Personal Burning Man Messages

So my uncle posted this beautiful essay about his Burning Man experience and I wanted to try and follow up with something from my own perspective. As he tries to describe, even his many eloquent words don't scratch the surface, so there is room for more explanation. And whenever our non-Burner friends and family ask us about it, we continually search for new ways to communicate this indescribable thing.

However, as I started typing out my futile sentences, I began to feel more and more that my words didn't really add much to a general description of Burning Man as a whole. So instead, I decided to speak directly about my personal Burning Man trip this year.

Better than describing what happened, I want to talk about how I felt by delivering some messages to my camp-mates. First an apology -- as I have gotten older, I have become a little more uptight and worrisome about things (yes, some would say obsessive). This unnecessary stress leaks out from time to time making me an unpleasant person to be around. At Burning Man, I consider myself primarily responsible for all the food at our camp, including finding, packaging, transporting, storing, preparing, cleaning, etc. Although in my heart I really enjoy cooking for other people and I consider it my Burning Man gift to my camp to take on this responsibility, I still let the little things get me stressed out sometimes. So I want to apologize to everyone in my camp for my craziness. I hope my stress didn't dampen your Burn in any way.

Next, a super-big thank you to RGB for all the planning and preparation and just overall awesomeness that he brings to Burning Man every year. Yes, we occasionally tease and laugh at his detailed maps and spreadsheets, but without all that order, our group would have to deal with chaos that could detract from our fun. And who else could plan in such detail that hardly anything gets forgotten? Who else would take so much time and care to make sure everyone had an environment suitable to their own tastes? Well, no one else but my RGB, that's who. All the effort was worth it. I can't begin to thank you enough.

Also I would like to thank Hurley for the best shower on the playa to date. It was a little tricky arranging for the transport of a such a large item, but again the effort was worth it in the end. I bet that our camp was probably among a countable few with heated water and a private tent. Yet Hurley also goes through a lot of trouble to take amazing photos and time-lapse movies for us all to enjoy. I am very grateful that he is willing to lug around a tripod and weighty camera to accomplish such beauty.

Butterfly, your smile and warm spirit were a welcome addition to our group. I especially am thankful that you were eager to make ice runs and cart our junk around in your bike's baby-carriage. Oh, and the fire pit! It was really nice to warm up next to that while still enjoying everyone's company. Thank you for lugging that big thing and all that firewood out for our benefit. And finally, I am not sure I can ever repay you for taking out all our trash. That was one of the many 'little' things that often caused me some worry, and you just lifted it completely off my shoulders!

I probably should have started this list by thanking Camplet, because most of this trip is all his doing. I know that at least four of us who wouldn't have gone to Burning Man this year, except we changed our plans when we heard Camplet would finally make it to the playa. Your excitement and energy was truly infectious and for me personally, you were an inspiration that helped spur me to go out more often, see more things and interact with more people. I believe I still have room for improvement, but this was my best Burn yet in part because of you.

Odie, you just made me lose the game. Despite that I'm glad because you also helped make the scaffold successful this year. Without your expertise and positive attitude, I don't know when or if that thing would have been constructed. It was a relief to know that you were available to help out with any camp infrastructure issues. And watching you dance makes me smile.

Thank you to both Snad Nasty and T-Con for being my kitchen helpers. You two probably saw the worst of my stress levels when I was trying to handle all of the food issues, and your genuine support guided me through the week. T-Con, you remain a role model for me as I try to be better at 'mothering', without actually 'mothering'. And Snad, I hope I can learn to laugh as much as you do some day.

I am also grateful that Crash came and I got a chance to get to know him a little. Although he'll always be Crash to us, I hope that next time he can have some fun without the actual crashing.

Finally, Eric -- how did we make it without giving you a playa name? A few ideas come to mind now: Cideriffic, Commander Commerce, Mr. Smiles, or even The Man with the Little Man (because I loved both your hat and your bike basket). I guess you're just going to have to come back so we can give you something official. It won't be Camp Con Sarde without you!

So, as you might have surmised by now, a lot of the Burning Man experience for me has to do with the people. I consider this year my best Burn so far primarily because of everyone involved and all that they did. But it was also everyone I was able to interact with while I was there. Our neighbors, the Not Sure Girls were a lot of fun. And of course, I can't leave out Domitron's group and their amazing technicolor coats!

And thus I will end with my simple plea: if you haven't been to Burning Man, you really should go at least once. And if you're going to go, then you might as well join us, because our group has the most fun!