Sitting - Standing - Demanding?

[spectabillis]

Don't see many spec's...

I am there, always, lurking in every shadow...

[gawul]

last year we watched the burn from the esplanade. a camp let us sit on their couches and veg for the burn while they had gone out to the man. it wasnt bad, we were all tired and feeling old.

while it was happening i was kinda wishing i were closer, more a part of the scene out there. but i *am* disenchanted with the loud art cars blocking the view, thumping the music.

remember when? drumming? chanting? that feeling inside? was it that long ago? this is only my 7th year, things cant have changed so rapidly. can they?

i'm not really complaining. honest.

nostalgia. thats all it is, eh? roll with the tide

[Ron]

...

nostalgia. thats all it is, eh? roll with the tide

With it or under it, seems to be the only two options if one wants to surf...

:)

Ron

[Janka]

Just as an aside, what puzzles me (me going to my second burn this year) is that I hear a lot of people complaining about the absence of drums and chanting, and yet I see no, or very few, people doing drums and chanting. Why is it not there, if so many people want it? Or is it there, but somewhere in secret? Or do the people who miss it feel that it does not work if not everyone does it? Or what?

(I realize the above might read as "stop whining and do it". I don't mean that - I am certain experienced burners don't need that advice and have reasons for doing what they do. I am just puzzled. If so many people miss it, where did it go, why did it stop happening, in the land of "you want it, you can do it"?)

[HughMungus]

where did it go

The bigger Burning Man gets, the more natrual (and necessary) it is for smaller, less-inclusive, more-insular communities to form within it. In the same way, the older the event gets, the more people already have groups to go with and don't want or need (as much) to be open to new "members". So I'd guess that things are happening at Burning Man that have happened in the past, but just not as publicly or inclusively as in the past. A tribe can be only so big before you don't feel comfortable not knowing everyone in your tribe. Yes, there is still a ton of inclusion and openness at Burning Man (in fact, one reason I'm doing my camp this year is to help bring people together), but, I think the insular nature of sub-communities is one reason why you don't see as much inclusion and openness as you might have in the past.