I wanted to take some time to share some observations with you all about Burning Man. What it is, what it isn’t. And most importantly, why it is so important, right now.
Lets start with the question I get more than any other. ”Isn’t it a drug fueled orgy set in the middle of the desert participated by godless heathens?”. Yes, that question has been asked, by multiple people. And, no, that isn’t even close to what Burning Man is. The 10 Principles of Burning Man are well advertised to all that attend. The first listed, Radical Inclusion, is what drew me to Burning Man. No matter your race, gender, dress code, education, you are welcome. So with respect to the above assumption that many make about burning man, if you are a person who enjoys tripping out in a great big pile of nakedness, you are as welcome as a person that enjoys meditating in the temple 24 hours a day. If you want to walk around without any clothing you are as free to do that as a person in a full evening dress. This festival has really so many aspects to it, that I could go on writing for days. But that is not what I wanted to write about today.
Burning Man is not perfect. It has privilege built right in it’s ticket prices ($425) and lack of availability to all (only 70,000) attendees. As hard as it tries, there is still discrimination, as documented here. I witnessed this year and last small acts of misogyny, judgement, rudeness. There are also mental health issues, as witnessed by the tragedy at the burn this year.
But, the overall experience in Burning Man, that even as flawed as we all are as humans, something happens on the playa. We start to believe that it is possible to let all of this petty bullshit fall away. We love each other with a much higher wattage than in our normal lives. The level of acceptance is so much larger than anywhere I’ve ever experienced. Safe human connections are made everywhere, all day. My hope and dream is that this love that is shared by the very lucky participants of this festival will spread to our daily lives. To other’s daily lives.
I call on all of those who have attended to keep radically accepting. Lets all figure out a way to expand this reality to others that have no possible way of attending.
Last year, as I left the playa, I knew I would never be the same, and that was a good thing. This year, as I left the playa, I have the strongest belief that the acceptance demonstrated there is the only way our world moves forward.