Will I / should I ever go back to BRC?

[Leo]

Sandstorm,
I appreciate how you have articulated the current situation of Larry and Company selling out. One of the things I enjoy about Burning Man (at least up to now) is that status, wealth, and rank are unimportant. The person you are sitting next to at center camp or a bar could be a CEO, truck driver, or teacher. It doesn't matter. The safari camps with the wristbands and VIP art cars are bringing class warfare to the event.
Sorry to hear about your divorce, but as a friend of mine once said: "Bringing your wife to Burning Man is like bringing water to the ocean".

[unjonharley]

It seems to me if Sandstorm has to ask the question, the answer probably should be no. YMMV.

My very first thought..

[Aurelia]

Dear ANO !

You are so great a person ...
I skip the Sandman's words and hope I will see you somewhere out there living life as large as possible
( original burner here, which is not relevant at all)

xoA.

[Sandstorm]

I have come to realize that the event is a tool for me, not an end or an entitlement. If you or any reader were to go in a future year, what would be the result in your future actions? The ticket shortage in non-directed classes in itself does not conceive if any particular individual goes or not.

some: All I know is that when I go to BM it always results in me having a broader and deeper relationship with myself than I did before the event. That alone is worth the time and money that I invest in my burns. At some point in the past 5 years I came up with a saying about why I burn, which is "I go to Burning Man because it scares me." It's repeatedly done that to me in the past because via my putting myself in BRC I put physical and psychological pressures on parts of me that were damaged and/or healing. I can honestly say that I've never regretted any of my trips to BM. I've had tons of fun and tons of catharsis in the dust.

It seems to me if Sandstorm has to ask the question, the answer probably should be no. YMMV.

Pyro: I'll be the first to admit that there's truth and merit in your words.

I agree. Burn out happens and a year off might be a good thing.

tamarkay: I'm not yet burnt out on BM; I'm just sat some kind of weird crossroads in my relationship with the event. I'm struggling/wrestling with that state of being and I'm reaching out to other for feedback because I sincerely believe that there will be some wisdom to be found amongst other members of the community.

On a related note, I only missed this year's burn because some of my burn funds fell through at the last minute. In the spirit of what you and Pyro wrote, I'll admit that my missing last year's burn is different than my choosing to skip last year's burn. I actually chose to the latter option but then towards the end of the summer some of my burner friends rallied to try to get me out to BRC. Their efforts and the unexpected acts of kindness shown to me by some folks on eplaya ended up making me feel very positive about life in general and my being part of this community. Even though I did not made it to BRC last year I was shown who it was that was willing to help me out when I was trying to make my burn a reality and that knowledge was a great gift to receive.

Sandstorm,
I appreciate how you have articulated the current situation of Larry and Company selling out. One of the things I enjoy about Burning Man (at least up to now) is that status, wealth, and rank are unimportant. The person you are sitting next to at center camp or a bar could be a CEO, truck driver, or teacher. It doesn't matter. The safari camps with the wristbands and VIP art cars are bringing class warfare to the event.
Sorry to hear about your divorce, but as a friend of mine once said: "Bringing your wife to Burning Man is like bringing water to the ocean".

Leo: Thanks for your kinds words. As for my getting divorced, that's life. I wasn't the first and I won't be the last person to bring a dysfunctional relationship to the playa. What's important is that my ex and I are now in better places in our lives than we were when we were together.

It seems to me if Sandstorm has to ask the question, the answer probably should be no. YMMV.

My very first thought..

unjonharley: As I said to Pyro, there' truth in his (and your and tamarakay's) words.

[Melonblue]

I love your post.

It's the exact reason I'm so excited about my first burn.

Healing demanding to done, new people, old feelings, the potential of both good, bad and whatever else.

If you can't return to the playa, I hope you can one day see the burn through my virgin eyes.

Stories like yours provide me with hope and cautious apprehension. Fantastic companions to new experiences.

If you can make it back to the dust. Maybe it will be me who gifts you a treasured memory captured in an instant photograph.

~ Mel

[Captain Goddammit]

Many years ago I considered Burning Man something I'd do every year indefinitely. I'd found my place.
Well, I went a bunch of times. Now I'm a jaded old timer saying it's not what it used to be - because it's not. It's still ok the way it is, it's as it should be to the newer people who only know it as a somewhat commercialized, toned-down, more Disnefied experience than it used to be.
It's not the place I found anymore and now, the decision to go or not is made annually, instead of it being an automatic thing.
This evolution of the event was inevitable. Everything good is like that.
I like "door slammer" street car drag racing. (On the strip, not the street).
Every racing class eventually gets out of hand and the cars evolve into race machines that aren't really street cars anymore, and someone comes up with a new racing series for street cars. Then, those cars evolve into more and more extreme and radical cars until they again are pure race cars with working headlights.
Then it starts over again.
Burning Man is getting toward that point, in my opinion. It's time for a new, underground event that will eventually grow out of proportion and end up mainstream and commercial like this one is.

[unjonharley]

The Captain has described the Oregon Country Fair.. It was fun and far out.. I went for 25 years.. Pushed horse apples out of the way to make camp.. The people of the county didn't like us.. That is until they saw a profit.. They went for it like pigs at feeding time.. Then it was over for the people that saw it as the place..

I saw Burning man as a place for me until I wasn't.. It has years left but how many?

[unjonharley]

Damn I hate to have to agree with that ugly doo doo brain

[Sandstorm]

I love your post.

It's the exact reason I'm so excited about my first burn...

Meloneblue: Thank for your post and your kind words. I wish you the best with your first burn. I hope that you make it HOME next year for the first time.

I've not lost my love or admiration for BM. Like any substantial relationship the one that I have with BM has evolved over time. As Dr. Pyro so wisely noted, YMMV. BM changed my life not just because of what happened in the dust but because of the new ideas and new people it brought into my life in the default world. My first burn in '07 led me to travel to Vietnam and Australia in March of '10. In about a year from now I'll hopefully be back in Oz to see a friend of mine who I met and camped with in BRC in '13. During the past 7+ years BM really has radically changed my perceptions of internal and external reality and I'm really grateful for that fact. I hope that your trip(s) to BM impact you in many positive ways.

Many years ago I considered Burning Man something I'd do every year indefinitely. I'd found my place...

...Burning Man is getting toward that point, in my opinion. It's time for a new, underground event that will eventually grow out of proportion and end up mainstream and commercial like this one is.

Captain: That was an excellent post and in it you described the unexpected shift that my relationship with BM has taken since the 2012 burn. Up until that burn I thought that BM would be an annual staple of my life for years to come. Before the '13 burn I began to sense that something was shifting in my relationship with both BM and myself. At the '13 burn I felt that after 6 burns I'd finally found my "playa people" and early this year I was fortunate to take part in the directed sale. Then a week after that I passed my ticket onto a newbie. There was just something in me that said that I needed the next 6 or so months to NOT be defined by all things BM. That ended up being a wise decision that led me to having a soothing winter, spring and summer. Now I'm here discussing with you and other folks the future of my relationship of BM. I'm wondering if I would in fact benefit from taking a year or more away from BRC, even if that means that I might not make it back for years, if ever.

As for whatever major event that emerges from and for the burner community, I'd love to see that happen. I also don't know that right now I've got the mental energy required to help crate that beast.

The Captain has described the Oregon Country Fair.. It was fun and far out.. I went for 25 years.. Pushed horse apples out of the way to make camp.. The people of the county didn't like us.. That is until they saw a profit.. They went for it like pigs at feeding time.. Then it was over for the people that saw it as the place..

I saw Burning man as a place for me until I wasn't.. It has years left but how many?

unjonharley: Well, in both pleasant and unpleasant ways some of locals in NV certainly love accessing their cut of the money and commerce that BM generates.

Damn I hate to have to agree with that ugly doo doo brain

It seems that TRUE LOVE can blossom on eplaya.