Alex:  Remember that day we were working and the news crew was outside because your neighboring tenant died? And you lit sage and walked around your place? And I thought you were kind of a weirdo? Well, turns out, the healer that works in my building lights it too when he needs to ‘clean the air’. And the guy I hung out with last weekend did the same thing after watching Miley Cyrus on the VMA’s. What does it do? Get rid of the toxic energy? I could research it but I think you should just tell me because I’ve noticed it’s a reoccuring trend.  Way to go you trendy mentor you!
Nik: Ha. Well, thanks for saying I’m trendy, but sage has actually been used for centuries for its cleansing and medicinal purposes. It’s also considered to dispel negative energy sources. After two deaths in my complex, I thought I should probably say a little prayer and then sage the place to cover my bases. The practice means different things to different people, but for me it’s about doing something that grounds me and puts things in perspective. Instead of going to my paranoid place and thinking ‘holy shit, everyone in my complex is dying and that means I’m going to hop in the shower tomorrow and come face-to-face with the grim reaper and have a heart attack and die naked so I better shower with clothes on or maybe not shower at all’, I walk through my space, gently waving the smoking sage through the air and tell myself, “Okay. This is really unfortunate. I send them good thoughts and I pray for their families, but this doesn’t mean anything other than what it is.” It’s really just something I do every now and then to reset…kind of like a head check. One great thing about LA is that there’s so much diversity, you get exposed to all kinds of cool things. Here’s a link if you want to learn more.  AH! I just remembered that I had to create a chapbook in this writing class I took a million years ago and I entitled it Burning Sage! I just dug it out. It’s sooooo weird to read old stuff and even more embarrassing to share. I love that my ego wrote my introduction. Oh boy.

Alex:  Holy shit that answer was more in depth than I expected. Phenomenal. You are my new google.
Nik:  I don’t half-ass things, Alex.
Alex:  I know, that’s why you’re my mentor.