Several friends have asked what is Burning Man, explain it to me. For one, its impossible to explain something that has such deep meaning and magnitude. But Ill try. The environment is harsh, more harsh than Im sure any of you have ever experienced. Its freekin hot in the day and freezing at night. The dust (not sand, more like concrete powder) gets everywhere. You breath it and cough, your eyes are scratchy and its impossible not to eat and drink it. By the end of day one your hair is playa grey and poofs when you tough it.....you stop brushing it after day 3, theres just no point. You sunscreen up every morning, and by mid day the playa dust has cocooned you and protects you from the suns rays. The cleanest I can feel here would be considered dirty in the default world. Its all about radical self expression. This means you wear crazy costumes, hats or nothing at all (if your interested in my costume pics pm me). This week is about getting out of your normal box and trying something new. Burners believe in Radical Inclusion, where you welcome everyone....I mean everyone. This year I was offered a spicy bacon grilled cheese sandwich at a camp named Menace to Sobriety as I walked by, it was amazing! One night we stumbled upon a camp from Quebec that served Poutin every night from midnight till 4am, they served hundreds each night. One camp, Poly Paradise, held a carcass wash every afternoon for people to take a shower. Everyone contributes to this society, be it a hug, swag, tater tots or an art installation. Dont get me wrong, its not all peace and love, there is a sense of anarchy yet an underlining visible structure. The DPW, department of public works, is a huge camp that wears hard hats, raggedy clothes and looks exactly like extras in the Mad Max films of the 80s. Cracked me up one night when I saw one of their art cars, a tattered H1 with flame throwers mounted and vomit sounds blasting from the speakers. This group is amazing, they build the roads and the infrastructure of the city and its all volunteer. We also believe in Radical Self Reliance, We depend on only ourselves to provide us shelter, power, food and water.....but we still all share. Its mind blowing and hard to make sense of. The Art, its hard to describe. You might be riding your bike across the playa at night and see a light far off, and wow! After a mile You get there and its a movie theater! Or a phone booth where you can talk to god, or a hangman where people have written thoughts about suicide, or a massive wooden structure of two people hugging. At night the city, Black Rock City, has enough lights to look like the Vegas strip......then you remember that it didnt even exist 4 weeks ago. There is no power grid here, people use solar, wind power and generators. Burners are creative and the ingenuity is off the charts. If there was ever a zombie apocalypse or any apocalyptic scenario, my ass is heading here! We all get around the city, around 7 miles wide and 70k people, with fuzzy decorated bikes and art cars. An art car might be a double decker bus chopped and welded into a flame throwing dragon or a golf cart covered in pink fur like a bunny. Last year at 3am one morning we got a ride from deep playa back to the city on the SS Titty Hawk, a bus chasis transformed into a ship covered with lights and blasting music. My second fav concept is Leave No Trace. Weve all heard it, but you will never experience the magnitude of it until here. We captured our shower water in an evaporation pond chad made, we poured our leftover coffee into jugs to be brought home. You dont pee or spit on the playa, and you pick up even the tiniest pieces of trash.....even if its not yours. And yes, we burn the Man on Saturday night. To Chad, the Man is a landmark as a point of reference navigating around the city. To me, the burning of the man is a celebration of the weeks debocherous activities. Its not pagan, its not a cult, its not even religious or spiritual. On Sunday night the temple is burned. It is so beautiful in so many ways, it is located out beyond the Man is is made of ornately dye cut pieces of wood. It has a different meaning for everyone, it is very spiritual but not religious. For many it is a place to let something go. When I visited the Temple of Grace this year, as always, I was overwhelmed by the sense of sadness and struggles that so many people live. Every inch of the interior is covered with photos, letters, goodbyes, forgiveness, notes of regrets and fears. I saw a poster of a two year old little girl who just died of cancer and a dog who had died after 14 years of companionship. Not all people share the same god or have a sanctioned religion, it was beautiful that so many people can come together for such unity and peacefulness. We are a little sad to be leaving the playa, we met awesome friends this year and we will have a nagging feeling of loss inside. We will miss the giving and sharing of the burner community along with the openness and inclusion without any expectations. If you really know me and Chad Davis,you know this is our heart.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 18:14:23 +0000
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