How do you deal?

bluemiragemi · Post by **bluemiragemi** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 6:23 am

I haven't even been there yet. I haven't even been there, and yet, all I can do is think about the capacity for connection and interaction and human existence that exceed what we currently do in our lives. Day in day out we drive, we work on computers, on phones, we use technology to distance ourselves from each other. How did we get here? How do you deal with the reality of having to work in a job and pay your bills, but wanting to create and be free and make art and love and music?

Just a thought.

I'm surely not alone.

Tips and tricks for coping with reality? Hah

Much love,
Em

Elliot · Post by **Elliot** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 6:48 am

Here is an example of coping skill that came out of Burning Man:

I used to drive 18-wheelers all over the country, and I lived -- including slept -- in the truck for a couple weeks at the time. Sleeping in truck-stops and rest areas, in a bunk in the cab of a truck is not exactly the most pleasant way to live, and I often struggled.

But after I started participating in Burning Man, I developed a trick to feel more comfortable going to sleep in the truck. I pretended I was in a different bunk -- namely my bunk in Millicent The Old School Bus, my BM camping vehicle. With a little imagination I could almost hear the thumping of the techno, and off to happy sleep I went.

Keeping in touch via ePlaya also helps, as you are now learning.
And hardly a day goes by, year 'round, when I don't plan, or work on something for BM.

How we are going to fix the World is an other matter, for another thread. But it might conceivably start with a few people fixing it -- or at least experimenting -- one week a year.

bluemiragemi · Post by **bluemiragemi** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 7:02 am

"It has to start somewhere, it has to start sometime, what better place than here, what better time than now."

Thanks, Elliott! That's a lovely thought. Reframe what I'm doing. And find the connection

<3

Ratty · Post by **Ratty** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 7:06 am

I gave up the conventional look of my front room and let it become a craft and sewing area. It's my one and only life. I'll live it doing what I want and where I want to do it.

Joeln · Post by **Joeln** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 7:09 am

Ouch!
Goddamn it.
Don't go trying to reawaken those old dreams that I let go of so long ago.

Art, Love, Music?
Fixing the world?
Most of the time I'm hunkered down just trying to assure survival of me and mine.

This is why I need to see what BM is about.
I've never even been there, but it's already helping.

Simon of the Playa · Post by **Simon of the Playa** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 7:11 am

just say yes.

Elliot · Post by **Elliot** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 7:15 am

I keep trying to tell people that the "Burning Man ethos" really does matter.

-Swami Elliot, the World-fixing guru

VultureChow · Post by **VultureChow** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 7:16 am

I create at night and on the weekends. My colleagues and family have gotten on board and like to see pictures of what I'm making. I hit up my boss for questions about power tools and hardware.

I was stuck cleaning up a truck stop/convenience center after my brother/employee failed to do so last year. As I'm emptying piss bottles and picking up trash, some guy drives by and yells out of his truck "Great Job!" So I decided I wasn't just picking up trash, I was mooping (de-mooping?) and LNT was goal and the weather was so much nicer than trying to do it on the playa.

The Shakers made wonderful furniture and brooms and meeting houses. And they lacked the ornamentation that we normally associate with beauty and value. But when they set out to make a chair, they set out to make the best one they could. Their view on work, not matter what work it was, was that it was a Godly act. That keeping their hands busy kept their heart open to God.

If God can be in you as you make a straw broom, Burning Man can be with you as you pick up trash or slave away in a cubicle.

FIGJAM · Post by **FIGJAM** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 7:51 am

Burners burn!!!!

Define it any way you like.

tatonka · Post by **tatonka** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 8:01 am

i did art before i found burningman , so makeing stuff keeps me alive

Havnt got tickets yet for this year , so I plan like im still going and some drugs now and then dont hurt

Post by **trilobyte** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 8:13 am

That's been something artists and creatives have struggled with for millenia, I think. The good news is that there are loads of books and articles on the subject, the bad news is there are no easy answers. It probably doesn't help that it's a subjective issue - what works for one person doesn't necessarily work at all for the next person. I think that figuring it out and finding the balance that works for you is part of the adventure.

bluemiragemi · Post by **bluemiragemi** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 8:26 am

Love the sharing of stories and suggestions - thank you! Setting aside a room, making specific times to create and do awesome...all fabulous ideas! I need to set aside creation time.

tatonka · Post by **tatonka** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 2:49 pm

also eating a plate of brownies can help ")

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 10:57 pm

Strictly bottom of the deck...

lucky420 · Post by **lucky420** » Sat Mar 01, 2014 8:15 am

I can deal with dealing but shuffling? Oh hell yeah!

Roberto Dobbisano · Post by **Roberto Dobbisano** » Sat Mar 01, 2014 8:18 am

theCryptofishist wrote:Strictly bottom of the deck...

slight of hand and misdirection will get you everywhere...

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Sat Mar 01, 2014 9:55 am

Yeah, I'm Miss Direction...

Elorrum · Post by **Elorrum** » Sat Mar 01, 2014 10:07 am

look in my eyes, look in my eyes, not around my eyes, look into my eyes. and you're under.
Now, just fucking get on with it. Enjoy your life.
3-2-1- and you're back in the room.

BBadger · Post by **BBadger** » Sat Mar 01, 2014 9:44 pm

There are 24 hours in a day. Assuming you work full time 8 hours, spend 1 hour commuting each way, and sleep a whole 8 hours a day, you have 6 hours for yourself -- and that on weekdays.

Don't give me this whiny shit about "coping" with reality. There are many other people who are working multiple jobs, finding a job at all, or juggling having any free time at all. That's reality. Maybe your struggle with creativity stems from a lack of struggle in your ordinary life. You have the time, just no inspiration. You're just bored with complacency.

Give me a break on technology "distancing" us from one another. Technology doesn't alienate you from others, you alienate yourself from others. In fact, communications technology enables connections to others when they would otherwise not be possible. People weren't exactly "connecting" when they had to send letters by boat to communicate with others. Even 10 years ago it was expensive just to make long distance phone calls that people can make anytime they want these days on their cell phones.

Perhaps your problem is that you're not distancing yourself from others. Maybe the value of what we create is diluted by the frequency that it is dispensed. The time and thought spent on crafting a letter that takes weeks or months to arrive concentrates available creativity and feeling into a single packet. So cut yourself off from others for a time. Have a little silence, a little bit of time without input from others or output for others. Stop "connecting" to people.

If that isn't working, go do something useful rather than mope around waiting for creativity or inspiration. Help someone else out, get a second job, do some gardening. Just get out of your head and into something worthwhile.

bluemiragemi · Post by **bluemiragemi** » Sun Mar 02, 2014 9:52 am

I'm horrible at shuffling.

BBadger, nice rant and shot at all angles of how to cope with the too much, too little variations. Thank you.

I have inspiration and time and creativity, just, some moments it's harder to find the next step than in others. Just wondered what folks do to move from that moment and on to the next. Face to face communication is more authentic than these distant technology fibers we use to keep connected to each other. It's so easy to misunderstand or miscommunicate without the energy, the presence, the look, the pause, etc.

BBadger · Post by **BBadger** » Sun Mar 02, 2014 4:07 pm

If you're so hell-bent on face-to-face communications, why are you moping around this forum and not outside engaging people like you're promoting? Nobody is going to do this for you. Get your ass out there.

Feel too much like shit to do even that? Maybe you're vitamin deficient. Go to Costco and buy some Vitamin D3, some Super B Complex, and some Fish Oil supplements. Take 2000IUs of D3, two tablets of the B Complex (water soluble), and two fish oil capsules in the morning every day. Talk to the cashier if you're so inclined. Maybe even buy one of those "daylight" lights they sell there sometimes.

Too much anxiety? Drink some green tea for the L-theanine. Brew some up, put some lemon in it (improves the anti-oxidant absorption), and some honey. Green tea really doesn't have enough L-theanine, so buy some at Amazon and put it in your caffeinated drinks (or under your tongue). It doesn't taste bad at all, and it takes the edge off coffee's caffeine.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Sun Mar 02, 2014 5:29 pm

(I love when Bbadger goes all New Age...)

mgb327 · Post by **mgb327** » Sun Mar 02, 2014 5:46 pm

Yeah, pretty soon he's going to suggest yoga.....

BBadger · Post by **BBadger** » Sun Mar 02, 2014 6:49 pm

How else do you think my Twix bars maintain their luxurious sheen?

Yoga takes too much time. Hell, making complete and balanced meals is a pain in the ass too. Give me a pill or drink to take instead.

Anyway, while you're at it, take some magnesium supplements so that you sleep better, to relax your muscles including your heart and for cramps, and have more regular shits. Most people are deficient. It is a lifesaver for me when I'm hiking or doing a lot of exercise, etc. even on playa. No muscle cramps or other problems. I also know a decent number of "converts" for supplementing magnesium.

Also take some nootropics like Piracetam to help your brain, and some choline if your diet doesn't contain much (especially women). Don't take my word for it, go look it up.

Joeln · Post by **Joeln** » Sun Mar 02, 2014 7:20 pm

I think this topic is working its way back around to Simon's suggestion.

TT120 · Post by **TT120** » Sun Mar 02, 2014 8:47 pm

Motorcycles.

Post by **AntiM** » Mon Mar 03, 2014 5:28 am

Eplaya is one helluva ... motorcycle?

bluemiragemi · Post by **bluemiragemi** » Mon Mar 03, 2014 6:34 am

In conclusion, take everything do everything and be with people and don't be with people and do nothing at all and BAM you're free.

Thanks

Elliot · Post by **Elliot** » Mon Mar 03, 2014 6:46 am

bluemiragemi wrote:In conclusion, take everything do everything and be with people and don't be with people and do nothing at all and BAM you're free.

Thanks

"I like her. She's silly."
--Screwy Squirrel

bluemiragemi · Post by **bluemiragemi** » Mon Mar 03, 2014 11:26 am

Elliot wrote:
bluemiragemi wrote:In conclusion, take everything do everything and be with people and don't be with people and do nothing at all and BAM you're free.

Thanks
"I like her. She's silly."
--Screwy Squirrel

<3 <3 <3

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