Next Year...
Just digging through the Burning Man site once again... *wishing* I had had the dinero to move across country, go to burning man, *and* see New Zealand this year. A little much to ask huh? Well, Burning Man I'll catch next year anyways (I HOPE!!!). A few of the guys from up here left yesterday for the Playa, including JB. ::jealous::
I was reading some of the "Tales from the Playa"...

In talking with many of my new instant friends, I realized they weren't just a bunch of weirdoes assembled here for my amusement. They were all just like me - an average guy who periodically has to shed the shroud of conformity we're all forced to wear in public, and see what's under that calloused exterior. At Burning Man we put on our thinner skins and open up more to strangers because we know we'll be accepted without anyone even asking who or what we are, much less judging us by our answers. There are no accountants, software developers, fry cooks, or safety consultants here - just people connecting with other people.

I can confidently say I have extracted all I could from this heaven sent dust storm. I started this journey across the playa as a spectator on a bicycle inconvenienced and blinded by the weather. Through my brief glimpses of improbable reality in the belly of the storm I saw joy where there should have been desperation. I saw beauty where one would expect only sun-cracked earth. I experienced the inner warmth of helping someone in need. I saw people reveling in the harshness rather than cursing the skies. And I learned once again that happiness in living comes from enjoying and learning from the journey no matter where it takes you. Attitude is everything!

Year after year our frightened society desecrates the white picket fences of our childhood, forcing them to mutate into state of the art, high-tech, military level clearance security systems, all in the name of Self Preservation. No one gets in & no one gets out. Meanwhile, they suck everything out of us through mutiny to become the totality of our existance! We hang some nice clean curtains in the windows and maybe put some flowers outside the door so everyone will think we're all nice and cozy... but inside none of us are and we know it. We all share that same dirty little secret. Our fears are eating us from the inside out, but we're too busy shitting our pants to do anything about it. All day long we concern ourself with what people think of us, if we're good enough for others, if others are good enough for us, if we're doing the "right" thing, if we're advancing far enough in life, where we're going, where we've been, that person who hurt us 10 years back, that person we could never please, that person who flicked us off on the way to work this morning, the quality of our toaster ovens, whether our dog likes us! Gawd! Its insane! and I am so included in that crowd..
Realizing the reality of our feined existance is pretty easy. We remember from time to time, feel momentarily special and enlightened, and then ever so conveniently forget all about it. Stepping outside of the security system, holding your naked heart out to world and showing them who you really are beneath the lace, and the car, the job, and latest fashion from Gap/Jeannie Nitro/Hemp Traders... yea, that takes a bit more balls. Realizing that you're really not that fucking special after all...
but wait, that is *exactly* what makes you so ~breathtaking~ special to begin with. What a beautiful paradox.
What about being in a place where you are appreciated solely for surviving the test of being born! (Yea, you remember that?) You're here & alive, proof enough! No paperwork necessary, c'mon in! And with that open armed welcome, you open yourself to all others in the same manner. Simply because they are there and for some reason somewhere along their lives, they deserve a little bit of love. What a devastatingly frightening position to be in!! They could be hippies, or worse! Career-less Losers! ::gasp:: Well ya know, you could be one too. But you aren't...

30,000 people, useless egos cast into the fire, and the vastness of the empty desert...

Next year...