Hekter's Last Words
August/25/2008 Filed in: getting
ready
It's Tuesday (whatever the fuck that means other than I have a short week to get burn ready) and I find myself back in sun-cradled California with soul-sauce just dripping out of all of me. These last three weeks have lit my fuse and this boy is already on fire.... combusticated benevolence. Tal' started with Reggae Rising with my Cali crew then it morphed into Shambhala with my Sandpoint crew and a few new intergalactic teammates. Now "it" is going to Black Rock with a new old hat, some fresh wigs for my weary top shelf and whatever else lies semi-dormant in my fun box....
I have seen and met old and new friends like crazy this month and my gratitude shines so brightly on all of you/them. So many amazing freaks in this world and it usually takes a mind-boggling festival to become aware of the beauty that humans can attain.... the default world is a distant dream these daze... my life is morphing into one giant festival and my soul is afloat on a one-way adventure. Really don't see the need to play the game with the old rules... don't need to play the game at all! Now I am the pawn on the universal chess board... floating with my destiny in a giant pot of powdered puddin'. The universal energy certainly seems to know what's best for me over my miniature mind, therefore now I listen and giggle back in acknowledgment.
I have spent much of this last week with the sweetest French girls that camped next to us at Shambhala. I just can't seem to fill up my angelic friendship slots but I sure as hell am gonna keep trying!! The Selkirk mountains cradled me back home like a lonely mother of a single child... that place IS my home and it has never been clearer. Making some moves to make it fairy-ready by 2012. I plan on throwing the Mayans a doozee of a party when they return to earth.
So the burn... can't say I've thought/felt a whole lot about it yet (other than how I can integrate my fresh devil horns into my new bunny ears). Pretty deep, I know ;) As far as the theme "American Dream"... who fucking cares. First thoughts that come to mind are big-ass Cadillacs and giant toaster ovens with a bee-hive Betty baking biscuits. I spose' that thought is just my media induced idea of America as a whole.... bitching about gas prices because it's getting awfully spendy to fill the Hummer.
My American Dream is to live off the land, off-grid with a fat garden, fresh water/air with my community of friends around me and possibly a tequila still (if there is ever such a thing). Simplicity, reverence and respect.
But for real, I've never given a little mouse turd about themes and this one neither pumps me up or deflates me. I burn for the art, music, people, community and the opportunity to see deeper within myself. A place that shatters me into tiny pieces which I can evaluate once they dangle near my toes. Freedom, expression, uniqueness ... traits in which the default world has tagged as harmful and frivolous. Traits which I value with the utmost respect and without them, we would all be salt-free Saltine crackers. Ine lil' crackers.
Some folks love to talk shit about the burn and others really try to validate themselves when confronted about it. Burning man has become a pendant on the "hard-core" folks bragging necklace... as if they are better than thou just cause they can party harder on Mars than anyone else. Yuck... Ego alert... these folks need to get over it. For those that talk shit about it (especially the too cool folks who have never been)... what's up? Is this an equal reaction to all the wild and fun stories that your friends bring home from the playa and rub in your face? For all of the hard core non-stop bragging burners: are you really so shallow that burning man is all you can talk about... as if just physically being there makes you cooler than anyone who hasn't experienced it yet?
I think both sides of this spectrum are whacked out. Black Rock City is a giant canvas that is a "tool" to create the beautiful dream that is considered Burning Man. A mosaic of head and heart with a random tribe that wallows in the surreal. I've been "burning" just as hard in the middle of a freaking bowling alley in any town USA (and yes I was in my pink wig and red hot ski pants). For me, burning is not a location and time of year... it is a complete state of mind. For those who talk shit about it then quit going and shut up (if you were not able to enjoy yourself on at least some level in BRC then you probably are not going to enjoy yourself ever... and I don't want to hear about it.) For those of us who talk incessantly about the burn (I'm guilty as charged but working on it), maybe we need to check ourselves a little bit and not rave so much to others who obviously don't care.
For all of you that participate in the burn to have fun and open your realities, come by my camp early burn for Fuckleberry Mojitos and a light spanking!!
This year is yet another new camp for Hekter... P-Cubed Oasis out of Arcata. I know very few people, am bringing very few expectations and am ready to wander the deeper streets of BRC. I have recently built some new bridges to parallel tribes that will definitely be coming by for mojitos and dusty chap side shuffles.
Expansion, Intention, Resurrection
New voice stik is itchin for some action. New camera is in the mail. Broke dudes - Hekter has got ya covered. You'll still be burning whether in the intertidal salad bar or afoot in the Cascade highlands. Your definitely burning right now in my heart!!
Much Love,
Elliot McHeckerton
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