03/08/2012

Thoughts on Burningman.

If you have never been it is impossible to explain so I am not going to try.

I am feeling a little bit down about not going this year but, at the same time going out to experience a different event will be more than worth it.

Burningman changed the way I saw the world. It happen the moment I stepped out onto the playa. It was the moment that I understood that there was unconditional love without having to be related or even knowing a person. To have a random person  come up to you and tell you that you are amazing when they have never spoken to you gives you a sense of love that is beyond what I was used too.
I was amazed at how much people wanted to care. Once taken out of their comfort zones they wanted to explore, dress up, interact, create. People wanted to change the world at Burning man. To make it even better a lot of these people were changing the world.

I tell people every year that you can find whatever you are looking for there. If you are looking for "the spirit" you will find him every where. If you are looking for nudity you will go find it. If you are looking for art you will experience it. You can experience anything at the burn if you go looking for it.

For me the burn has never been about finding something. It has continued to be love. To have a renewed look on life and the people that I share this world with. It is about community and growing into a family when all you have is your self and what you bring to the table. It is about LOVE... Yes love. Feeling apart of a community just breeds love. The amount of hope that radiats from the ground is unbelievable.
 You are surrounded by 50,000 people who believe in the impossible. It is a family of hope, dreams, and the unexplainable. 

For me Burning Man created an idea that lead to a way of life. That continues to feed the core of my beliefs. At that core of beliefs lies the truth about me. I believe in love, family, art, self relaince and most of all to BE true to your self.

 I found myself out there on the playa on top of a temple in the middle of a sunrise.  Maybe I didn't literally find myself but, I knew in those moments who I no longer wanted to be and deep down who I was.  No longer did I want to be a selfish child who did a lot of things that never made me feel good about myself and no longer did I want to feel like I couldn't be someone better. Burning Man showed me that if a community could change so drastically year to year; so could I and at the end of the day I could forgive myself when things went wrong too.

I know that the world is upset at Burning Man right now but, remember this is the place that has taught many of us forgiveness and the belief that everything can be renewed and changed.