to motorcycle clubs. It brings a wide variety and reggae music is about unity. And for me personally, I don’t, there’s not a lot of genres that have that unity. So that’s why I love reggae. Reggae saved my life.
Watch the full interview with Nate Ostrowksi
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