shedding the last of societys concepts

[Krispy]

i'm really inspired by the "preparing to be nude" post, i'm in a similar boat when it comes to nudity, and sex. I've been datin a fellow burner for the last 2 years, and she challenges me on releasing societies concepts. Yet i'm stuck on sex nudity, and i've had an incredible urge to simply travel the country yet been to scared to do it. So what i'm tryin to do for this burn is bring everythin i own, (i know some will get ruined) and go to the burn, wear my skirts and find my way from there. I guess my question is, is burning man truly as much of a dream as some of us are looking for. the answer i have gotten almost every time is yes, but my fear of the "confident burners" is still there, i have found burners to be extremely intimidating because of their strength in themselves. So in my preparation for 2010 this is what i am lookin for in myself, i'm goin to go to the BM parties here in Chi, even tho i'm nervous and fight my fear. Any suggestions of what can help with this would be greatly appreciated, thanks for the support,

[AntiM]

Just go with the flow. Drop all expectations of the event being some huge spiritual thing, because you may simply find it is just a dusty camping trip.

Society has useful concepts. Like cover your mouth when you sneeze. Don't be a dick. Don't pick that, it won't heal. Be kind to animals and people who prepare your food.

Why fear the confident burners? define the fear, that's the first step. Fear of mocking? Of falling short?

You're over-thinking this. Relax. But the ticket, take the ride.

[Ugly Dougly]

Feel the fear and do it anyway.

You should be afraid of her going by herself and returning with VD.

[Krispy]

appreciate that antim i'm totally over thinkin it, i'm good at that, then some wehre down the road i end up not doin things i should

and i dont fear her goin anymore, its her life, im just apart of it

[Fire_Moose]

The burn is only what you make it.

I didnt quite get everything i wanted out of my first year. So i have decided to go solo this coming year in hopes that without a camp of "Safe people" i will be more inclined to meet new camps and hang out with you creeps

[AntiM]

Even though I know better, I always promise myself to do more stuff... and sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. I have had exactly three rides on art cars in nine years, but that's not my thing. It's great, but not the definition of my burn. I don't go to the big dance domes, I don't climb the art, I have never been to the Thunderdome. But that's all good, I do other stuff. Apparently getting bombed at the Golden Cafe is a must, because I manage that at least once or twice each year.

Some days hanging out at the Home for Wayward Art and chatting is an excellent way to spend a morning.

Don't worry about it. Worry is the mind killer, screw that fear stuff.

[gyre]

i'm really inspired by the "preparing to be nude" post, i'm in a similar boat when it comes to nudity, and sex. I've been datin a fellow burner for the last 2 years, and she challenges me on releasing societies concepts. Yet i'm stuck on sex nudity, and i've had an incredible urge to simply travel the country yet been to scared to do it. So what i'm tryin to do for this burn is bring everythin i own, (i know some will get ruined) and go to the burn, wear my skirts and find my way from there. I guess my question is, is burning man truly as much of a dream as some of us are looking for. the answer i have gotten almost every time is yes, but my fear of the "confident burners" is still there, i have found burners to be extremely intimidating because of their strength in themselves. So in my preparation for 2010 this is what i am lookin for in myself, i'm goin to go to the BM parties here in Chi, even tho i'm nervous and fight my fear. Any suggestions of what can help with this would be greatly appreciated, thanks for the support,

To be clear, you don't have sex in the nude? Or?

[dr.placebo]

We bring our fears with us to the playa. With luck and effort we can leave with fewer fears.

There is no reason to be intimidated by the truly strong burners, since they are most likely to be your allies.

The nudity thing is not really that important. Look at random crowd pictures, and you'll see very few (if any) nude people, and not all that many topless (even the guys). If you want to shed the outer layers enough then you will, but you are unlikely to get a lot of disapproval on the playa regardless of how much skin you show.

If you are worried about seeing nudity, then relax. You will, and it will quickly become just one of those things you see. It's not a threat, any more than seeing someone dressed as a unicorn or a flying pig is a threat.

Is it a dream on the playa? Yes and no. Maybe we actually go there to wake up. The challenge is to bring back what we learned and use it.

[Isotopia]

We bring our fears with us to the playa. With luck and effort we can leave with fewer fears.

Well, that was true the first few times I went. Then I stopped because I figured I could squeeze more liquor in the car when I packed.

[TomServo]

i'm really inspired by the "preparing to be nude" post, i'm in a similar boat when it comes to nudity, and sex. I've been datin a fellow burner for the last 2 years, and she challenges me on releasing societies concepts. Yet i'm stuck on sex nudity, and i've had an incredible urge to simply travel the country yet been to scared to do it. So what i'm tryin to do for this burn is bring everythin i own, (i know some will get ruined) and go to the burn, wear my skirts and find my way from there. I guess my question is, is burning man truly as much of a dream as some of us are looking for. the answer i have gotten almost every time is yes, but my fear of the "confident burners" is still there, i have found burners to be extremely intimidating because of their strength in themselves. So in my preparation for 2010 this is what i am lookin for in myself, i'm goin to go to the BM parties here in Chi, even tho i'm nervous and fight my fear. Any suggestions of what can help with this would be greatly appreciated, thanks for the support,

Burning man will be either you're greatest dream, or your worst nightmare. All the smokable, popable or injectable shit in the world, has nothing on the high desert. you will get out of it, what you get out of it..regardless of what you hear on eplaya. Go with no expectations, and remember where you are. People die almost every year out there.

[theCryptofishist]

People die almost every year out there.

I don't think it's as often as all that.

[OnceTheDustClears]

i'm really inspired by the "preparing to be nude" post, i'm in a similar boat when it comes to nudity, and sex. I've been datin a fellow burner for the last 2 years, and she challenges me on releasing societies concepts. Yet i'm stuck on sex nudity,

To be clear, you don't have sex in the nude? Or?

Don't you have to be at least partially nude while sexing?
Or are there secret flaps and compartments?
Could you post photos?

[theCryptofishist]

i'm really inspired by the "preparing to be nude" post, i'm in a similar boat when it comes to nudity, and sex. I've been datin a fellow burner for the last 2 years, and she challenges me on releasing societies concepts. Yet i'm stuck on sex nudity,

To be clear, you don't have sex in the nude? Or?

Don't you have to be at least partially nude while sexing?
Or are there secret flaps and compartments?
Could you post photos?

If it weren't a nsfw conversation, I'd leap in here.

[TomServo]

People die almost every year out there.

I don't think it's as often as all that.

Its about that often... not widely reported if its not a suicide or art car accident, but it does happen pretty often. Having a ranger in your camp is always good for depressing information.

[theCryptofishist]

People die almost every year out there.

I don't think it's as often as all that.

Its about that often... not widely reported if its not a suicide or art car accident, but it does happen pretty often. Having a ranger in your camp is always good for depressing information.

You don't have to have a ranger in the camp--it's reported. If you don't hear it on playa you find out when you get home.

And honey, don't tell me depressing; I worked for ESD.

[geospyder]

I was a virgin this year. I read everything I could and felt that I was very prepared physical (tent, food, water, etc.) wise. I'm 65 and was very nervous about interacting with the people since the vast majority seemed to be much younger. I wasn't looking for drugs or sex. I just wanted to experience the seven days to see if I could survive.

I did not ride on an art car and did not go to the big dance camps. I would try to rest during mid day and then head out on the playa in the evening. The sights and sounds were unbelievable. Even though I wasn’t back at camp until past midnight I was up before sunrise and would ride my bike way out on the playa and watch the sunrise. The solitude of the morning and positive attitudes of the people out that early was mind altering. Even though I had my camera I was so involved with the moment that I‘d forget to take pictures.

In response to the OP, one night I worked up the nerve and walked back to camp from the Esplanade naked. I could feel that I was getting patted on the back side every once in a while. I was with three women from our camp and wasn’t sure who had patted me. Found out later it was all three. My wife got a kick out of this when I told her.

My wife did not attend, mainly because of the harsh environment. She wanted pictures so I took 598 pictures before my camera bit the dust, literally. I also wrote notes about each day so I could remind myself what happened when I would be describing my experience to her. I thought it was funny reading my notes when I’d see “Saw another beautiful sunrise – forgot pictures again.â€

[Ugly Dougly]

I wasn't looking for drugs or sex.

Holy crap. Then why even go?














(j.k.)

[theCryptofishist]

The one thing that I will do next year that I didn’t do this year is take the time to read the booklet that is given to you when you enter. I want to attend some of the planned activities.

The What, Where, When is taken from an on-line calendar on the main site, where we enter our activities. So, it is possible to go through and find interesting entries before your boots are in the dust. If you work that way. The What, Where, When is oddly under read on playa, mostly because there's too much going on, and a fair amount of shiney stuff.

[geospyder]

The one thing that I will do next year that I didn’t do this year is take the time to read the booklet that is given to you when you enter. I want to attend some of the planned activities.

The What, Where, When is taken from an on-line calendar on the main site, where we enter our activities. So, it is possible to go through and find interesting entries before your boots are in the dust. If you work that way. The What, Where, When is oddly under read on playa, mostly because there's too much going on, and a fair amount of shiney stuff.

Great - thanks for the head's up.

[TomServo]

I don't think it's as often as all that.

Its about that often... not widely reported if its not a suicide or art car accident, but it does happen pretty often. Having a ranger in your camp is always good for depressing information.

You don't have to have a ranger in the camp--it's reported. If you don't hear it on playa you find out when you get home.

And honey, don't tell me depressing; I worked for ESD.

So you heard about the guy, found dead in his tent, after hitting his head on a tent stake, in2005? I'll have to get my memory out of storage, but pretty sure I can come up with a year by year list.

Ok, so depressing was a bit much. my pet rat dying was depressing. Humans not soo much.

[Deb Prothero]

Fortunately TomServo, I think you'd be hard pressed to find one death each year and every year. Volunteering at the Black Rock Beacon gives me a bit of insight to these occurrences and it is still rare for a city the size we have become to have a death EVERY year.

We seem to have our share off playa though.

All the parachutists whose chutes didn't open properly this year walked away from their injuries, according to central med tent. No deaths this year on the playa, that I am aware of. Nor last year. 2007 was the Comfort & Joy suicide and the early burn.

Biggest risk, in my opinion, is enroute and at exodus, traveling the highways and byways with over-enthused or over-tired drivers. Sleep before you drive - that should be in the survival guide, if it isn't.

As for the OP, I've yet to be able to get to the naked state enplaya, however I'm long past considering that a failing. I'm a prude and I'm happy with that. I do an open air shower once or twice and don't really worry about having a tarp anymore - you can bring more booze if you don't have to worry about tarps for your shower.

This last burn was my fifth and despite what it held for me this year in the way of memorials, etc., I finally have arrived at a point where I don't need to go home every year now - I learned this year that I am a burner. Took five years to do that but I'm solid now. I'll probably go for a few more years to enjoy having arrived at that point but I'm good to go in my daily life because I know there are people in this world just as freaky as I am.

I'll go back to fill my freak tank up to get through another year of defaultia. Besides I haven't met Crypto face-to-face yet and one feels a certain hole in not having accomplished that one small feat.

[magicmarty]

Good words, Deb.

Each year I seem to come away with a different feeling about the total experience. Kind of a personal evolution. You captured it so well.

[theCryptofishist]

My rough accounting:
Art Car Accident (I'm reluctant to use the name but I know and expect most of the old-timers do as well) and Pilot of the first crashed plane in the hospital. Perhaps on of the passengers as well. 2003
I don't remember when the body builder died, but I think 2005. Perhaps teh turn-over on 447 was 03, or 04, or 05.
The suicide, in 07.
I think there may be one more, details forgotten. So, 4 to 6.
There was the tent v. art car incident in 96. As I recall there was a death mentioned in the newpaper article. However, I've also heard it was just a maiming and he still attends in his wheelchair. Or maybe there was one of each.
So, I think once a year is too much. Once every other year is maybe not enough.

[gyre]

Wasn't there a bike vs truck collision, very early?
And someone caught when the man fell?