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Stay Sparked #31- "Burning Man: Jaded or Joyful?"
8 Plays2 years ago
What is the state of Burning Man? Where can you find the magic? Is it still worth going? How can we avoid being JADED BURNERS?!?
We also share some of our greatest takeaways that we have taken into the default world.
LINKS:
Burning Man 10 Principles: https://burningman.org/about/10-principles/
Halcyon's Burning Man Bootcamp: http://bootcamp.hugnation.com
Halcyon's Burning Man Tips & Tricks videos: http://PlayaPrinciples.com
HOSTS
BETSY FINKLEHOO is a healer of massage therapy, CranioSacral and Dharma Coaching. She is an 8 year burner and has spent the last several years seeped in the personal development world, cultivating her passion for transformation and growth. Her recent project, The Power Affirmation Journal and virtual group empowers women to cultivate self awareness and healthy habits so they can live in greater freedom, mind body and spirit.
http://poweraffirmation.com/
Click here to get a FREE affirmation for Stay Sparked Listeners!
HALCYON is full-time Love Ambassador. He is the founder of Hug Nation YouTube channel and daily zoom gratitude circles. He is co-founder of the Pink Heart Burning Man camp and the 1st Saturdays project for people experiencing homelessness. In his free time he coaches individuals on how to live joyfully and authentically. His other podcast is "Hard on the 80's."
http://JohnStyn.com
JANUS REDMOON is a 10-time Burner, and has spent the last several years as an advocate for psychedelic medicine research and treatment. He is the founder and CEO of NuWorld Nutritionals, a nutritional supplement company providing mushroom-based, all-natural products to improve and maintain health for both body and mind. (Use code "SPARKED" for 10% off)
http://www.nuworldnutritionals.com
MASSIVE Thank you to Dub Sutra for their beautiful opening music. Check out their incredible music catalogue online.
https://dubsutra.com
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Overview
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to Stay Sparked.
00:00:03
Speaker
On this show, we explore how to stay inspired in the modern world through the most profound lessons from Burning Man, relationships, entrepreneurship, psychedelics, spirituality, travel, and more.
Burning Man: Current State and Personal Reflections
00:00:17
Speaker
On this episode, we talked about Burning Man and where it's at now and how to avoid becoming a jaded burner.
00:00:24
Speaker
We also discuss what our experiences have been over the course of our participation and how we feel about where it's going.
00:00:32
Speaker
And we get to share with you some of our greatest takeaways and how we implement the lessons of Burning Man into our day-to-day life.
00:00:40
Speaker
Enjoy the episode.
00:00:43
Speaker
Welcome to Stay Sparked.
00:00:45
Speaker
We are three longtime friends who have been inspiring each other for well over a decade.
00:00:49
Speaker
So we are here to share conversations aimed to inspire and light you up.
00:00:54
Speaker
Thank you so much for listening.
00:00:55
Speaker
If you've been enjoying these conversations, we appreciate you leaving us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.
00:01:00
Speaker
And please share to help spread the sparks.
00:01:04
Speaker
such as a review from Nicole, who says, sparks of inspiration indeed.
00:01:10
Speaker
It is so refreshing to hear casual yet deep conversations about everyday human topics in a lighthearted and uplifting way.
00:01:17
Speaker
You guys are awesome for sharing your nuggets of wisdom and warmth with us.
00:01:21
Speaker
Thank you, Nicole.
00:01:23
Speaker
Yay, Nicole.
00:01:25
Speaker
Indeed, we love those reviews, so keep them coming.
00:01:28
Speaker
Five stars, please.
00:01:29
Speaker
Ours is our preferred review.
00:01:32
Speaker
So anyway, thanks again for joining us today.
00:01:34
Speaker
My name is Giannis.
00:01:37
Speaker
And I'm Betsy.
00:01:38
Speaker
And I'm Halcyon.
00:01:40
Speaker
I am the founder of New World Nutritionals, a nutritional supplement company, and I am also a soon-to-be dad.
00:01:50
Speaker
And I am the founder and creator of the Power Affirmation Project, inspiring life skills for sustainable happiness and also a professional vibe bringer.
00:01:59
Speaker
And I am a gifting evangelist and the host of the Hug Nation YouTube channel.
00:02:07
Speaker
What a fantastic channel indeed.
Hosts' Expressions of Gratitude
00:02:10
Speaker
We always love to start these conversations off with a little bit of gratitude.
00:02:14
Speaker
So I'll start with my gratitude for today.
00:02:19
Speaker
feeling grateful for
00:02:22
Speaker
downtime, I guess you would say.
00:02:25
Speaker
We've had a stretch, my partner and I, where it's been something every weekend.
00:02:30
Speaker
Just we have to go here, we have to do this, there's always this running around, which is something I guess a lot of us as adults have.
00:02:38
Speaker
The idea of free time is just kind of like going by the wayside, at least for me, at least in the last several weeks.
00:02:44
Speaker
So it was nice to look at the calendar and be like, wow, we don't have anything to do this weekend.
00:02:49
Speaker
Fantastic.
00:02:50
Speaker
So there was options, but we all just we were both like, no, not doing that.
00:02:54
Speaker
Staying home, chilling out.
00:02:56
Speaker
And we did that.
00:02:57
Speaker
And frankly, yeah, I woke up this morning feeling pretty refreshed.
00:03:01
Speaker
So, yes, grateful for downtime.
00:03:03
Speaker
Nice.
00:03:03
Speaker
What about you?
00:03:04
Speaker
What about you?
00:03:04
Speaker
That's.
00:03:05
Speaker
Amazing.
00:03:06
Speaker
I love that too.
00:03:07
Speaker
Well, I am grateful for dancing.
00:03:11
Speaker
So I got to go dancing this weekend and I danced for probably two hours straight.
00:03:16
Speaker
I took a couple of little breaks, but I was sore the next day.
00:03:20
Speaker
It was amazing.
00:03:20
Speaker
I haven't danced like that in so long and dance is definitely my, my medicine.
00:03:26
Speaker
It helps me so much to just like let loose and
00:03:30
Speaker
just clear so much tension in my body and my mind and my spirit and especially when there's good music it is just such a wonderful thing so my gratitude's for dancing yay thanks well my gratitude is for
00:03:48
Speaker
the color pink and for Barbie for really pushing it through our culture right now.
00:03:54
Speaker
I love the movie Barbie, but I also love just this presence of this pink wave that is going over the country and probably the world.
00:04:03
Speaker
If you're listening to this and not watching our YouTube channel, you might not realize it.
00:04:08
Speaker
I am in a pink bedroom with pink walls and pink everything.
00:04:11
Speaker
The last few months I have been natural hair colored, but just
00:04:16
Speaker
yesterday re-dyed my hair to pink as the pull of Barbie and that of Burning Man made me realize it's time for me to return.
00:04:23
Speaker
So don't call it a comeback.
00:04:26
Speaker
But I've been pink for years.
00:04:27
Speaker
You've been pink for years.
00:04:30
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:31
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:32
Speaker
Like I like to say you put the, you put the hot in the hot pink.
00:04:35
Speaker
Oh yeah.
00:04:36
Speaker
Oh yeah.
00:04:37
Speaker
And with your camp, you know, pink heart at Burning Man, how many years has it been going?
00:04:42
Speaker
13, 14, something like that.
00:04:44
Speaker
Red in the pink.
00:04:45
Speaker
That's amazing.
00:04:47
Speaker
Represent the pink for well over a decade again.
00:04:50
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:51
Speaker
So speaking of which, it's that time of year
Evaluating Burning Man's Value and Intentions
00:04:55
Speaker
again.
00:04:55
Speaker
It's the most wonderful time of the year for so many people.
00:04:59
Speaker
getting ready to go to Burning Man.
00:05:02
Speaker
And that has been an interesting, fun conversation for the last few years because it's really, it seems like it has an accelerated evolution, becoming...
00:05:17
Speaker
You know, it seems like it's becoming something.
00:05:20
Speaker
It's it's it's morphing and it's not it's not over yet.
00:05:23
Speaker
It's like it's it's still still like becoming this thing.
00:05:26
Speaker
And so we've done an episode before, like on tips and tricks and hacks and things like that.
00:05:32
Speaker
But our conversation like of late seems to be like, OK, so, you know, what is what is what is Burning Man still?
00:05:40
Speaker
like from its what is what's what is it still doing in compared to like when it was first birthed when our first experience of it was and what is it what's new about it and overall I think the conversation you know one of the questions
00:05:55
Speaker
Is it worth it?
00:05:56
Speaker
Is it still something we should feel good about doing?
00:06:01
Speaker
Is it still doing what it's intending to do?
Deciding to Attend Burning Man: Pros and Cons
00:06:04
Speaker
What is there to be gained from it?
00:06:05
Speaker
What has been lost, if anything?
00:06:06
Speaker
So that's kind of our conversation today.
00:06:09
Speaker
And Betsy, are you going to bring down the share?
00:06:15
Speaker
You know, how many people have asked me that in the last couple of weeks?
00:06:20
Speaker
And you know what?
00:06:21
Speaker
You know what my answer has been?
00:06:24
Speaker
So it's a month away.
00:06:26
Speaker
And my answer has been at this stage, no, but I'm open to miracles because I've learned in the eight years that I've gone over probably 13 years of a span that, you know, it does take a lot of planning and there is also something that can happen in the spontaneity.
00:06:46
Speaker
So this year I'm not, I'm not planning to go.
00:06:50
Speaker
And I, in previous years have said that.
00:06:54
Speaker
And then like two weeks beforehand, I get that feeling, Oh, Burning Man's coming out.
00:07:00
Speaker
Maybe I do want to go.
00:07:01
Speaker
And then all of a sudden everything comes together.
00:07:03
Speaker
And next thing you know, I'm on the playa.
00:07:05
Speaker
Um, so I am open to the miracle of going, but also feel really good about my choice right now to not be, um, venturing out there this year.
00:07:16
Speaker
Well, I am planning on going.
00:07:20
Speaker
This will be, I think, my 24th return to BlackRock City.
00:07:26
Speaker
And it's the first year that I have not had total...
00:07:32
Speaker
100% certainty that I was going all year.
00:07:36
Speaker
My last year was very difficult for me physically and emotionally.
00:07:40
Speaker
And in fact, I had a kind of an obstacle come up a few days ago to this year's journey.
00:07:47
Speaker
And my first reaction was, well, I guess I can't go.
00:07:50
Speaker
Like, oh, this is a lot to get excited about.
00:07:54
Speaker
And that's, I think, an interesting part about this conversation is
00:07:59
Speaker
It's I still am a huge fan of Burning Man.
00:08:03
Speaker
Has it changed?
00:08:04
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:08:05
Speaker
Has it gotten to a point where it doesn't provide the same depth of experience for me and many seasoned burners?
00:08:15
Speaker
Yes.
00:08:16
Speaker
So the conversation can be what sucks about Burning Man?
00:08:21
Speaker
Or the conversation can be, what is wonderful about this event and what still is working and what is still beneficial to people and culture?
00:08:32
Speaker
And then how can we promote those things, get the most out
Burning Man's Influence on Creativity and Growth
00:08:36
Speaker
of it?
00:08:36
Speaker
And then if we've decided that the event itself is no longer for us, how can we still cherish what we've got from it and bring it into our lives and the world?
00:08:48
Speaker
Well said.
00:08:48
Speaker
So on that note, Halsey, I want to kind of start with that.
00:08:53
Speaker
What's still working for you with the event?
00:08:56
Speaker
What juice and what gold are you still getting out of your participation?
00:09:03
Speaker
That's a great question.
00:09:04
Speaker
And I got it answered for me this morning in my morning broadcast.
00:09:08
Speaker
I do a 9 a.m.
00:09:09
Speaker
live broadcast every day.
00:09:10
Speaker
And
00:09:11
Speaker
someone came in and they shared their gratitude for the day was the experience they were having preparing for the burn.
00:09:16
Speaker
They were leading an art project and they were stepping into this identity of an artist and a creator and they were having people trust them with this vision.
00:09:28
Speaker
And so this human being that is stepping into this role of creator and artist and leader.
00:09:36
Speaker
And I think that it is an incredible
00:09:41
Speaker
landscape for that kind of personal growth, that you still can have an experience where you are going to be encouraged to create.
00:09:48
Speaker
You're going to be encouraged to see yourself as an artist.
00:09:51
Speaker
And no matter what is happening in the politics of the event, no matter what is happening in X percent of people are not cool or a certain amount of people are making VIP areas or whatever the complaints are, there's still massive amounts of people that are
00:10:09
Speaker
stepping deeply into their creative self and giving themselves permission to express.
00:10:13
Speaker
And that is the transformation that gave birth to the whole concept of transformational festivals that is key to an evolution of our culture.
00:10:27
Speaker
Agreed.
00:10:27
Speaker
Agreed.
00:10:28
Speaker
So yeah, I feel the event is big enough that both things could be true.
00:10:36
Speaker
I feel it's a big enough...
00:10:39
Speaker
palette that I think it's the idea of like you choose your own adventure is still still available up there I do agree with that so Betsy I was thinking with you you just went last year where did and I know you've been several times where did last year rank for you
00:10:59
Speaker
Not that you have to rank it, but the overall experience, was it still as juicy for you last year?
00:11:06
Speaker
Was it juicier?
00:11:08
Speaker
Less juicy?
00:11:10
Speaker
When you came off the planet?
00:11:11
Speaker
Well, it was not juicy.
00:11:12
Speaker
It was quite dry, actually.
00:11:14
Speaker
Yeah.
00:11:18
Speaker
But fulfilling, yes, very fulfilling, if that's what you mean, juicy.
00:11:23
Speaker
Yeah, I was there last year for 13 days, which was probably the longest that I have ever spent out on the beautiful Black Rock Desert Playa.
00:11:34
Speaker
And I would say that it was up there for me in one of my better years, but just like...
00:11:40
Speaker
just like anything, I think it really, for me, really boils down to the refinement of how I do things.
00:11:47
Speaker
You know, I feel like after being there, learning how to navigate that kind of terrain,
00:11:56
Speaker
I feel like it contributed to having a good experience where in previous years, I was just trying to figure it out.
00:12:04
Speaker
It was really fun and magical and beautiful and all of the things, but also very challenging.
00:12:09
Speaker
And of course there's big challenges last year as well too with the heat and always, but to be able to have an inner fortitude that has been cultivated over some time to be able to face those challenges makes it much more
00:12:24
Speaker
fun and enjoyable and easeful.
00:12:27
Speaker
So yeah, I feel like last year was probably one of the better years for me.
00:12:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:12:35
Speaker
And even in that space of like considering if I'm going to go again, knowing, you know, that question that we get to be with, whether it's Burning Man or something else, it's like, wow, do we just kind of like let that be the high point?
00:12:51
Speaker
Yeah.
00:12:52
Speaker
do I go again and maybe it's going to get even better or am I going to like have a jaded experience?
00:12:57
Speaker
Maybe it's going to be really hard and challenging and I'm never going to want to go back, you know?
00:13:02
Speaker
And so I, I definitely like to consider that.
00:13:04
Speaker
And I love what, um, Halcyon, you shared your experience that, you know, 24 years of going and last year was a really, really difficult year for you.
00:13:15
Speaker
And so here you are getting to go back with a new mindset, a new perspective, um,
00:13:22
Speaker
And so, yeah, I feel like also in this conversation around feeling jaded is a powerful thing to consider too, because after so many years of going, so I'll just share quickly too.
00:13:35
Speaker
Last year I was camping with 25 to 30 year veterans and there was definitely that sense of jadedness and entitlement and it impacted the experience.
00:13:48
Speaker
So I'd love to hear if either of you have anything on that.
00:13:51
Speaker
Well, I want to jump on a little bit of what you were talking about.
00:13:55
Speaker
I was hearing from you of being at a place where you are kind of choosing your experience there.
00:14:01
Speaker
And I think that that is a critical part of avoiding a jaded experience or avoiding, you know, like getting caught in the things about Burning Man that have lost some of their magic.
00:14:12
Speaker
So if you go and you are not actively seeking out
00:14:18
Speaker
special experiences or you are not like, it can be, the tempting thing is you can get drawn to the brightest lights and the loudest music.
00:14:26
Speaker
And what happens then is you find yourself at a big, fancy, big money art car or big fun, you know, it's like a rave or a nightclub.
00:14:35
Speaker
And while that can be super fun, the true magic of Burning Man is not in a dance party.
00:14:43
Speaker
It's fun to have dance parties there.
00:14:45
Speaker
And obviously, I'm taking a stance.
00:14:46
Speaker
There are some people who are going to say, oh, what are you talking about?
00:14:48
Speaker
Dancing is everything at Burning Man.
00:14:50
Speaker
But I would say- You're at Robot Heart, man.
00:14:51
Speaker
You don't know.
00:14:52
Speaker
And people have transformational experiences at Robot Heart.
00:14:54
Speaker
But to me, you're going to miss out on the
00:14:59
Speaker
the demonstrations of human creativity and inspiration that are so prevalent out there in the less loud, less bright nooks and crannies of smaller theme camps or individual sculptures.
00:15:11
Speaker
And if you can show some restraint and hold yourself back from
00:15:17
Speaker
doing the biggest stuff that's out there.
00:15:19
Speaker
That's when you're going to avoid any of the stuff that makes you jaded and say, oh, there's still incredible people doing incredible things that are tapped so deeply in and are just, I mean, there are people having the same depth of, of inspiration and magic now as there were from the beginning.
00:15:37
Speaker
It's out there.
00:15:37
Speaker
You just got to kind of know that it's not always going to have the brightest lights on it.
00:15:41
Speaker
So true.
00:15:42
Speaker
Last year, one of my biggest lessons and kind of a regret was not exploring the camps right around where I was camped.
00:15:51
Speaker
Because I was, you know, in this camp and there's, you know, probably 10 camps right around me.
00:15:58
Speaker
And when I would leave camp, I would go out to the playa and I would go out to the party and I would go out to the art.
00:16:04
Speaker
And I didn't take as much time as I could have to really just go to my neighbors.
00:16:09
Speaker
I met a few neighbors for sure, but it wasn't until almost the end of the event that I realized that there was a camp that was having yoga classes every morning.
00:16:18
Speaker
And I'm like, wow, I've been missing out on this.
00:16:20
Speaker
And then I started going and it was like some of the most incredible experiences because
00:16:25
Speaker
Burning Man does tend to attract very high level people.
00:16:29
Speaker
You know, there's incredible...
00:16:31
Speaker
teachers and influencers and visionaries and activated people, humans sharing their gifts in a very big, beautiful way.
00:16:41
Speaker
And there's so much accessibility, right?
00:16:43
Speaker
You never know who you're going to meet.
00:16:45
Speaker
You know, you go to your neighbor and you're like, Oh, all of a sudden I'm like, I'm camp next door to the person that founded, you know, I don't know, some giant company.
00:16:54
Speaker
And they're just like, Hey, you want some bacon?
00:16:55
Speaker
You just never know.
00:16:59
Speaker
That's the thing.
00:16:59
Speaker
So like getting to know those,
00:17:01
Speaker
people that are around you is one of my greatest joys of going out there.
00:17:07
Speaker
Yeah, that's definitely been the highlights of all my years of going.
00:17:13
Speaker
The highlights that stick with me, I definitely have my moments on the dance floors for sure.
00:17:18
Speaker
But really the ones that have stuck with me are the ones where I've been like on the open, deep playa, encountering some amazing people.
00:17:25
Speaker
And which speaks to what we're both talking about or are all talking about is the,
00:17:32
Speaker
If nothing else, forget what kind of Burning Man is or what it's supposed to represent.
00:17:37
Speaker
The people that go are fantastic.
00:17:41
Speaker
I've certainly met some jerks out there, but that's like one in one in a hundred.
00:17:45
Speaker
Maybe there's just the quality of people that I would just encounter.
00:17:49
Speaker
Um,
00:17:50
Speaker
Was really fantastic.
00:17:52
Speaker
So for no other reason, it's worth going just for that.
00:17:56
Speaker
But yeah, but like you're saying, Betsy, also like, you know, those experiences like going out among the city, like the little side streets.
00:18:03
Speaker
Those are the those are also the real takeaway for me.
00:18:05
Speaker
Like the people I would meet, the crazy imaginative camps that I would find, they're super small, but it's like, wow, this is like, who thought of this?
00:18:14
Speaker
And you'd meet the founders at these camps.
00:18:16
Speaker
It was fantastic.
00:18:17
Speaker
And I remember one of my best memories or best days was needing to find a girl in our camp.
00:18:26
Speaker
who was out in the playa and I was like, oh, you know, we'd like, we need her in our camp to do like, we need to find out something.
00:18:30
Speaker
And I'm like, I'll go find her.
00:18:31
Speaker
Like, do you have any idea where she is?
00:18:32
Speaker
I'm like, no, I'll just, I'll go out.
00:18:35
Speaker
And so I just went out with the mission of finding her, but I kind of forgot about that and just had a day.
Transformative Experiences and Personal Insights at Burning Man
00:18:42
Speaker
And about three hours later, going from this, getting a ride on this art car that took me to this part of town, I just happened to stumble into this camp that I was hanging with somebody.
00:18:50
Speaker
And there she was, like three hours later.
00:18:51
Speaker
I'm like, I'm looking for you.
00:18:54
Speaker
And kind of leaving my camp, knowing I would find her, just believing I would find her.
00:18:58
Speaker
Found her, brought her back to camp.
00:18:59
Speaker
How on earth did you find her?
00:19:00
Speaker
I'm like, it's burning, man.
00:19:02
Speaker
What are you going to do?
00:19:02
Speaker
Plyamagic.
00:19:03
Speaker
Plyamagic.
00:19:04
Speaker
And Plyamagic is definitely still happening, even at the scale and with all the money that's there.
00:19:09
Speaker
And that's a common frustration.
00:19:11
Speaker
And there's an interesting, I think, two sides to this influx of money.
00:19:19
Speaker
Because one of the things that has happened is Burning Man has become a source of some of the most incredible art in the world, arguably the greatest large-scale art the world has ever seen.
00:19:32
Speaker
And some of the big art now is in these crazy multimillion dollar budgets.
00:19:37
Speaker
And so you can witness and experience and be an audience to this incredible art, even if it's, I mean, some of it's interactive as well.
00:19:45
Speaker
But so that is an incredible experience to witness that kind of art.
00:19:49
Speaker
But one thing that if you just go to the big, huge art projects, it's easy to feel
00:19:58
Speaker
awe and respect for the artists without having that feeling of like, I could do this, which is how early Burning Man, there was a lot of like scrappy stuff and people, I mean, taking stuff from junkyards and, you know, glue gunning things to things and just, or just having a cleverness and, and junk.
00:20:15
Speaker
And just the, the, the fact that there is no curator for Burning Man art, anyone can bring something and say, this is my art and share it.
00:20:23
Speaker
That switch in your mind, I think, is so critical to go, oh, I could do that.
00:20:29
Speaker
And it's harder to have that experience in the modern day Burning Man and the old Burning Man.
00:20:34
Speaker
You still can, especially if you are going to take some time at the smaller things and go through the streets and see the inspiring ways that somebody is preparing a grilled cheese sandwich or the silly costume that someone has made out of their
00:20:51
Speaker
their Dungeons and Dragons figurines or whatever, you know, just like, like just and just getting to witness like, oh, I could do that.
00:20:58
Speaker
Oh, there's there's this well of creativity that I've never tapped into because I don't see myself as an artist.
00:21:04
Speaker
Now, am I someone who's going to build a three thousand three million dollar structure that requires engineers and laser techs and
00:21:13
Speaker
That's too far of a stretch.
00:21:16
Speaker
But seeing myself as someone who could start glue gunning random crap to my clothes, yeah, I can do that.
00:21:23
Speaker
Yes, I love that so much.
00:21:25
Speaker
That is a major spark for me because I feel like this Burning Man culture and the experience really does influence that kind of belief in our own creativity.
00:21:36
Speaker
Because when we see somebody expressing themselves in this new and different way, in a way that like is, oh, I could do that.
00:21:44
Speaker
Wow.
00:21:45
Speaker
Okay.
00:21:45
Speaker
There's always this thing that happens.
00:21:47
Speaker
I'm sure probably you guys and many burners out there have thought when you get to the playa, I'm going to do that next year.
00:21:54
Speaker
Oh, that I want to do that.
00:21:56
Speaker
I'm going to do that next year.
00:21:57
Speaker
And you start thinking about how you can take that inspiration of somebody else's creativity, make it your own.
00:22:03
Speaker
Right.
00:22:03
Speaker
And so I feel like that that's such a valuable thing in life.
00:22:08
Speaker
to be empowered in our creativity.
00:22:11
Speaker
And here we are in this preparation process, right?
00:22:15
Speaker
I mean, depending on when you're listening to this, but here we are in real time, a month away.
00:22:20
Speaker
The creativity that happens in the preparation for me has been so profound.
00:22:27
Speaker
I get into sewing and crafting and getting very inventive with
00:22:35
Speaker
the ways that I'm choosing to set my camp up and what I can bring and how I can do things and how I can gift.
00:22:42
Speaker
And it's like this whole expansion of possibilities that comes even just in the thought of going, right?
00:22:51
Speaker
And so I feel like the playa magic happens without even having to be on the playa.
00:22:58
Speaker
You know, and so I just really want to recognize that as something that is so powerful about this whole vortex.
00:23:06
Speaker
Yeah.
00:23:08
Speaker
Yeah, there's there's I've heard Burning Man referred to as a permission engine that, you know, so often that we're living in a way of what we should do and what should we do to fit in?
00:23:17
Speaker
What should we do to get approval?
00:23:18
Speaker
What should we do?
00:23:19
Speaker
And then we get to this environment where we are given permission to listen to our impulses to express.
00:23:25
Speaker
And it's super dramatic in what can happen when we when we start listening to that.
00:23:30
Speaker
I mean, I know that also for me, like I
00:23:36
Speaker
I can create things for Burning Man at a level of craftsmanship that is lower than what I would wear in the streets.
00:23:44
Speaker
I don't know if I said that right, but you know, like, Burning Man, I can just glue gun things on top of things and cut the sleeves off stuff.
00:23:52
Speaker
And it's just good enough.
00:23:54
Speaker
And so for me, that is so liberating to know, like, there's no wrong way to do it if you're just following your impulses.
00:24:01
Speaker
And I don't have that same...
00:24:03
Speaker
universal acceptance and permission in the default world.
00:24:07
Speaker
So it's, it's so beautiful to be able to, to head someplace where that is going to be the case.
00:24:12
Speaker
Well, I think what, one of the things that's available via Burning Man, via being on the playa is yes, it's a permission engine, but it also gets you to a point where you realize like, who do, whose permission do I need?
00:24:27
Speaker
Who's who's who's permission am I seeking?
00:24:31
Speaker
And it's like any other place, you know, wherever you go, there you are.
00:24:37
Speaker
And what Burning Man did for me and for so many other people, not only my first year, but every subsequent year, then it shows you who you are.
00:24:46
Speaker
very quickly.
00:24:47
Speaker
Like for the moment, like a lot of times you don't even have to arrive there and you're like, oh, this is my thing.
00:24:54
Speaker
This is what I do.
00:24:55
Speaker
This is what I do when I'm faced with adversity.
00:24:57
Speaker
This is what I do when I see somebody who's challenging or somebody who I like.
00:25:01
Speaker
It shows you who you are very quickly.
00:25:03
Speaker
And then you have the choice to either embody that, depending on how you feel about it, or be like,
00:25:09
Speaker
No, I don't actually like that part of myself.
00:25:11
Speaker
Maybe I can work on that part of myself.
00:25:13
Speaker
Maybe I can evolve, take the next step.
00:25:17
Speaker
And to the point about granting permission, it's like, yeah, you see what people are doing artistic-wise and, oh, maybe I can do something like that.
00:25:26
Speaker
And it just, yes, it allows you to...
00:25:30
Speaker
to grow in ways that you may not have thought of and also to realize like okay I can I can maybe drop some of these parts of myself um that may not be serving me and you know also on the idea of you know wherever you go there you are it was interesting was it last it was last year yes last year I didn't go but shortly after I saw
00:25:53
Speaker
I just want to touch on this briefly.
00:25:54
Speaker
I saw a post on social media, somebody I didn't know, but somebody posted it and it was a black person who had gone to Burning Man for the first time and was lamenting the utter lack of diversity
00:26:08
Speaker
And I felt it.
00:26:09
Speaker
I didn't feel welcome.
00:26:10
Speaker
I didn't have the experience.
00:26:12
Speaker
I don't know why people would do this.
00:26:13
Speaker
I thought I would try it.
00:26:15
Speaker
And I've never felt so unwelcome.
00:26:16
Speaker
I've never this, that, the other thing.
00:26:18
Speaker
So on and so forth.
00:26:19
Speaker
I can assure you I will never go back.
00:26:21
Speaker
And then all sorts of comments talking about what Burning Man is.
00:26:24
Speaker
It's some white people shit.
00:26:25
Speaker
And da-da-da-da-da.
00:26:27
Speaker
The very next post was a first time black person.
00:26:32
Speaker
This was amazing.
00:26:34
Speaker
Way more diversity than I ever thought.
00:26:36
Speaker
I posted a photo of her with probably another 40 or 50 black people that just did some sort of like meet up and just found each other.
00:26:44
Speaker
And I've never seen a photo like that, that, that, that much color out on the playa.
00:26:47
Speaker
And she just went on the same amount of length about how amazing it was.
00:26:51
Speaker
She can't, she can't believe she waited this long to go.
00:26:53
Speaker
She's absolutely going back.
00:26:55
Speaker
She's going to
00:26:55
Speaker
organize your own camp, this, that, and the other thing.
00:26:57
Speaker
All these comments being like, yes, it was so diverse this year.
00:26:59
Speaker
It was so great, dah, dah, dah, dah.
00:27:02
Speaker
And I'm like, this is the same place.
00:27:04
Speaker
This is the same experience.
00:27:06
Speaker
What's causing the difference in experience?
00:27:12
Speaker
And it just being like what you're choosing to focus on and what you choose to focus on expands, as we've all kind of heard.
00:27:20
Speaker
And one other quick thing on that was several other years ago,
00:27:26
Speaker
One of the girls in our camp, her boyfriend hadn't left for the night and didn't come back all night.
00:27:31
Speaker
And in the morning, you know, and sometimes you'll just be up all night because that's what happens out there.
00:27:38
Speaker
And she was in the morning.
00:27:39
Speaker
She was like, I can't.
00:27:40
Speaker
Where's my boyfriend?
00:27:41
Speaker
You know, what's he doing?
00:27:42
Speaker
Who's he with?
00:27:43
Speaker
He said, like, is he in trouble?
00:27:45
Speaker
He's probably not in trouble.
00:27:46
Speaker
He's probably with somebody stressing, spinning herself out, so on and so forth.
00:27:51
Speaker
the exact same camp another friend of mine experiencing the same thing boyfriend's gone all night she had no he did had no idea where he was oh i wonder what sort of adventure he's gotten into i cannot wait to hear about his night and that and she was just so like uh just like love this like loving that prospect and anticipation to hear about his story she's like you know kind of inspired her to have her own adventure um as well and again it's like what's the difference between the two scenarios the exact same scenario
00:28:18
Speaker
It shows you who you are very quickly.
00:28:20
Speaker
And that's something I think everybody could benefit from because it's easy to to lose track out here in the in the default world.
00:28:28
Speaker
And, you know, the mask that we wear that we don't really know we're wearing until we go to a place where you don't have to wear a mask and be like, oh, this is
Understanding and Practicing Burning Man Principles
00:28:37
Speaker
this.
00:28:37
Speaker
Oh, I'm kind of like not really embodying my authentic self or this is who I am.
00:28:44
Speaker
It's a wake up call for a lot of people.
00:28:45
Speaker
And that, that once again, he said, yeah, one other thing, if that's all you get out of it, that makes it worth it.
00:28:52
Speaker
Power of perspective.
00:28:54
Speaker
That is so, so beautifully stated.
00:28:57
Speaker
I love all of that.
00:28:58
Speaker
And yeah, it is a playground for perspective, practicing, shifting perspective, whether that is, you know, something around like what you're speaking to around, like,
00:29:09
Speaker
How am I going to start to think about things differently, but also seeing things differently?
00:29:13
Speaker
And I want to kind of go back to the playa magic in that regard too, because there's something unique about the land there that is, you know, uncommon for us as humans to spend time on very flat ground that goes for miles and miles and miles.
00:29:31
Speaker
It's very rare that you might be able to stand in one place, watch the sunset,
00:29:37
Speaker
and just run straight towards the sunset for like a couple of miles or more.
00:29:43
Speaker
Right.
00:29:44
Speaker
It's like, there's usually some kind of Hills or barriers or something in the way.
00:29:48
Speaker
Right.
00:29:48
Speaker
But there's this experience out there where energy moves, um, this ground in a different sort of way.
00:29:56
Speaker
And we start to see things in different sort of ways.
00:29:59
Speaker
So with that, um, distance, you can see so much farther.
00:30:04
Speaker
You may see an art piece that is,
00:30:06
Speaker
a mile away, literally from, you know, this perspective where it's very small and then you start getting closer and closer and closer and it gets bigger and bigger and bigger.
00:30:16
Speaker
You know, there's art pieces out there that are, that play on perspective.
00:30:20
Speaker
know, like tiny little something far away, but then it's like something lines up to make it bigger.
00:30:25
Speaker
And so from my personal experience, I feel like it has helped me to be a perspective shifter, you know, and hopefully that girl in your camp or that guy that made that post is able to see things from different perspectives.
00:30:41
Speaker
Right.
00:30:42
Speaker
And then also the energy of like, if you're looking at some, some art piece, um, from one angle,
00:30:49
Speaker
it's very easy to move to another angle and see something totally different.
00:30:54
Speaker
Whereas an art piece on the wall is two dimensional, you know, it's a little more difficult to see the perspective, you know, and the, the process of shifting our perspectives on art, I believe helps us to empower our abilities to shift our perspectives on who we are, shift our perspectives on how we see the world,
00:31:15
Speaker
how we see our relationships, how we choose our thoughts, you know, because perspective is everything.
00:31:22
Speaker
It really makes a huge difference.
00:31:24
Speaker
Like that woman, I'll just come back to her.
00:31:26
Speaker
She was choosing a perspective that was creating a lot of suffering.
00:31:30
Speaker
And the other woman was choosing a perspective that was creating a lot of joy.
00:31:34
Speaker
And so it's a really beautiful choice that we have and a training ground.
00:31:42
Speaker
Yeah.
00:31:43
Speaker
And it's really kind of shows you what you're, what you're choosing.
00:31:45
Speaker
And it's up to you to examine like, okay, why am I choosing that?
00:31:50
Speaker
So, so we've been kind of talking about what is maybe changed about it.
00:31:56
Speaker
There is in theory, something about the event that is never changing.
00:32:00
Speaker
That is kind of foundational.
00:32:02
Speaker
And that is the 10 principles of Burning Man.
00:32:05
Speaker
I don't know that we need to recite all of them here unless you're
00:32:07
Speaker
Unless somebody is interested in doing that.
00:32:11
Speaker
Yeah, because there's probably some people out there that might not have been.
00:32:14
Speaker
Yes, yes, I agree with that.
00:32:16
Speaker
And yeah, so let's touch on that real quick, maybe with a refresher.
00:32:19
Speaker
And how is that being embodied these days?
00:32:24
Speaker
Um, yeah, so yeah, we can, we can evolve into that.
00:32:28
Speaker
Well, this could definitely be, uh, I mean, I can talk about the principles for many, many hours and I have many times, but I'll just run through them real quick, which are there's radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation,
00:32:53
Speaker
and immediacy.
00:32:55
Speaker
And we'll put a link in the show notes to the page where it describes this, because there's a lot of people, like they learn those and they start acting from a place of those words.
00:33:02
Speaker
But each one of those has a paragraph that goes with it, that describes it in a deeper way, that answers a lot of questions about what they mean.
00:33:11
Speaker
And by design, those principles conflict with each other's.
00:33:16
Speaker
Like there's things about radical self-expression and communal effort.
00:33:20
Speaker
Those can be somewhat, you know, they can be at odds.
00:33:24
Speaker
It could be an opposition, yeah.
00:33:25
Speaker
Yeah, and it's intentionally created in a way so that this is not a decree, but a landscape of dialogue and thinking, which I think is, it's the more I study them.
00:33:35
Speaker
And I've actually, I went to a week class at Esalen where I studied Burning Man history and the principles.
00:33:40
Speaker
And I just am so, it still is one of the guiding principles of my life.
00:33:46
Speaker
There's so much in them.
00:33:48
Speaker
So much, yeah.
00:33:49
Speaker
I love that so much because I feel like it's a value system.
00:33:54
Speaker
Right.
00:33:54
Speaker
When we have these pillars to keep coming back to, it helps to maintain the integrity of an experience, whether it's burning man or a relationship or a business.
00:34:04
Speaker
and to be able to have these to keep coming back to.
00:34:07
Speaker
And I know for me, I'm not a super long time burner, but I consider eight years is a good amount of time to have integration of the culture and these practices.
00:34:19
Speaker
And it's really influenced the way that I choose to operate in my life.
00:34:24
Speaker
I'll give an example.
00:34:25
Speaker
So immediacy, that one really has impacted me because I learned out there
00:34:33
Speaker
that immediacy is really important because, you know, the moment is fleeting.
00:34:38
Speaker
And so, you know, if I'm out there and I'm riding my bike and I see an art piece that I, and I think, oh, I'd love to go climb on that.
00:34:46
Speaker
I'll come back later.
00:34:49
Speaker
I go, you know, keep going on.
00:34:51
Speaker
And then I might not come back later or like maybe next time I come back and there's a bunch of people on it or it's closed or,
00:34:58
Speaker
something.
00:34:59
Speaker
And so to be able to really put that into practice and then in my own life, if I'm feeling an inspiration to go somewhere or do something or call someone or email, send the thing like, like drop in as, as immediately as possible, set myself up for success because that's the intuition that's guiding.
00:35:18
Speaker
And so immediacy is just one of the values that I really tried to apply into my life.
00:35:24
Speaker
And that's what Burning Man has inspired me.
00:35:26
Speaker
I'm really glad you selected that one because that's definitely the one that kind of spoke to me as well when Halsey recited those.
00:35:34
Speaker
And that is one that, like you, Betsy, I've absolutely incorporated into my day-to-day living.
00:35:41
Speaker
The idea, like when I get the idea about something and I learned that out in the play, like, yeah, if you have an idea now, now's the time to, I should go visit so-and-so.
00:35:50
Speaker
I'll get her.
00:35:50
Speaker
No, now, right now I have the idea, do it now.
00:35:53
Speaker
And it kind of taught me how to be in the flow, which isn't always easy to do out here in the default world, but it's something that is a practice, like so many things.
00:36:02
Speaker
And I've definitely become a
00:36:05
Speaker
how about now person when somebody is like, oh, we should do this thing.
00:36:08
Speaker
And it's like, how about now?
00:36:09
Speaker
Or can you help me with this?
00:36:10
Speaker
Put on our calendar.
00:36:11
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:11
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:11
Speaker
Put it on the calendar.
00:36:13
Speaker
We should have dinner.
00:36:14
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:14
Speaker
Great.
00:36:14
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:15
Speaker
Okay.
00:36:15
Speaker
Let's, let's get on the calendar now.
00:36:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:17
Speaker
Yeah, exactly.
00:36:18
Speaker
If not tonight, then yeah, let's, let's, let's schedule that.
00:36:20
Speaker
And there's like, you know, even, even living in the community that I live in, like somebody's like, Hey, can, at some point this week, can you help me with this?
00:36:26
Speaker
And it's like, how about right now?
00:36:28
Speaker
Uh, yeah, we can do that.
00:36:29
Speaker
Yes.
00:36:29
Speaker
Right now.
00:36:30
Speaker
So it's definitely made me a, how about now person, which I actually love.
00:36:34
Speaker
I want to give you a little trivia about the immediacy principle.
00:36:40
Speaker
Initially, Burning Man did not have 10 principles.
00:36:42
Speaker
It was formed from the Cacophony Society.
00:36:45
Speaker
There was not much official rules about it.
00:36:48
Speaker
And then at one point, when regionals started to happen, there were people who were throwing regionals needed a way to explain this event.
00:36:57
Speaker
to the world.
00:36:57
Speaker
And so Larry Harvey went on a retreat and came back with these analyzing not what we should do, but what is, what are the things that make this community amazing?
00:37:08
Speaker
What is happening here that makes it special?
00:37:09
Speaker
And that's where the radical self-expression is happening.
00:37:11
Speaker
Gifting is happening.
00:37:12
Speaker
And he came back with these nine principles and everyone was like nine, come on, man.
00:37:17
Speaker
You can't have a list of nine.
00:37:19
Speaker
And so he left and came back and goes, immediacy.
00:37:21
Speaker
That's number 10.
00:37:24
Speaker
That's funny.
00:37:25
Speaker
I love that.
00:37:26
Speaker
That's so cool.
00:37:27
Speaker
Yeah.
00:37:27
Speaker
So, and I feel like there's been like my, my own experience over the playa.
00:37:33
Speaker
Like, like I mentioned to you guys before, there's the, the 10 principles, which are like, you know, for want of a better term than, you know, the version, burning man's version of the 10 commandments, thou shalt do this or not to do this.
00:37:45
Speaker
And there's the, there's the principles.
00:37:46
Speaker
And then there's the embodying of the principles or the lack of embodying of the principles.
00:37:51
Speaker
And I, I will say that,
00:37:53
Speaker
I like the idea of the 10 principles.
00:37:56
Speaker
Often, I do not see them being practiced out of the playa by people who I frankly feel, you know, they've been going long enough.
00:38:03
Speaker
They should, you know, I don't want to say they should know better.
00:38:06
Speaker
I don't even want to say should.
00:38:08
Speaker
Because again, this is choice.
00:38:11
Speaker
And I got a little jaded pretty early in my Burning Man career about that because it's like, oh, yeah, these are the 10 principles and nobody's doing them.
00:38:19
Speaker
But again, that's my perspective.
00:38:21
Speaker
That doesn't necessarily mean it's true.
00:38:23
Speaker
You know, that's my perspective.
00:38:25
Speaker
That's my version of reality.
00:38:26
Speaker
This is true.
00:38:27
Speaker
But that is something that I have, once again, been able to bring with the default world, with having the realizations like, okay, these are the 10 principles.
00:38:35
Speaker
Because that some people are not adhering to that does not mean that they are not valid, does not mean that they do not have value in the world or in that event.
00:38:46
Speaker
And so I've been able to embody that out here, whereas like when I see something
00:38:51
Speaker
happening like for example i don't know why i think about this and i try not to get we're not trying to get political here but when it comes to like eating at chick-fil-a for example um who a company who's been pretty staunchly in their um their their support for
00:39:08
Speaker
you know, they choose not to support things like gay marriage and homosexual and trans rights and all this other stuff.
00:39:14
Speaker
And there has been like a, not a preponderance, but definitely existence of gay people going to Chick-fil-A and being like, I love Chick-fil-A, I don't care about that.
00:39:22
Speaker
And being like, you know, they hired, you know, they've got a trans visibility, like coordinator department in their corporate system.
00:39:33
Speaker
So they are apparently being, you know,
00:39:38
Speaker
open to things like that, but they're not really being open because they're still spending their money this way.
00:39:42
Speaker
So I had somebody be like, all right, you know, gay people are, enough gay people are fine with Chick-fil-A.
00:39:47
Speaker
What's your hang up on it?
00:39:48
Speaker
You're going to be offended for them.
00:39:50
Speaker
And it's not about being offended for them.
00:39:52
Speaker
And I'm not doing it.
00:39:54
Speaker
So I'm still not eating at Chick-fil-A based on principle, not because of who they are, but because of who I am.
00:40:01
Speaker
And the, the 10 principles can, can be in effect.
00:40:05
Speaker
I believe in those.
00:40:05
Speaker
And just because somebody is choosing not to does not mean that they're not valid.
00:40:08
Speaker
I can choose to embody them.
00:40:10
Speaker
Not because of that.
00:40:13
Speaker
They don't, they're not reasonable or not.
00:40:15
Speaker
Nobody's adhering to them just because that's, that makes me feel good.
00:40:18
Speaker
And it's not altruistic.
00:40:19
Speaker
It's just, so just I'm doing it because of who I am.
00:40:22
Speaker
And that's, that feels good enough.
00:40:24
Speaker
Amen.
00:40:24
Speaker
And I do want to make a slight, just address the thought of them being like commandments because, um,
00:40:30
Speaker
They are principles and there is no actual rules or consequences to not failing.
00:40:35
Speaker
That was a poor choice of words.
00:40:36
Speaker
Yeah.
00:40:37
Speaker
And I think that that's what an interesting thing about the community and about the 10 principles is that one of the reasons why they work is because you're really empowered and given permission to follow
00:40:49
Speaker
what you feel is right.
00:40:52
Speaker
And the principles are to guide you there.
00:40:54
Speaker
And there's an interesting thing that happens, I think, in a community that is something we need a lot of work on, is some people get way too attached to the principles as rules.
00:41:04
Speaker
And it's kind of like, you know, the metaphor of the Buddhist story of, you know, don't mistake the finger pointing at the moon for the moon.
00:41:14
Speaker
The principles are supposed to get us to this place of acting in community and supporting one another.
00:41:19
Speaker
But if you get so hung up on a rule that you're attacking people, it's problematic.
00:41:24
Speaker
I've seen people demonstrate far more poison in trying to enforce a principle than the person is creating by like some, long ago, there was an issue with people bringing cheap feather boas to the playa.
00:41:39
Speaker
So they made a rule about no feathers.
00:41:42
Speaker
Now that rule was repealed with the understanding like, hey, a lot of people are making really gorgeous outfits with feathers that they are adhering and they're following the principles and they're doing the best they can to make sure that these outfits are not creating moop, matter out of place.
00:41:58
Speaker
However, this lingering anti-feather mentality is still so fucking strong that anytime someone posts an image online with feathers, people go and they attack them.
00:42:09
Speaker
And people will drive by someone in an outfit, ride their bike by and yell shit at people with feathers on their outfits.
00:42:14
Speaker
And it's like they think that they are enforcing and they are making our community better by becoming these like shame, anger filled enforcers.
00:42:22
Speaker
And it's just that is not the way that it works.
00:42:26
Speaker
And I'll just say one more thing on this, because I think it's this is one of the poisons that is growing is there's there's the people that do get jaded.
00:42:33
Speaker
are putting a lot of blame on social media and instagramers and influencers who go out there and take pictures and then they try to turn commodify the burn into something to make them look better or sell their products or whatever now that is happening and that it does exist it does not mean that everybody who is beautiful and looks like they should be in a magazine in an awesome outfit is doing that and yet i have heard from
00:43:01
Speaker
probably 25 people who have been out doing a photo shoot and had people yell stuff at them, say, you're ruining Burning Man, you're the problem.
00:43:09
Speaker
And one of my favorite photographers, James and Percy, stopped doing photo shoots of people because there was so often that he was just being attacked verbally by people who think they're helping the event and actually are just making it, you know,
00:43:27
Speaker
losing sight of what it's all about.
00:43:29
Speaker
They're killing the buzz.
00:43:30
Speaker
Yes.
00:43:32
Speaker
Yeah, that's that's really hard.
00:43:34
Speaker
That like makes my heart sink.
00:43:36
Speaker
I know.
00:43:37
Speaker
Hearing that, you know, and it is a part of the evolution.
00:43:41
Speaker
And, you know, I feel like just like anything, things do change.
00:43:46
Speaker
And, you know, it's really important for all of us to hold that civic responsibility.
00:43:52
Speaker
Right.
00:43:53
Speaker
To maintain the integrity.
00:43:55
Speaker
of these core principles.
00:43:57
Speaker
And even when there are dark forces coming in to like, you know, put it out there as like, you know, something that's very ego-based, to be able to just let that be a reminder for all of us to show up in the best way that we can and to not go into that.
00:44:17
Speaker
And how can I actually be a steward of maintaining these principles and maintaining that
00:44:25
Speaker
level of inclusivity and kindness, you know, and not get swept up in the like the division that, you know, that's such a part of our world.
00:44:37
Speaker
There's already so many things that are kind of making people feel separate and dividing people.
00:44:43
Speaker
And the playa is a place for people to be able to
00:44:47
Speaker
unify and to come together and to feel that sense of community.
00:44:53
Speaker
And so I think it is really up to each of us as individuals, whether that is on the playa or out in the world, to continue to live these principles, whether it's the 10 principles of Burning Man or your own core value system.
00:45:08
Speaker
Well said.
00:45:09
Speaker
Well said.
Personal Impacts and Evolving Community Dynamics
00:45:10
Speaker
So, yeah.
00:45:11
Speaker
So, um, again, this is a, this is a rich topic we can continue on and, uh, we could go on for a couple more hours at least talking about this.
00:45:21
Speaker
I love talking about Burning Man.
00:45:22
Speaker
I'm into it.
00:45:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:45:23
Speaker
So if anyone ever finds me out in the world and they're like, want to have a conversation about Burning Man, I'm like, I'm ready for it.
00:45:29
Speaker
I love it.
00:45:30
Speaker
Yeah.
00:45:30
Speaker
Yeah.
00:45:31
Speaker
That's true.
00:45:31
Speaker
True for all of us.
00:45:32
Speaker
I'm sure.
00:45:33
Speaker
I mean, I don't talk about it a lot here, but the huge part of the Hug Nation YouTube channel is Burning Man videos.
00:45:40
Speaker
So this is, yeah, don't get me started.
00:45:43
Speaker
Oh my gosh.
00:45:44
Speaker
When I first found out about Burning Man, I typed it in Google and I saw this guy with pink hair and I was like, wow, he's awesome.
00:45:51
Speaker
And then all of a sudden I saw you on the streets in San Diego.
00:45:54
Speaker
I was like, hey, it's the guy.
00:45:56
Speaker
It's the Burning Man guy.
00:45:57
Speaker
And then I said, you're ruining Burning Man.
00:45:59
Speaker
You're wearing feathers.
00:46:01
Speaker
Yeah, totally.
00:46:02
Speaker
You yelled at me.
00:46:03
Speaker
I was like, you're awesome.
00:46:04
Speaker
And you're like, fuck off.
00:46:06
Speaker
And I was like, no, actually, it didn't go like that at all.
00:46:09
Speaker
I was like, I waved at you and you come running over and you were like at your pink bike and you were like, hello, I'm Housy and what's your name?
00:46:16
Speaker
And you were fully embodying the energetics of inclusivity and the principles of Burning Man.
00:46:23
Speaker
And you still do.
00:46:25
Speaker
Here we are, you know, many, many years
Reflections on Burning Man's Evolution and Adaptation
00:46:27
Speaker
later.
00:46:27
Speaker
And so thank you for being a beacon for what Burning Man really represents, even in the face of the evolution and, you know, potential we wobble.
00:46:39
Speaker
Thank you.
00:46:40
Speaker
Yeah.
00:46:41
Speaker
Yeah.
00:46:41
Speaker
Good.
00:46:42
Speaker
Well, should we go into some clothing sparks?
00:46:44
Speaker
Yeah.
00:46:45
Speaker
Yeah.
00:46:46
Speaker
I feel good for that.
00:46:46
Speaker
So for me, my closing spark, and it's something that kind of came to mind when Betsy was talking about, actually both of you in regards to the 10 principles.
00:46:55
Speaker
Something I had heard from year one, which year one for me was 2002, was that there's a saying, it's like, oh, it was better last year.
00:47:08
Speaker
um it doesn't matter it doesn't matter what and people will even say like oh i wonder how this year is going to be that before they even vetted it happened it was better last year so and it took me and it's like oh that seems jaded but it's so it's kind of funny i've kind of spun it as many people do to be like you know it's always going to be this thing i remember years where there was no like there was no cell service out there one of the best things about it was the the
00:47:31
Speaker
the you're being forced to unplug and you are out of touch with the entire rest of the world.
00:47:36
Speaker
That was frankly, one of the best things about it back.
00:47:38
Speaker
They that doesn't exist anymore because they've, they've got full service out there.
00:47:42
Speaker
You can be, you can be on your phone all week if you want.
00:47:45
Speaker
Um,
00:47:46
Speaker
Just because you can doesn't mean you should.
00:47:48
Speaker
There are people that are going to be out there doing that.
00:47:50
Speaker
And so we can have a we can feel a certain type of way about that.
00:47:53
Speaker
But it's like, OK, that's their experience.
00:47:55
Speaker
Why am I so caught up in their experience?
00:47:57
Speaker
Put your phone.
00:47:57
Speaker
You can you can put your phone down.
00:48:00
Speaker
And then also learning.
00:48:01
Speaker
I could do that here as well.
00:48:03
Speaker
I don't just because I'm wired doesn't or connected doesn't mean I have to jump into that connection.
00:48:08
Speaker
So, yeah, the idea that it's better next year, it is always interesting.
00:48:13
Speaker
turning into something.
00:48:14
Speaker
It is always evolving, sometimes by small steps and sometimes by big leads from year to year.
00:48:19
Speaker
So people lament the, oh, there's too much money in Burning Man.
00:48:22
Speaker
There's too much this.
00:48:23
Speaker
It's not the same.
00:48:23
Speaker
It's like, no, it's not the same.
00:48:24
Speaker
That's the point.
00:48:25
Speaker
That is the point.
00:48:27
Speaker
It has to be different.
00:48:28
Speaker
It has to be grown.
00:48:29
Speaker
There's no stagnation possible with this.
00:48:32
Speaker
And if we feel that stagnation, then that's a chance, again, for his perspective shift.
00:48:38
Speaker
So it is doing exactly what it's supposed to be doing.
00:48:41
Speaker
And whether or not we resonate with that is a personal choice.
00:48:47
Speaker
So whether or not we choose to go, realize that the choice is ours.
00:48:52
Speaker
Yeah.
00:48:54
Speaker
Amazing.
00:48:54
Speaker
Well said.
00:48:55
Speaker
I love that so much.
00:48:56
Speaker
Yeah, I got lots of sparks just from hearing that one.
00:49:00
Speaker
I will share my closing spark from this conversation in the choice of not going and also to speak to people out there that maybe have never gone.
00:49:11
Speaker
is really about the power of shifting perspective and practicing that on a regular basis.
00:49:18
Speaker
Because you can go out to the playa and have that experience where you're looking at things differently and you're trying on a new way of life and you're operating a little differently.
00:49:27
Speaker
I feel like that practice has been deeply influential in my life and being able to navigate all of my relationships, my creative projects, my just everything.
00:49:40
Speaker
from that willingness to shift and look at things a little differently, look at things from a different angle, different viewpoint, moving my art around in my house, trying on a different sort of style of clothing, doing things just a little differently.
00:49:56
Speaker
I feel like that is my just, I don't know, super tool that Burning Man has really taught me.
00:50:06
Speaker
So
00:50:07
Speaker
in this conversation, I feel really inspired and sparked to continue to practice that.
00:50:12
Speaker
And then I guess one more too, since I'm not going, like, how can I actually allow my creative mindset to expand a little more, you know, and even though I'm not going, what kind of art can I make that will actually be, that will uplift my spirit?
00:50:29
Speaker
How can I use that, that wonderful creative energy that Burning Man brings into and bring it into my life?
00:50:37
Speaker
Oh, I love that.
00:50:38
Speaker
Good questions.
00:50:41
Speaker
Oh, boy.
00:50:42
Speaker
I have so many things.
00:50:43
Speaker
I was like on fire with sparks.
00:50:47
Speaker
Woo!
00:50:49
Speaker
One, I think it related to and further on that idea of perspective change is that
00:50:56
Speaker
We find evidence for whatever it is that we're looking for.
00:50:59
Speaker
And I think that it is important to remember that when you are heading out to Burning Man, one of the reasons why we do it is because it is such a dramatic difference than our default lives.
00:51:09
Speaker
The environment is different.
00:51:11
Speaker
The people are acting and dressing different.
00:51:15
Speaker
the landscape is different, the rules that govern the society are different.
00:51:19
Speaker
And so it's to really take advantage of that difference so that we allow ourselves a perspective change.
00:51:26
Speaker
Because the truth is we can build utopia, but people still bring their shit to it.
00:51:31
Speaker
They still bring all their trauma and all their issues as, as Giannis's example of the two people dealing with the exact same issue, you know, like, and so
00:51:40
Speaker
there's still so much value, I think, to creating a fresh canvas for yourself in this place.
00:51:49
Speaker
And if you can keep that idea of here's the it is an artistic undertaking to work on changing my perspective.
Exploring Alternative Burning Man Experiences
00:51:58
Speaker
And if that can be part of your art there and you can try to
00:52:01
Speaker
step away from the things dragging you back into your old thoughts and your old patterns.
00:52:05
Speaker
I mean, that is going to continue to be a beautiful thing.
00:52:08
Speaker
And two of the last things, one is that if you are like, I'm over Black Rock City, I really encourage people to check out regionals.
00:52:17
Speaker
Regional burns have a lot of the early fire of Burning Man without the excess infrastructure that is sometimes frustrating about the current state of Black Rock City.
00:52:28
Speaker
And along with the idea of what can you do if you're not going to the burn, I'd like to just offer to people, if you have something that you would like to send to the temple that I could print out, like if you want to, a temple is a place where people send memories of people that they've lost.
00:52:45
Speaker
It could be a part of yourself that you want to let go of or a person in your life that you're mourning.
00:52:50
Speaker
If you want to send a
00:52:51
Speaker
picture for me to print out or a writing that I can print it and not look at it if you tell me so and I will bring that to the temple and to be burned uh with with the community thank you so much for that yeah that's such a beautiful thing we could probably do a whole episode on just the temple burn yes we could so powerful thank you for that halcyon yeah I might I'll send you something
00:53:14
Speaker
Awesome.
Engagements Beyond the Festival and Closing Thoughts
00:53:15
Speaker
And maybe I'll jump into how to find me so that you can send me that thing.
00:53:21
Speaker
I'm reachable at johnstyn.com, J-O-H-N-S-T-Y-N.com.
00:53:26
Speaker
And that has links to my Burning Man short film, it has links to my
00:53:30
Speaker
Burning Man Bootcamp as links to the playaprinciples.com website with more Burning Man stuff, as well as my daily gratitude circles, which right now are becoming very Burning Man influenced.
00:53:42
Speaker
If you want to, if you're on your way to Burning Man and you want to kind of drop in on a daily basis with me, there's links to that as well.
00:53:48
Speaker
Amazing.
00:53:48
Speaker
Yes, I love that.
00:53:50
Speaker
Yes.
00:53:51
Speaker
And you guys can find me on poweraffirmation.com as my website.
00:53:55
Speaker
I love helping people shift perspectives.
00:53:57
Speaker
I love helping my
00:53:59
Speaker
clients, whether that's in person doing body work and energy work or virtually doing coaching to really start to practice principles of positive thinking and of deep self reflection.
00:54:12
Speaker
So yeah, check it out on my website and then also follow me, send me a message on all the socials, Betsy who on Instagram.
00:54:19
Speaker
And I also will be posting some more Burning Man inspired tips and hacks and things that have really inspired me.
00:54:29
Speaker
And then lastly too, if you guys like affirmations, hopefully you do.
00:54:32
Speaker
I am an affirmation enthusiast in the show notes.
00:54:35
Speaker
There is a free gift for an audio affirmation.
00:54:38
Speaker
And I'll probably post a fun Burning Man one that I created last year too.
00:54:42
Speaker
Oh, nice, nice.
00:54:43
Speaker
Looking forward to that.
00:54:44
Speaker
So cool.
00:54:45
Speaker
And keeping with the theme of perspective shifts, I'm the CEO and founder of a nutritional supplement company called New World Nutritionals, spelled N-U, World Nutritionals.
00:54:56
Speaker
And, you know, microdosing, pretty effective way to give yourself a perspective shift.
00:55:02
Speaker
It's been called a spa day for your brain.
00:55:04
Speaker
And our main product is a microdosing product stacked with a bunch of other nutrients that help support the brain.
00:55:11
Speaker
Helps alleviate symptoms of conditions like anxiety, depression, PTSD, ADHD, things like that.
00:55:17
Speaker
It just really helps you, helps us focus memory learning and definitely gets your brain in the right lane, so to speak.
00:55:25
Speaker
So you can find us online, newworldnutritionals.com, and you can use the code SPARKED for 10% off of all of our products.
00:55:34
Speaker
If I can jump in and just say that if you are headed to the playa, that a regimen of...
00:55:40
Speaker
microdosing, uh, as you are building your neuroplasticity, as you are then undertaking these, this environment that is also helping for new patterns, it would be an awesome idea.
00:55:50
Speaker
So definitely take up the sparked discount and get on that regimen.
00:55:54
Speaker
I am personally.
00:55:56
Speaker
Fantastic.
00:55:57
Speaker
Thank you.
00:55:58
Speaker
Thank you.
00:55:58
Speaker
I agree.
00:55:59
Speaker
I agree wholeheartedly.
00:56:01
Speaker
All right, people.
00:56:02
Speaker
Uh, good, good, good talk today.
00:56:04
Speaker
Good talk today.
00:56:05
Speaker
So, uh, Betsy, can you send us off with a, uh,
00:56:10
Speaker
relevant affirmation for us.
00:56:12
Speaker
Yes.
00:56:12
Speaker
Based on our conversation on perspective, creativity, inclusivity, let me just affirm these things.
00:56:20
Speaker
So if you would like, close your eyes, take a nice deep breath and repeat these affirmations.
00:56:28
Speaker
I am willing to shift perspectives on myself and the world around me.
00:56:34
Speaker
I am willing to shift perspectives about myself and about the world around me.
00:56:40
Speaker
I allow my creativity to be fully expressed in all that I do.
00:56:46
Speaker
I allow my creativity to be expressed in all that I do.
00:56:51
Speaker
I adventure into the unknown realms with joy and playfulness.
00:56:56
Speaker
I adventure into the unknown realms with joy and playfulness.
00:57:01
Speaker
I am an explorer.
00:57:02
Speaker
I am an adventurer.
00:57:04
Speaker
I am a magic maker.
00:57:08
Speaker
Yes, yes, yes, we are.
00:57:12
Speaker
Thanks for listening out there.
00:57:13
Speaker
Stay sparked, people.