Post
by momodumpling » Wed May 25, 2011 1:54 am
Hello! momodumpling here, momo for short. Or any incantation of 'mo', MoBass, MoFlow, MoBurn - you get it...
It'll be my first Burn this year, and I'll be camping with the More Carrot theme camp, we run the Black Rock City Farmer's Market and lead the Countless Carrot march against those pesky natural resource depleting Billion Bunnies of the Billion Bunnies March!
Below is an approximation of my introduction to my fellow More Carrot-ers. I'm so flippin' excited about this adventure, I've found it hard to stay off these forums since I confirmed my participation. So, this is my first post ... lemme give a little back :)
It was probably about 12 years ago, the first time I heard about Burning Man. It sounded to me like a kind of dirty Utopia, and I’ve wanted to be a part of it ever since. Being from Australia, this is more difficult that it sounds!
In the late 90s when the Internet was really only just starting to have an impact on my life, I became part of a very small and unique (at the time) web community whose primary aim, harm minimisation in drug culture, became a focus for the next few years of my life. It was via this community, and common-cause, that I made long-lasting and international relationships, (some I still have to this day), and first heard about Burning Man (via a sweet internet romance experience with fellow 19-yo and Burner named 'Pyro'). There were parallels between what we were all experiencing socially from our different corners of the globe, albeit in much smaller concentrations, and what was happening on the playa… except the Playa had the advantage of capturing attention, for an entire week of desert-extreme-environment, punter-built, self-sufficiency. This was Mecca. But I had no money, ironically given that Burning Man is a commodity-free venture it's bloody expensive to get to, and this was what had me suffice in living vicariously via trip reports from my good buddies. (I *just* got in touch with Pyro again after 11 years absence…wow. Burning Man is already having an emotional effect on me!)
Fast forward a few years, post degree in Media Production, random bits of festival and theatre work and LOADS of outdoor parties, and in the last 5, I've lived in NYC (still couldn't afford the Burn), and London, (timing was never right) and now, I’m currently in Berlin, in transition, in the midst of leaving my life in London behind, and travelling for the rest of the year via sojourns in The Americas, to return to my homeland, Australia, which I departed in 2006.
And so, for me, Burning Man is a kind of nostalgic yearning for those intense years of self-discovery and deep relationships (i'll be visiting some of those forum friends I've known for over 10 years and still never met in real life) and a chance to help build and belong to this kind of community again. Personally, I hope to spend some time consolidating the last five years of my life and look forward with some (hopefully) new perspective, enjoy good earnest hard work and, without doubt (let’s not get toooo serious here) have some unbridled fun!
I am wholeheartedly welcoming the opportunity to be inspired by all your creativity and intelligence, and to inspire, and to experience something unique with a brilliant group of people who are after the same thing.
Wow. That was epic.
See you on the playa!
moplaya x
. I'm an Ohio native, moved to Florida 2 years ago (no, not to retire) and will be driving solo from Tampa Bay to my virgin burn this year. 
