My Burning Man Experience

Honey Trap

"A bunch of naked people having sex n drugs in a desert"said my non-Burner friend trying to explain Burning Man to another. I started to argue but found myself lost for words. I do admit partaking in some of that but how could I take all my experiences - the random acts of kindness of strangers, the harsh reality of the desert, the energy of the dancers reverberating to the rhythmic beats of music, the bonding of camp mates over scrambled eggs n bloody mary, the sadness & beauty of the Temple, the joys of being alive....take all these thoughts....all these feelings and coalesce them into a string of words.

"It is beautiful - I wish you could have been there too. Someday." I said instead.

I have decided to write about my experiences so when I grow older and my memory starts to fail- I can look back at my life and remember. Remember that somewhere in this space-time continuum, I found my happy spot, a spot where I lived my life with complete abandon and no regrets because no matter what happens, I....we will always have the Playa.

I've often heard people complaining that there are too many tourists at Burning Man and I thought to myself "I hope he doesn't mean me coz this is only my second burn. Some people have been coming here for years. Maybe they are the real burners and I am - just a poser." Though I felt very much like a burner - I love the music, the art, the people, the playa.

miniMoo camp

So, how do you discern a burner from a poser? To my mind, there is only one difference - participation. This is not a place where you come to watch and observe....it is a place where your presence should change the nature of your and others experiences.....in a good way.

By some weird accident, I found myself planning the "miniMoo" camp with 2 of the most beautiful people I know - Carrie n Andrew Moo. However, I confess questioning this move as our satelliting option with 2 bigger camps evaporated - maybe just the 2 of us (my gf n I) should have satellited instead of carrying the burden of 15+ relative strangers. My friends warned me not to organize a camp let alone bring along virgins "It is only your second yr, enjoy it and then try to entertain people

Connie taking me for a bike skate

later."

I am glad that I....WE persevered on. As Larry Harvey said "Communities are not produced by sentiment or mere goodwill. They grow out of a shared struggle." Our bonding grew from our shared confrontation with survival. On the 2nd day when Diego reached across, hugged me and said "Thank You" - I felt that all those hours spent lugging lumber from hardware stores, arguing camp layout, drafting long emails had suddenly paid off. I finally understood what drove that naked guy to walk through a whiteout in middle of the playa handing out dust masks to

newbies or why that young guy was standing for hours outside the temple handing out roses instead of getting high and dancing at Nexus. For the first time, I understood what it felt to do something for others unconditionally and not expect anything in return.

My humble contribution - "Scream Booth"

Scream because you are alive!

There were lot of magic moments this year but a couple stand out. I was wearing tutus at the center camp and after a couple of hours of being mesmerized by the performers, we started walking back towards our bikes when we ran into this drumming circle with a brazilian girl performing the samba in the center. The beat fell a few notches as the dancers headed out and the percussionists took a break to wipe their brow with a rag when this black guy walked into the middle.

Now, I usually don't notice guys; even if I do it is just a glance because they look fit. To say this guy was just fit would be a damn lie.....every muscle, every sinew was chiseled on his body. I stood frozen, staring at perfection....happy that I could hide behind my dark goggles, hoping that no one else guessed who I was looking at.

I was wrong.

His presence floated like ether across the group. The lead percussionist tensed, dropped his rag, stood up from his lethargic crouch (he had the drum between his legs) and started hammering with such speed n intensity that I felt my heart was going to explode.

At this point, I am not sure if I am making sense because I felt the entire circle simultaneously rose to welcome the King. A half-white, half-asian, half-indian girl decked in middle eastern jewelry joined him and other dancers in the circle. By now the beat and dancing had reached such a high intensity that the drummers' sweat dripped like rain on the carpet, the hair on my back stood up like a rebar hammered into the dusty playa....all my senses regaled by this stupendous beauty that I was transported to another dimension...a dimension where I have never been before. As we walked away from this, I looked at my gf and we both knew what just happened.

Bliss Dance by Marco Cochrane

There is only another moment which comes close to beating this experience. An experience where I had to literally lay my hands on my chest and whisper "Heart don't fail me now".....Bliss Dance By Marco Cochrane.

Before I saw this sculpture, Heaven told me that people said it was the best piece of art on the playa this year. I was a little peeved - how can you compare 2 pieces of art? Doesn't beauty lie in the eye of the beholder? I hate people being judgemental about art.

However, when I saw the Bliss Dancer....I understood why people had agreed with such unanimity. I must have stared so long that it brought tears to my eyes.

Thank you Marco....thank you xoxoxo

This blog has unfortunately become much longer than I wanted and more conceited as describe my experiences in such grandeur but I cannot stop without describing the hug circle.

The hug circle, I suspect, was created to snare hot chicks into the arms of some of our lusty camp mates:) However it evolved. We started to grow inorganically as other satellite groups joined to expand our hug circle....it was cute but it did not start to have meaning till we had reached the "cage of light" art piece (my name for it) on the playa. This random guy dressed in a white robe whisper-asks "Do have a cigarette?" and we shout "No. We don't and what are heck are you doing here by yourself?" He shyly replies that he is the artist who created the "cage". I think it was Brian who says "Are you kidding me?" and we half-jokingly create the hug circle around him, start dancing and thanking him.....and I swear I am not making this up - he bows humbly and with a surprised look says "Thank You".

Thank you! I think we helped organize the miniMoo camp but you all created the hug circle....a thread of love across the playa.