Dear Burning Man, It’s Not You, It’s Me

[steve2470]

https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2016/08/28/dear-burning-man-its-me-not-you/



As I sit down to write this, my husband is hunched over a huge swatch of white fur, wielding a razor blade. The end goal: a knee-length white fur coat that he can wear while riding our friend’s polar-bear art car.

The rest of our apartment is besieged by Burning Man preparations. Dusty bins full of batteries, baby wipes and silver jumpsuits are scattered everywhere. Somehow we will cram them all into a four-door sedan and make the seven-hour journey to the desert.

If I don’t sound excited, it’s because I’m not. This will be my 15th year at Burning Man, and to be honest, I’m over it.

So many things about the event that used to fill me with delight have just become part of the backdrop. The mini mobile cupcake cars, the fire-breathing octopus? Seen ’em. The women’s topless bike ride? Done it. Playing Beethoven with a full symphony orchestra and 200 kazoos? Do I really need to do that twice?

audio report also at link

[msanthrope]

1. First World Problems. nt

[Brickbat]

2. The privileged get tired of hedonistic look-at-me-ism? You don't say.

[Codeine]

3. Attention-seeker seeks attention for being bored with the seeking of attention. nt

[Blue_Tires]

32. +1000

In pure hipster fashion, she was into Burning Man before it was cool, and now it's WAY too fucking mainstream...

Now the true believers will have to start some separate, new event in some other remote location?

[JI7]

4. what is the point of this piece ?

[True Dough]

27. To generate feedback?

And it's working. 25+ comments and counting.

[Brother Buzz]

7. Drug abuse is rather unpleasant while baking on an alkaline lake bed

[cleanhippie]

17. Drug use is very different from drug abuse. You should learn it before calling someone an abuser.

[cleanhippie]

20. So pot smokers in Colorado aren't abusers but one's in Nebraska are?

Because something is "illegal" doesn't make it's use "abuse".

But I'm sure you knew that.

[LanternWaste]

29. Your measure of determination seems predicated entirely on means rathe

Your measure of determination seems predicated entirely on means rather than both intent and objective effects... which I believe is a rather accurate example of the reference to the hobgoblins of little minds.

[Calculating]

38. Well

I don't consider it 'abuse' to disobey an unjust law. It might potentially endanger you, but it has nothing to do with abusing a substance.

[LuvNewcastle]

45. Yes!

[jeffreyi]

6. Radical self expression, more like

Radical self indulgence. The Black Rock desert is in my neighborhood and is one of the earth's treasures. It's an ethereal, sacred place. Unfortunately somewhat defiled and trivialized now. Although it will doubtless survive us and our silly ways. I hope the latest thing disappears when the festivities are over, the huge decommissioned jet airplane/art car. These are our public lands after all and not all of us want to see that crap out there.

[lindysalsagal]

25. Do they actually remove all the trash afterwards? I find that hard to believe.

People are selfish and lazy, and it's difficult enough to get all that out there. It must be nearly impossible to get it all back out.

Just look at any public women's room floor back here in the "civilized" world.

[longship]

8. The origin of "Hold my beer! Watch this!"

Burning Man indeed!

It's rubbish!

[DetlefK]

10. Don't be worried. This is completely normal.

If one completely submerges oneself in a topic, if one comes to the point where one has seen everything, experienced everything, felt everything, if one comes to the point where one recognizes the futility of continuation because it would lead to repetition, then one is ready to move on.

If the artistic medium begins to work in loops, if it recycles topics over and over again, if it becomes self-referential instead of exploring what is outside, then it's time to move on.

If it no longer stimulates you mentally, move on. Cherish the past and seek a new passion.

Or...






Or you create a piece of art that blows everybody's mind. Your choice.

[Warren DeMontague]

11. Thank God, self-validation for the folks who would rather just stay home and watch "Big Bang Theory"

Yay Boring Middle American Conformity and Mediocrity! I never trust those weirdos, anyway. Get off my lawn!


Full disclosure: Never Been to Burning Man OR Watched Big Bang Theory, for that matter.

[LanternWaste]

31. Or, merely simple acknowledgement from individuals who live their lives different than you

Or, merely simple acknowledgement from individuals who live their lives different than you, regardless of the programming you watch, and thus rationalize to the expense of what others watch...

Self-validating, indeed. The Irony Strikes Back.

[Warren DeMontague]

43. I bet you're fun at Burning Man

Venture inside the echo tent.. If you dare!

Venture inside the echo tent... If you dare!

[Hassin Bin Sober]

39. When a friend asked me to go to Burning Man I told him "no thanks...

... I've spent my time doing 3-4 day hallucinogenic fueled camping adventures in parking lots"

[Warren DeMontague]

44. Exactly.

[Warpy]

54. Well, I picked better camping sites, usually

on townie beaches in New England, but I understand completely. It's why I didn't bother going once I moved out west. Over. It.

Caesar lied about the Druids burning the wicker man full of human sacrifices, it was an empty effigy and his war on them was based on self serving and utterly hypocritical propaganda. However, the tradition has carried on in many places. Here in NM, it's El Zozobra in Santa Fe and El Kookooee in the south valley, both burned with notes with problems written on them to dispel gloom and bad luck as we move into fall. It also persists in parts of northern and western Europe, especially since being revived by neo Pagans.

The Burning Man, itself, has at least a two thousand year old tradition. The "blow job tent," not so much.

[lindysalsagal]

12. I have zero interest in the sunburn, the sand everywhere, the drugs, the sex with whoever

Sorry. I can see the photo of the giant wooden sculpture burning on my puter and I'm done, and much happier.

It's a magic world! Not. It's free happiness! Not. It's instant acceptance! Not.

I can be happy at home. That place is full of empty, grasping, easily distracted egotists. No thanks. I like my electricity and running water.

[cleanhippie]

18. ...the sex with whoever..." Is that really you're impression of what goes on there?

[lindysalsagal]

21. That's what I've read. If you didn't want to be with strangers

you'd skip the misery and stay home. Apparently, the stranger aspect is the big drawing card.

I know, from living near the border, that the anonymous nature of it all allows for behavior that you wouldn't want your friends and family to know about. The whole, "what happens in vegas" mentality. People go away to outrun their normal inhibitions.

[cleanhippie]

23. While I'm sure casual sex happens there, it's not the Roman Orgy you seem to think it is.

From what you've read.

[lindysalsagal]

26. So, all the nude photos were shot in one moment and everyone stood up and got dressed en masse?

Do you honestly think 70K people would go there unless they thought sex was going to be one of the payoffs?

[OriginalGeek]

48. I only know one lady who is going there

and I am confident that casual sex is not her goal and neither is casual drug use. I'm a little bit jealous but hopefully they'll do it long enough for me to get out there. If I did go, I'd be going with my wife and I can promise you no casual sex with whoever would be happening.

So that's three. Maybe the other 69,997 people are more depraved than I.

[cleanhippie]

49. Nudity does not equal sex.

Seriously, do you listen to yourself?

[lindysalsagal]

50. OK fine I'm wrong you're all right there's no sex going on at burning man or drugs they're all just

becoming enlightened which of course they couldn't possibly do at home so they're starting a new race of humans to save the planet

are we there, yet?

You'll never get me to anything so ridiculous and meaningless, so, not to worry. Go have fun in the sand.

[cleanhippie]

53. At least you are walking back the "everyone is only there to have sex" nonsense.

[Major Nikon]

51. Does make it easier, tho

[Hassin Bin Sober]

37. We all know what goes on in those places...

https://m.

[LuvNewcastle]

47. I laughed like hell when I saw that movie.

That old lady was a trip!

[Blue_Tires]

33. "sex with whoever?" go on...

[Angel Martin]

13. In addition to the idiocy of wearing a fur coat

for a "polar bear art car" in the desert in August.

Burning Man has to be a huge terrorist target. Plenty there for ISIS types not to like.

[ret5hd]

30. "A life lived online is a life lived safely!" is my motto!

No sporting events or shopping malls or 5k fun runs or music concerts for me! Thank god for Amazon and eBay!

[hunter]

14. I live every day of my life like the posers at Burning Man and it doesn't cost me a dime.

My parents are artists who had day jobs, often jobs related to their art. Retired, with comfortable pensions, they are now artists full time.

Growing up, me and my siblings never knew who'd show up at the dinner table, or who would be sleeping on the sofa, or who we'd be bumping into leaving the bathroom late at night. (Nobody dangerous, thanks to my mom who goes full berserker on anyone a threat to children, having suffered a few in the Catholic Church and Hollywood.)

One of my grandfathers was an engineer for the Apollo project but he was frequently the oddest character of the lot, a wizard with titanium, but his personal life was always a flaming catastrophe that would shame any fire breathing octopus.

Anyways, money changes everything, and usually not for the better.

[JI7]

15. yup, just look at the shit Coachella has been for years now

[lindysalsagal]

22. yes. If you have to be so far from civilization, there will be posing going on.

It's like a great big frat party with no consequences.

[Odin2005]

16. Rich kids playing hippie.

[EL34x4]

36. They're not kids anymore

She's nearly 40, wondering why she no longer enjoys doing the stuff she liked doing when she was 23.

[Beaverhausen]

28. I want to go just once, for the experience

Although now I think it's so big it lost its appeal to me.

There are smaller music festivals that I think can be just as fun. Joshua Tree Music Festval, for instance.

[liberal N proud]

35. Why go?

"If I don’t sound excited, it’s because I’m not"

If it is no longer exciting, then find something else to do!

[lillypaddle]

40. Well, steve2470,

based strictly on your post count, I'd say that you've been around here long enough to know this would happen. Bunch of sanctimonious, judgmental bullshit.

[steve2470]

42. Burning Man is an intriguing event but not enough for me to go nt

[DonCoquixote]

41. a little learning is a dangerous thing

https://www.quora.com/What-does-Little-knowledge-is-a-dangerous-thing-mean

This line by alexander pope gets twisted a lot. In it, Pope tells people that if you just learn some things, you can be ignorant because you think you understand everything. The people who are masters are the people who continue after the initial "wow this is wonderful!", through a long intermediate purgatory called "now what?" This is the time where you either learn a new way to apply what you learned, and/or sink more effort into understanding the old material. It is the difference between getting a bachelor's degree, a masters, and a doctorate.

It sound like here she is stuck in the know what phase, where she knows that she will not be satisfied just acting like she is 21, but she might be having a hard time figuring out WHAT to do with that, and also, forgotten what she enjoyed about it. When we get older, we tend to get jaded, because he think we have understood what life is about, but, like Pope's warning, the truth is we have become ignorant substituting the cynicism fed to us by the world for our own ability to observe and experience. She, like most of us, ignores that because we want to get on in the world, and that often means letting the world program you.

Now, of course, like anything that gets popular, there are charlatans and idiots trying to get in and displace the old timers, just as there are old timers who want to kick people out of the tent because they are afraid they will lose their elder status, or that the new people will not take time to listen to them. There are also wealthy people who are trying to sneak their status into the new world. It happens with ever single new movement, and reading DU we will hear fights between old timers and new people every bloody day, especially with the "goodbye cruel world" posts that have become a joke.

However, you cannot let the fact that you have learned a lot get in the way of the learning you have yet to do. The Zen Masters have this nice analogy about how you have the empty your cup before you can fill it, but I think another zen example will do the job better. A "black belt" is considered the point where you are a master of martial arts, but, after that black belt, there are advanced degrees. These degrees separate the strip mall black-belts from the folks that become living national treasures. When you earn those degrees, the belt actually has a paler color attached to it. Why? because the whole point of the black Belt is to symbolize the dirt, sweat and hard work you put in to get that knowledge, but, if you want to continue, and become one of the great ones, you have to wash and repair that belt, and continue onward.

Some flirt with greatness, Some achieve greatness, but the real greats are the ones who figure out how to MAINTAIN greatness.

[randr]

52. Equivilant experiences?

Before I would question the posters intentions or validity I would ask myself if I can name an experience available to everyone today that has the transformational power that so many speak of from their experiences at BM. I treasure the personal experiences, "have you ever been experienced", in my life that changed me forever for the better and I accept that BM is one of those event capable of moving people in positive directions. Always wish I could be there and may some day get my wish.
Burn on brothers and sisters.

[Texasgal]

55. Burning Man is on my bucket list

and I am almost 50 years old!

I know it's become passe for some people. I'd like to experience it though. And no I am not interested in group sex or drugs.