Random Thoughts

[BHill]

First timer in '05, didn't make '06, was present for the entire week of '07. Had a fabulous time of course, and I was a bit uneasy at some fundamental shifts in attitude and behaviour. A little more of a frat-boy-on-spring-break vibe, more trash, more darkwads (folks cruising around on foot and bike with no lighting at all), more people peeing on the playa – – in short, a higher level of unconscious behaviour. A perfect example was the Temple Burn. Sunday night '05 was one of the most moving experiences of my life: watching an enormous bonfire with 20,000 or so people carrying 20,000 or so stories of rememberance, all in absolute reverent silence. This year's Temple Burn was a bit more raucous, more people focused on partying rather than gifting us all with silence and introspection. Still an amazing and moving interlude, but somewhat diluted. I am afraid that this shift is inevitable. Radical inclusion means just that, we cannot have a litmus test for attendance, and perhaps it is simply the nature of this social experiment that it will by definition be a constantly morphing phenomena.

[phil]

I think you're having the typicla seond timer's remorse. "It wasn't as good as the first time, I expected more."

See
http://www.flutterby.com/archives/2000_ ... notes.html
for example:

It's been said that there's a fairly predictable pattern to Burning Man attendance. The first year is an eye opener, the realization that thi sort of community can exist anywhere blows people away. The second year has a backlash of sorts, since the space isn't novel any more the flaws become apparent. By the third time a person has either assimilated into the community, or the flaws have become too much and they stop going.

There's more to that page, which I think may be of interest to people. (His complaints about the "establishment", for example - and the page was written in 2000. :->)

Burning Man won't stay the same, BHill. We all grow with it or we grow without it.

[Ugly Dougly]

Since individual experiences are random samples, every year of attendance will be different.

And yeah, it's always better last year.

[BAS]

And yeah, it's always better last year.

Oh NO! I went for the first time in 2006, and was sick the entire week! You mean next time I go it will be even worse?!!

Or, do you mean that since I missed 2007, if I go in 2008, 2007 will have been better?

...or that Burning Man has been going downhill since it started, and...?

(Oh no, I think my brain is melting...! )



B. (going to go lie down now!)

[BHill]

Phil, I totally agree that our giggle-fest in the desert is a living and growing phenomena, of course it will change, and we as participants will either change with it or find our giggle-fix elsewhere. I am thinking about perhaps a concept of radical self-responsibility being re-injected into our fest. Piss-puddles, beer bottles, stealth bicyclists, etc. are surface changes that are indicative of more fundamental shifts that begin, I think, to diverge from the Burning Man mission statement and 10 principles. Hmmm.....have to think about this one.....


bh