What an experience. I went to Burning Man 2017, and it was one of the most incredible, unique experiences of my life. Here are some things that struck me:

  • The culture of creation and participation. Black Rock City does not exist without the effort of its participants. One week prior to the event, nothing but sand lays on the playa. The human spirit collects in the desert and creates a city, full of color, emotion, and life. At Burning Man, I saw the expanded bounds of human imagination and potential; there, people were free of their everyday chains, they could create for the sake of creating, share unconditionally, express their deepest selves.

  • Immediacy, and impermanence. A particularly absurd moment perhaps most hammered this point home for me. We were on an art car headed home after a sunrise. There was a gentleman riding with us that was very obviously amped on some sort of drugs. He commented on the beauty of impermanence, how the moment we were all experiencing at that point in time with that set of people would never happen again, and how that only made the experience more beautiful. Then, he jumped off the art car and ran back into the playa, to go find his bicycle.

    At Burning Man, I had no explicit itinerary, there was no hustle and bustle and rush. I let life come to me, I let every moment soak in. Time washed over me, it cradled me, we walked alongside as equals. In the default world, too often, I am sprinting to catch up to time, as she charges unmercifully ahead, hiding around corners, always out of reach. Burning Man was a lesson in slow living, and savouring.

Some highlights in time:

  • Soldering with Ying without a care in the world
  • Listening to Skrillrex’s set at Camp Question
  • Watching the Man burn
  • Partying on art cars until the sun rose (shoutout to the Chameleon!)
  • Iced coffees, and lazing at Playasophy
  • Chatting through the night, with Sascha, Ashoat, and then listening to music in the dome through the morning.

Burning Man was intense and rewarding. See you next year.