The Burn is Near
August/16/2008 Filed in: afterburn
25 days until the Man burns in Black Rock City…and I won’t be there to see it.
I won’t be there to feel the nearly chaotic frenzy of energy, anticipation, and absolute freedom that comes as the energy reaches it’s peak and the city gathers around the burn pyre. I won’t be there to spin with abandon through the relentless soundblender of camps, people and art cars that covers the playa like an audio blanket. I won’t be at Burning Man this year and I know that I’m not alone. There will only be two of the four Broke Dudes representing Destination Burning Man...
I have heard many reasons – speculations and rants – as to why those who have sparked the Fire will not be burning this year. A few have felt disconnected from this year’s theme of The American Dream. Others are feeling the pinch of the American economic reality and are just plain too broke to go. While some who are broke are going anyway, knowing that all that they need and desire will come to them on the playa if they channel the Pure Power of Potential. Still others are skipping the Burn this year because they have grown disenchanted with the way things have changed, “It’s not the same anymore…it’s too this, or it’s too that.” Whatever the myriad reasons for not going to Burning Man this year, one this is for sure, there will still be a lot of fucking people making the journey out to the Black Rock Desert seeking a cosmic party, a spiritual awakening, random sex, art, creative self expression, community or a combination all of these. But, I won’t be one of them.
I am not going to Burning Man because I don’t want to go. I am longing to spark the fires of creative self expression and dive into the dusty melting pot of the most absolute freedom that I have ever know. I want to Light It Up and Burn It Down. I want to blow out the limiting thoughts and habits of the Default World and delve deeper into the core of who I am. I want to be inspired and entertained. I want to admire the beautiful people. I want to be among the freaky people – my people. I want to reconnect with my tribe. I want to receive the gifts of strangers and offer them my gifts in return. I want to be cracked open and filled with the power of intention, Love, creativity and deeper self-awareness. I want go to Burning Man, but I’m not.
This year I don’t have the bandwidth to go to the Burn, to prepare for the Burn, to be at the Burn, to decompress from the Burn. I straight up don’t have the time in my life to commit to Burning Man this year. “But it’s just a week. You can break out of the confines of the Default World for a week, can’t you?” No. Not this year.
My 2007 Burning Man experience (including pre- and post- playa) awakened me to the Pure Power of Potential – the ability to manifest anything that you want, when you want it; the soul attraction that draws the abundance of the Universe to you. I have harnessed that power over the last year to bring many of my personal and professional goals and visions to fruition in the Default World. The truth is, I not going to Burning Man because I am choosing to stay present with all that I have created from the energy I got from the 2007 Burn.
The Fire is still burning inside me. It has dimmed and times I thought it was snuffed out, but it continues to smolder and as we approach the pilgrimage to the playa and the burning of the man the fire rises in me. I will Burn this summer, as I have done all year. I will create space to escape the Default World and revel beneath the wide sky. I will Light It Up and Burn It Down. The spirit and energy of the playa lives inside of me.
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