What If Burningman Is Just The Beginning?...

[Rabbi Dali Rick]

What if you Lived like you were at Burningman all year long, would you still need Burningman? Would you still feel the need to Participate, would you still need Go?...

What if you "got it" the first time you went?...

What would your Life be like Now?...



the rebbi

[Token]

Gotta go for the tits n ass in hot pants per capita quotient.

[TomServo]

Now, which year are we comparing to?

[BurnerBunny]

What if burningman is the end? Personally I think being at burning man for the apocalypse would be awesome.

[stew]

What if you Lived like you were at Burningman all year long

I'd be broke, sunburnt and have liver cirrhosis.

[shroom]

What if burningman is the end? Personally I think being at burning man for the apocalypse would be awesome.

agreed

[Ugly Dougly]

What if Burning Man isn't
*GASP*
All There Is?

Can you imagine if there were actually Other Things you could do with your life?

[Bin Noddin]

Nah. For my apocalypse I'll do New Orleans, in a gutter, very, very drunk.

[Box Burner]

Why we'd all be farmers 1 or 2 days a week. The rest of the time we would play around with our freinds on projects.

big art, little art. Rocket ships and space stations. Kites and shoes and paper airplanes. Better mouse traps. Film and dance and medicine. Computers and ferris wheels. Whatever you felt like being a part of. Information would be fast and free and easily available. And once, or maybe twice a year we would throw a huge fucking party and burn wooden men all over the world.

[BBadger]

If you lived like you were at Burning Man all year long you'd live a worthless life. Burning Man is just a festival in the desert, where people bring cool things and showcase them. It's a place where we enjoy the fruits of a year's worth of labor, spent in an artificial environment run on stored energy. The burning of the man is perfectly symbolic of this cycle of storage and destruction.

A perpetual life on Burning Man is like being on meth: an endless orgasmic high that eats up what your body has stored up previous to that point. You'd end up as a withered and worthless husk, filled with holes and rotten teeth.

Your body understands this kind of poison. When your body is flooded with pleasure-inducing chemicals, natural or ingested, there is always some enzyme or mechanism to shut it down after a short duration. Otherwise you'd die. The pleasure-sensing mechanisms in your brain are for the benefit of other productive mechanisms.

Likewise, if there is any lasting good to be taken Burning Man, it is what takes place outside the event. The building of art, the creation of friendships, of preparation and sacrifice. Leave Burning Man a better person, or enter it one. But don't "live" Burning Man. It's not a life. Burning Man is -- at best -- the negative space around a life.

[moonrise]

It has been a fantastic wake up call for me.

For other's it has eaten them alive.

All great answers here so far!

I especially like BBadger's powerful message. Bravo!

I say, on with the Burn, but take it your own pace...

[Ugly Dougly]

I suppose the dust storms should teach everyone to be humble before nature, but I doubt that it works on most of us.

[moonrise]

Funny Doughly, it was a forest fire that humbled me and changed my life forever...but weather is a powerful thing.... Water being the most powerful, aye....

[Inquisitor]

No, no, no this is just his way of saying "Just the tip".

[ygmir]

I'd say in 90 days, we'd be eating eachother, if we had to "stay there". supplies running out, people stinking, running out of drugs and alcohol.
it'd turn into "zones" where people with certain proclivities or abilities, if not philosophies, would gather to share resources, and reject others.

That area is not conducive to long term survival, climate and ecosystem wise. There's a reason hardly anyone was ever there.

but, it's fun for a couple of weeks.

[Inquisitor]

Bullet point answer.

BRC is NOT a "festival"

BM is NOT a one week experience

It is NOT something you EARN from anything

It is NOT something you start or stop living

Burning Man is not "a life", it IS LIFE.

Burning Man is not something that "started" and therefore has no begining.

Finally Burning Man is most fucking definitely not something that is subject to BBadger's labeling.
____________________________________________________________________________________________

BURNING MAN is Soylent Green

Burning Man is a gathering of people and those people exist with or without the gathering.


The Playa proves this.

There was nothing there when we came.

There is nothing there after we left.

We ARE the Burners the Man is a celebration of that.

If you need a more profound explanation there is a great book on the subject which I recommend highly to people, It's called.

"How the Grinch Stole Christmas."

Suitable for people of all levels.

Below will be a FUX News translation of my post.
_________________________________________________

If you lived like you were at Burning Man all year long you'd live a worthless life. Burning Man is just a festival in the desert, where people bring cool things and showcase them. It's a place where we enjoy the fruits of a year's worth of labor, spent in an artificial environment run on stored energy. The burning of the man is perfectly symbolic of this cycle of storage and destruction.

A perpetual life on Burning Man is like being on meth: an endless orgasmic high that eats up what your body has stored up previous to that point. You'd end up as a withered and worthless husk, filled with holes and rotten teeth.

Your body understands this kind of poison. When your body is flooded with pleasure-inducing chemicals, natural or ingested, there is always some enzyme or mechanism to shut it down after a short duration. Otherwise you'd die. The pleasure-sensing mechanisms in your brain are for the benefit of other productive mechanisms.

Likewise, if there is any lasting good to be taken Burning Man, it is what takes place outside the event. The building of art, the creation of friendships, of preparation and sacrifice. Leave Burning Man a better person, or enter it one. But don't "live" Burning Man. It's not a life. Burning Man is -- at best -- the negative space around a life.

I will say it takes every shitty misconception of people who have NEVER been to the Playa mashes it together cooks it and out comes BBager's profile pic.

[Lonesomebri]

is like being on meth

More for some than others.

[Inquisitor]

is like being on meth

More for some than others.

I have never been on meth myself but I'll take his expert opinion on the matter.

[MikeGyver]

I had this discussion a few days ago. If Burning Man lasted longer than a few weeks the "Gifting" economy would fall into a bartering economy and that goes straight to money. Then were all just a bunch of idiots in an un-inhabitable desert.

I would love to live closer to some of the people I see every year that's what I look forward to more than just the Burn.

[Ratty]

MikeGyver, I agree. Every year my burn gets better because I know more people. Even though I don't know anything about you, I'm so happy to see you again after a year. It's not cheap or easy to get there. You chose this over some other destination. In that, we are of like minds. We are of the same ilk. Rooting for the same team. Hailing from the same hometown. Thinking as one. Almost family. Burning Man is like ecstasy. It makes you (((hug))) and kiss strangers. If you embrace change you'll love it forever.

P.S. One week is enough.

[goathead]

This thread cracks me up.

Take what inspires you.

Dispose of the rest, with the rest of the moop.



Who let the hippy in?

[Inquisitor]

I had this discussion a few days ago. If Burning Man lasted longer than a few weeks the "Gifting" economy would fall into a bartering economy and that goes straight to money. Then were all just a bunch of idiots in an un-inhabitable desert.

I would love to live closer to some of the people I see every year that's what I look forward to more than just the Burn.

You are assuming that BM would still be on the Playa. Obviously it could not be there all year long.
Oh and money is what happens when bartering breaks down not an improvement on it.

[tamarakay]

I do try and apply the principles of burning man to my life as much as possible, not so much the party part. The reactions you get from responding to or reaching out to default world strangers (and friends) is interesting. Yes you will get rejected more often in d world, but when you find other people open to the love it makes up for the other. Radical self reliance, inclusion, leave no trace, gifting. Really positive results in the d world.

To answer the original question, yes I would still go. The party part of it is pretty damned awesome.

[delle]

I do try and apply the principles of burning man to my life as much as possible, not so much the party part. The reactions you get from responding to or reaching out to default world strangers (and friends) is interesting. Yes you will get rejected more often in d world, but when you find other people open to the love it makes up for the other. Radical self reliance, inclusion, leave no trace, gifting. Really positive results in the d world.

To answer the original question, yes I would still go. The party part of it is pretty damned awesome.

Yep, indeedy. Well said, TK.

[Lonesomebri]

I'm too much in love with the playa to separate what happens on it from that palette/canvas. I like wide open spaces, mild deprivation, riding my bike, massive fires, huge explosions. Those are intimately connected to my joy of BM, and I have no place where the various joys can be sorted and separated, leaving the inner BM experience without all that outer. A few fires like the ones I love, here in the default neighborhood, and there might be trouble. For the holidays I take my bike chariot out and give care packages to some destitute, I bring booze with me. Is that burning man principles? No, I did the same thing before ever going to burning man. One buddy asked me if BM was sort of like taking acid, where the doors of perception were opened. I think there is a similarity, both show you that what is taken for granted is a fiction, the world is far more open and wild, there are possibilities that normal life doesn't reveal. But how well do those feelings hold after the trip is over. It's still lingers, but the material world has a weight that can't be ignored. With that, not sure what the unique BM ideal/principles are. LNT? Gifting? Art? Self-expression? Dressing in customs and raving all night? As with my roommates, I'm always surprised how quickly eyes glaze over when I try to explain that the BM masterpiece is dependent on the canvas... Burningman is just the beginning of other similar art/rave/music events and a larger future one on the playa.

[trilobyte]

Great thread! I'm giving it a nudge over to Politics & Philosophy since I think that's a better fit.

Burning Man means different things to different people, so lots of room for some interesting interpretations.

My girlfriend and I already do live what we call a pretty playafied life all year long. We make art and clothing and whatnot all year long, some of which is destined to come with us to the playa, some of which doesn't. Our home is a modular live/work studio space, which we find comfortable for living, yet convertible enough to be able to easily change around if a project or idea suits us. We volunteer and participate in projects that interest and excite us whenever we can, and I'm sure I could ramble on for a while citing additional examples. I don't know whether we're "doing it right" but we're really happy and grateful for the lives we live. Goathead said it perfectly... take what inspires you. Dispose of the rest, with the rest of the moop.

I don't know that we need Burning Man... I don't know that either of us has ever needed it. While we started participating in the event separately (her beginning in 1996, me in 2004), we were both arty/creative types beforehand, and Burning Man was less a complete mindfuck than it was an affirmation of suspicions and beliefs that we already had, that we didn't have to subscribe to the default rules and ideas of society in order to be happy. We've taken years off and survived, and we've both come back to the event again when we feel a strong desire to go. Though 2013 was a pretty hard burn for both of us, we still enjoyed it immensely and are both interested in coming back next year. It's an opportunity to connect with friends (and make new connections), as well as an opportunity to see and experience some truly inspiring art and performances.

[graidawg]

Blue‏

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graham clarke 19:16
To: julia my Dear Friend
Picture of graham clarke
I know i said not to make life changing decisions until it's 3 weeks. But it is about time, My life is steadily going downhill, through idleness and sloth i was totally unprepared for Bm this year, through drunkenness I got mugged and beaten up (only a little)the week i got back.
Its time to make changes in my life, to stop doing nothing except drink.
BM was difficult for me this year far more than the last 2, I literally wondered what the hell i was doing there most of the time, I was exhausted and miserable for most of it. You and Mercedes where the only things that constantly kept me wanting to be there. i had other high points, but they were sporadic.
i see other peoples problems and incedents and see mine are small in comparison, so i gloss over them which i have been doing for well over a decade now. Probably All my life.
i find it easy to pretend to be cheerful in company but on my own (even now) there are almost always tears in my eyes and an empty feeling in my heart. This has got to change, there are things i want to do which I have simply not done. I failed to live up to the promise 2011 made to me. To change things, make them better instead i have chosen to let Burning Man be the only thing in my life, instead of it being the catalyst to making my life better and more fulfilling.

i need to stop measuring my life by who and what other people think i am. I know i can do it, for me first then for other people.

i had literally just written the email then logged on here and saw this thread, so if you want to make burning man more than "just a beginning" you really need to apply the enthusiasm it generates in the rest of your life, not to make it the centre of your life. I should say "I" instead of "you" there i guess.

so Yes I need burning man in the same way a meth head needs his fix but personally I NEED to change that to BM becoming something I go to to add to my life not replace it.

[Eric]

Take what inspires you.

Dispose of the rest, with the rest of the moop.

This.

I love going to Burning Man, and it's the place I recharge my batteries for the year, but making it The Only Thing in my life would just turn it into a religion or a cult. Fine for some people, but I don't need that to live a full life.

You are assuming that BM would still be on the Playa. Obviously it could not be there all year long.

For some of us Burning Man and the Playa are one - you can't divorce the two and still have the same thing. The harshness of the environment is what makes everything else interesting, and putting it somewhere "comfortable" to live year round just makes it a commune.

[Savannah]

Blue‏

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graham clarke 19:16
To: julia my Dear Friend
Picture of graham clarke
I know i said not to make life changing decisions until it's 3 weeks. But it is about time, My life is steadily going downhill, through idleness and sloth i was totally unprepared for Bm this year, through drunkenness I got mugged and beaten up (only a little)the week i got back.
Its time to make changes in my life, to stop doing nothing except drink.
BM was difficult for me this year far more than the last 2, I literally wondered what the hell i was doing there most of the time, I was exhausted and miserable for most of it. You and Mercedes where the only things that constantly kept me wanting to be there. i had other high points, but they were sporadic.
i see other peoples problems and incedents and see mine are small in comparison, so i gloss over them which i have been doing for well over a decade now. Probably All my life.
i find it easy to pretend to be cheerful in company but on my own (even now) there are almost always tears in my eyes and an empty feeling in my heart. This has got to change, there are things i want to do which I have simply not done. I failed to live up to the promise 2011 made to me. To change things, make them better instead i have chosen to let Burning Man be the only thing in my life, instead of it being the catalyst to making my life better and more fulfilling.

i need to stop measuring my life by who and what other people think i am. I know i can do it, for me first then for other people.

i had literally just written the email then logged on here and saw this thread, so if you want to make burning man more than "just a beginning" you really need to apply the enthusiasm it generates in the rest of your life, not to make it the centre of your life. I should say "I" instead of "you" there i guess.

so Yes I need burning man in the same way a meth head needs his fix but personally I NEED to change that to BM becoming something I go to to add to my life not replace it.

I am excited to see that, (((((Graham))))).

[Lonesomebri]

I know this lady, a real wild child, wears tutus, gowns and little mermaid outfits regularly, is in a rock/punk band, is regularly tossing off her top on stage, is generous and likes to drink, creative and artistic, dances, hugs people….but she went to the burn once and didn’t like the heat, dust and camping, even with an RV. She laughed at me and said, why did she need to go, she was living it every day.