Burning Man 2012, Black Rock City, Nevada, USA
Population: ~60,000
Where to begin? Well first of all I was due to start a new job teaching English in Saudi Arabia September 1, 2012. My brother and father and I had talked about going to Burning Man together some year and this was the year that it could possibly work. It could, until we werent able to get any tickets. No tickets and my new job starting right in the middle of when Burning Man was supposed to be were two problems that wouldn't allow the Watchman men to partake in this amazing event. That was until the moment that tickets became available, there was one extra ticket for myself, and the decision to contact my future employer and tell them I would be 4 days late was made. The decision to go literally happened 25 minutes before we departed. Luckily I can live off very minimal stuff in even the harshest desert conditions so I packed in 22 minutes and said LETS GO!
So the drive began. I will attempt to explain Burning Man in details that will allow you to somewhat understand it, but I will also tell you now that there is a feeling being there that no words can describe. When you first arrive there are long lines of cars and you slowly creep along the sandy roads. The dust being kicked up from thousands of tires gets so bad at times that you can barely see the vehicle ten feet in front of you. All you can see is their tail lights. If they decide they cant safely move on then you all just stop in place and let the sand blow on through. This is your first taste of how bad the sand storms can get. This is also the time that you may get your first taste of the craziness and nudity that can be experienced at BM ( Burning Man ). People get tired of sitting in their cars and the fun begins. Simple as that. If you are a first timer to BM, AKA a VIRGIN! , you may be called out of your vehicle to get your initiation spanking. This is all before you even reach the gates to get in.Once you're inside the experience is multiplied X1000! People slowly trickle in and find where they want to camp on the designated roads. My 60 year old father jumped out of the van en route to finding our camp just to dance with some robots. Sounds crazy, but it happened! ( watch the video for proof ) Its been dark for a few hours by this point, and you start to see huge art pieces illuminated with colorful lights all across the landscape. That and art mobiles driving around the outer roads shooting flames into the air and playing music for anyone that wants to jump on board for a free ride and free party upon arrival. Once our sleeping arrangements were set up, a tent and sleeping bag, we all set off to explore "the playa". This is where everything happens. It's the inner core circle filled with art mobiles, art pieces, people riding bicycles, and probably the only place you will see a neon light space shuttle casually drive by with barely anyone taking notice. An hour of looking around was enough to get your mind swimming in the possibilities of what may come of the week. Maybe it's like the first time taking drugs? It makes you wonder what will happen when you get more of that good feeling? I'm not sure since I have never tried, but I can safely assume its the feeling of wanting more of that little bit you had. After a bike ride around the playa, and after a few to many falls off their bike due to mishandling of the pregame drinks, we all went back to camp to start the next day fresh.
The first morning of sunlight you start to get an understanding of just how big this festival is going to be. People start milling around, and more people keep flowing in through the front gates. The first 2-3 days are still sort of like set up days. People from all over come and add to the festival. This is a great time to start to explore what all the camps have to offer, have an afternoon nap, and then head out at night again for the mysterious lit up world of BM at night. It takes on an entirely different feeling at night. It's a mixture of Alice in Wonderland, TRON, and some huge party in some hidden club in Prague. Every day is the same rotation. Explore the camps in the daytime to see what they are offering to the event, such as hair washing, pancakes, massages, juggling lessons, and every other possible thing you could imagine, then at some point you take a nap, then you head out all night to be mesmerized by the lights, music, art cars, and the people of the night!
The event lasts ten long days. The first few days are spent exploring whats new and whats old at this years BM. There is tons of excitement, new discoveries, new loves, new friends, and one night stands for the truly open minded peoples. The days and nights in the middle of the ten days seem to slow down a bit. You have more time to start to explore the thousands of camps for things that really interest you, rather than roaming around aimlessly. This is really when you find quality time with new friends, in my case family time, and time to really explore your inner self in some of the many workshops that you can join in on. The initial excitement wears off, and you really find a calmness in yourself. You may even find out that you haven't been this dirty in quite some time and that you actually enjoy it. The simplicity of taking wet towel baths in the back of a small u haul cubicle trailer is oddly quite nice. The last few days of the event start to really become electrifying. Most of the 60,000 people have arrived and the entire playa is crawling with weird, whacky, crazy, and "normal" people. You can find kids running around as well as 70 year old men that oddly seem to think that their birthday suit is the "must have" outfit for BM. I personally think it may just be one last ditch effort to find a suitable partner. It basically says, " here's what i got, take it or leave it." When the sun decides to exit the horizon and give way to the moon the playa just comes alive! All the parties are redlining. All the art cars are slowly cruising around blasting dance music for anyone that cares to jump on and dance to. All the art projects have been assembled, and any anger that may have built up inside of you can be easily dispelled in the Thunderdome! Straight out of Mad Max, you can battle head to head with each other on bungees with "soft" weapons to attack each other. So during this entire time you will experience many personal emotions. You will "find" yourself in many ways. You will have a better understanding of the generosity of people, and the goodness people are born with. You will give tons of hugs to people just because it feels nice. You will gain a new perspective on life, and hopefully you will take that out into the "default" world, as the veteran burners refer to the everyday world.
The last days of BM are probably the most special to most of its participants. The reason is that throughout the week you have been finding yourself. You create new perceptions about life, in general, and now at the end is the time to release all the negative burdens that may be holding you back in life. I know this may sound cheesy, but BM is really like a personal life journey all accumulated into ten days. The last couple days they burn all the artwork. Some of these pieces have been worked on all year and are simply beautiful, but nothing is spared. BM is about letting go of physical attachments to materialistic things and finding strength in yourself and your community. We can only truly be happy when we are happy by ourselves, alone. It seems as though the burning of the art is a release for many people of everything that weighs them down. All the negative things are carried up into the sky, off their weight bearing shoulders, up up and away with the ashes and embers that float away high into the dust filled sky. The main "man" is burned and for many this is the end. For many others the end is the next day when the temple is burned. Many people may be religious or spiritual and the site of the temple being burned holds more significance to them than it did for me.After everyone completed their night, I drove my dad and brother out of this amazing community, buried deep in the desert, back to the "default" world that we had left just ten days before. It was only fitting that we arrived in the dark, and left in the dark, much like I imagine time traveling through different galaxies would be like. It was a long drive back, but still it was not enough time to fully process everything that had happened during those ten days.
One major thing that I learned out of the whole experience was that my life is absolutely incredible.Seeing all the positiveness reassured me in my beliefs that all people are good, but sometimes circumstances turn us in the wrong direction. Given the right environment anybody can be good. The only unfortunate part of BM to me was that many of the people that I spoke to couldn't wait for the next BM because of how they are treated here and how everybody is so friendly. I was disappointed that so few people had the capacity to take their same giving mentality back into the "default" world. Why does it have to stop when you exit this beautiful community called Burning Man? Why must they have "decompression" parties to get them back into that giving mentality? The reason I say that I realized how special my everyday life is, is because I realized that my life is just like Burning Man every day of the year. I am continually amazed by seeing new things, meeting new people, being honored with the goodness and love of complete strangers, giving to those that need it more than I do, and making my best efforts to have a positive impact on this world that we live in. I love every aspect of my life from my job, to my students, to my friends, and to all the experiences that have made me who I am today. I wish everyone could say the same, but many people are unwilling to make that change in their life. I hope this blog helps lead them in the right direction.
In the end, BM is something everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime. It is a great model of how to treat people on an everyday basis. Take what you learn and apply it to the real world, or shall i say "default" world. Rumors will tell you that BM is full of sex, drugs, debauchery, and indecent conduct. This is true, if this is what you are looking for you will find it. On the other hand, if you want to explore yourself and test your boundaries with what you are comfortable with physically and emotionally then this place is also for you. Experience it for yourself. You owe it to yourself to explore what our world has to offer. Don't just listen to the rumors. If i had listened to rumors I wouldn't have come to the Middle East, which in turn gave me the opportunity to spend an unimaginable time at Burning Man 2012 with my father and brother. Really, the kindness and love of these people in the Middle East heavily outweighs the few terrorists. Think about that.
Here's the video of my experience at Burning Man....It was all but a dream....and to dream a dream is a wonderful thing...
Enjoy. I hope you can go someday. It's unbelieveable. The video doesn't even come close to showing 1% of Burning Man...
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