When I remodeled my site I removed one of my resources… a page a started for my journey from 2008 to 2009. Burning Man was the path I took. In recent months I have been accused of letting Burning Man take over… well there is a lot going on. I enjoy this community and have found a lot of meaning in it; besides the small amount of drawback. However, I have control over the influences around me and I make my own choices.
Radical Self Reliance is Dogma in the Burner World and it forces a person to not seek crutches … but really there is a mutual understanding that you have to be responsible for your own actions. On the other hand, there is a great sense of oneness in the the community at times when it is needed.
I find people judging this sub-culture without knowing a single thing about, but there are a sea of mundanes out there dreaming of going – yet not knowing a thing about it. The “churchification” (Cam’s word) of Burning Man can be a black hole, because it can demand a lot from you. I do what I do because the principles of this group are in my heart now.
These people – though dysfunctional – are more functional that most of the people I have met in the default world. I have heard new people introduced to this scene say on more occasions than I can count: “Can you imagine if everyone in the world treated each other like a burner treats another burner, we would have peace.”
I can dream it.