"Dont divorce your parakeet"

[Avacadi]

This year someone at our camp told me about an old BM thread called "don't divorce your parakeet"
You can read it here http://lists.burningman.com/pipermail/p ... 10823.html
If you don't want to read the thread (I encourage you to do so, however.), here's a little excerpt;

DO NOT MAKE CHANGES TO YOUR LIFE FOR AT LEAST THREE WEEKS AFTER YOU
COME BACK FROM BURNING MAN.

Do not quit your job. Do not divorce your wife, husband, sister, dog, parakeet. Do not sell all your possessions and move to Tibet to be a monk. Do not ditch your car and travel the world. Do not found Hobbit
Camp. Do not plan a giant zeppelin for next year's Burn. Do not move out of your house, break up with your girlfriend, boyfriend, get married, move in your playa lover, sell your car, ditch your friends,
or make other rash decisions after you come home. This is important, because the playa is still going to be in your brain, and the effects are like that of rareified stupid sometimes. It will make total sense
to have a threesome with your significant other and someone in an enormous rabbit costume at the Burn; in reality the ears get caught in the ceiling fan. Make sure if you have major life decisions to make,
you make them AFTER you settle down and settle in. The emotions and the stress will still be in your system for some time; do not allow them to unduly influence your life


I read it. I liked it. I completely disagreed.
Most of the things I've done after burning man were most certainly instantaneous, definitely less than 3 weeks and ultimately bettered my overall well-being. The biggest change by far has been uprooting my life & moving all the way across the country. That happened after this years burn.

Have you done anything drastic or noteworthy after the burn? What was it and why?

[BBadger]

I don't know if I've really made some drastic life changes, but since getting involved with these events, the people I know through them, and the culture, it's a big chunk of what I do, associate with, and build things for. It's also made me less cynical about things.

[AntiM]

No huge changes here, but like BBadger, the event permeates our lives. Certainly has dictated what vehicles we purchased. But I tend to agree that someone with an established life they love shouldn't throw everything over for a handful of dust. Perhaps an unencumbered person who is at a juncture can embrace deep changes, but in general, sophomore fever is something to be wary of when making life decisions. Be certain you're not in the honeymoon phase.

[Elorrum]

It is good advice to wait and see what the world actually feels like after Burning Man. I've had weeks of relative elation that lingered. One year though, within a week of return, I quit a long term job, put my belongings in storage in the city I was going to move to, and drove around the country in a little car visiting burner friends and their families, for a couple months. It was a change long overdue, and I wouldn't have done it without the jerk and wrench that Burning Man gave me the will for, I guess. After Burning Man, a week of happiness and good friends and complete unwinding from work, I had a moment of clarity about what I simply couldn't put up with anymore. I wish there had been a bit more clarity about what the future could hold, but it's a narrow beam of focus. Still, I draw strength from the possibility of future adventures, knowing that I am capable.