I'm a virgin, first-time burner. As soon as we made it to the entrance, my group was forced out of the RV to do our Burning Man initiation which was to get down and dirty, literally! All six of us were told to hit the gong, and scream, "I'm a burner!" and roll into the sand until we were covered. That was day one of six of no showering... and for being considered a "prissy girl" {being overly clean and tidy}, I was given happy kudos having survived out there with little complaining! :)
So what to say what to say about Burning Man... now that I'm back only after a few days, I'm slowly easing back into reality. That trip took a lot out of me.
I've invested so much money and so much of my time and dedication in the past few months to make this trip worthwhile. And it was...
What is Burning Man?
There's a different answer every time.. ask anybody! I'll sum mines up as a one-of-a-kind experience.. where you're stranded in the middle of the desert, Black Rock City, with no wi-fi, no connection to the world for a week. You're surrounded by a myriad of unlimited creativity that people have put into their art structures, costumes, or communal activities they bring to the playa to share and display. It's mind-blowing what people can create out of the ordinary, and beautiful. This year Burning Man had almost 70,000 people at the playa consisting of hippies, nudists, yogis, artists, and annual burners from all over the world. Everyone was very polite and so loving {mainly because they're on drugs, lol} but, it was nice to not encounter any douchebags there. Not one! {well actually, there was this 60-year-old drunken creeper on the first night...but whatever, he had a bad day!} We were all free to roam and explore all day and all night. It's an experience I'll never forget. One of my favorite moments was living in several dust storms or white outs that we encountered on our first ride out at the playa. I didn't protect my face whatsoever and fully breathed into the sand and watched it float by until the storm passed. It was as beautiful as it is like watching the waves of the ocean. It. was. mesmerizing! ...But then I paid for it the next morning when I woke up with a stuffy nose and a cough from all the sand in my system... {thank God I had my allegra!} Spending the last bit of summer in the desert wasn't all bad. I'd actually rather be there right now than in LA! The weather was unbearable coming back home.. LA weather is torturous whereas the desert weather is just dry and hot, which prevented me from sweating & suffering the entire time under the sun.
My time at Black Rock City is one of the best times of my young life. I've never been at my happiest. I went with an awesome group of people who all watched out and took care of each other. And we came back with plenty of adventures and stories to tell from the moment we anxiously packed up our RV until we sadly unloaded it together. Settling back home was hard. It was like coming back to nothing almost. Feeling empty. I slowly tried to remember the stress, anxiety, and the upset I had with myself before leaving. And then when I was able to bring back a dose of that reality, I stopped it immediately and let it go. On the playa I learned how to fully be in the moment. And that was the best feeling ever because I learned how to connect with everything and everyone that was around me without being buried in my phone where all my friends and family are.
I definitely want to go back next year. I recommend everyone to go at least once. You'll definitely learn something new, if not, then just go to observe. It'll be worth it, I promise.
My Burning Man bag.
i toted this bag around with me every day. it met a couple of people and picked up some souvenirs. one of my favorites is a quote i decided to write on my bag from a convo where i was explaining to a guy what i do and what fashion illustrations are.
the way he interpreted it was, "so fashion illustration is exactly when the coke dealer gives you a sample of the coke before you buy it..." he says.
"no.. not really -" i begin to say,
"no!" he interjects, "that's exactly what it is!" lol maybe i didn't explain it very well.. but we will leave it at that!
What's in my bag:
my everyday survival kit.
these were ALL my must haves when out at the playa... i also had my handy dandy point-and-shoot Canon camera with me which survived the dust storms believe it or not! also not pictured above are the 250 toilet seat covers i stole from a Costco bathroom to use for the porto potties.. it came in SO handy! i mean, the entire time i used a porto potty, there were no toilet seat covers and hardly any toilet paper. *porto potty tip: wearing a dust mask helps the smelly situation when using it!* ;)
My Burning Man Sketchbook.
i did my best to capture everything i loved most at the playa. see below!
the end.
xx,
SS