Transcript
Speaker: On today's episode, we talk about all the wonderful magical tips on Burning Man for those of you heading out this year.
Speaker: We share our favorite tips, philosophies to make your trip to the playa as awesome as possible.
Speaker: It's so full of sparks that by the end, we had to share just one more thing.
Speaker: And one more thing.
Speaker: One more thing.
Speaker: One more thing.
Speaker: Enjoy the episode.
Speaker: Welcome to Stay Sparked.
Speaker: We are two old-time friends who share deep, fun, silly, enlightening conversations with one another, and we like to share them with you as well.
Speaker: I am John Halcyon Stinn.
Speaker: I am the host of the Hug Nation YouTube channel, as well as the playaprinciples.com collection of Burning Man tips and the Burner Prep Instagram account for all the nooks and crannies of things that you probably need to know before you go to the burn.
Speaker: amazing and i am betsy finkel who is the creator of the power affirmation project i am a somatic body worker i'm also a longtime burner and i actually share a lot of burner tips but not publicly i have been sharing them with friends for years and it is one of my favorite conversations to have and i'm so grateful to get to be here with you john helsian
Speaker: Yay.
Speaker: I know it's a fun thing to kind of feel a little bit of the burner excitement.
Speaker: And neither one of us are going this year.
Speaker: I should say I've gone 26 years and this is the first year since 1998.
Speaker: that I will not be going to Black Rock City physically at least.
Speaker: Wow.
Speaker: And here we are just two weeks away or less until the gates open on Black Rock City.
Speaker: And I've been eight times over the course of almost 20 years now.
Speaker: And it has absolutely changed my life.
Speaker: And I'm so excited to get to have a deep dive conversation with Mr. Burning Man himself.
Speaker: And a little backstory.
Speaker: I would say it feels so kind of cool to be like sending energy to the burn through you who are listening right now.
Speaker: So thank you for being our ambassadors.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And that's our intention today.
Speaker: We want to give a gift to those people out there that are making the pilgrimage, that are getting ready, that are gearing up to go off grid and dive into what I think is kind of a rite of passage, really.
Speaker: It's a powerful place.
Speaker: It's a portal for sure.
Speaker: And one of the principles is gifting.
Speaker: And so we want to gift some of our favorite tips to y'all out there to receive.
Speaker: And before we drop in deep, first, I want to thank Lucid, a functional mushroom and adaptogen beverage that Betsy and I have been enjoying for a long time.
Speaker: And they are now supporting our show.
Speaker: So we hope you too, too, give Lucid a try.
Speaker: We love Lucid.
Speaker: Yum.
Speaker: Also, we like to start every episode with a little bit of gratitude.
Speaker: Betsy, what you're feeling grateful for today?
Speaker: Well, I'm grateful right now to be wearing some of my favorite Burning Man elements.
Speaker: And that you are too.
Speaker: For those of you who can't see us, I'm wearing my goggles and my bandana and my little furry vest and my little velvety armbands.
Speaker: I'm just really grateful for the accoutrement that helps me feel connected to the Burning Man culture.
Speaker: After 26 years, it is a little embarrassing the amount of burner gear I have.
Speaker: The number of fur coats and pairs of goggles, it is in the realm of obscene.
Speaker: But I am.
Speaker: Oh, I'm grateful.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: That's my gratitude.
Speaker: I am grateful for the beautiful people who are implementing, working on building the Burning Man art projects that have been so important to me over the last 12 to 18 years.
Speaker: There is a crew of Pink Heart people, former and fellow campmates, who are going to be building this incredible place that is going to be on Esplanade at 9 o'clock.
Speaker: You can see a piece of my heart if you visit there.
Speaker: It is such an important part of who I am.
Speaker: And I am so grateful for the people that are going to be carrying that torch and having that.
Speaker: It's like a child that has grown up.
Speaker: and is doing it's thriving and so cool so grateful for those people and grateful for uh the the team of folks who are taking on the pink ride which is my other kind of really special to me burning man event that's going to happen thursday at noon at the burn you meet at pink heart and you'll meet up with mingle bright side and bubbles and they will give you an experience that will change your life
Speaker: I love that.
Speaker: I want to add another gratitude for something that's happening on the playa this year.
Speaker: So one of our friends is going to be bringing a tribute to Janus Redmute, our beloved Sparky, our previous co-host who passed on this year.
Speaker: There'll be a...
Speaker: a memorial made on his behalf with photos and likely some of his ashes that are getting brought out there and getting to just be cast out into the universe through the beautiful temple burn.
Speaker: So really grateful to know that that's happening.
Speaker: It's the temple.
Speaker: I sometimes talk about Burning Man and the temple in entirely different conversations because the temple itself is just so significant.
Speaker: And maybe I'll start with that as a way to just things that I would want to impart or share with people that are going to the burn that are either new or veterans is making sure that
Speaker: that you give some attention and some time and set things aside for the temple.
Speaker: There's nothing like it.
Speaker: I would go and bring with you something to write, a Sharpie, something like that.
Speaker: You can generally find one to borrow, but it's nice to have something with you so you know you can take your time and
Speaker: and take in what's there and really give yourself permission to feel whatever you want to feel.
Speaker: I think traditional funerals and celebrations of life, there's a lot of cultural expectations of the way you're supposed to be and the way people talk about things.
Speaker: And there's something so liberating about grieving
Speaker: authentically and I will miss being there in the collective energy of that space and
Speaker: And also, if you're ever feeling lost or lonely at the burn, just being around people, the people who are in the temple are generally as present as anywhere else on Playa.
Speaker: So even if you're not, I mean, I don't mean chip up or start like hitting on people or talking to people, but just being in the presence of people who are cultivating a vibration of real sincerity and...
Speaker: Reverence.
Speaker: Reverence.
Speaker: Exactly.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Reverent.
Speaker: Very reverent place.
Speaker: And one of my favorite playa tips, too, is that if possible, getting out there, which for those of you who haven't been and are curious, it's it's pretty much like the farthest place on the playa.
Speaker: It is like at the top of the clock.
Speaker: And so it is a bit of a hike and a well worth it.
Speaker: But the best part that I've found is go out there as early as you can in the week, say Sunday or Monday, for example, to see it as it's just getting built and finished and it's mostly empty places.
Speaker: And then m ake a trek back again on Thursday because by Thursday it has absolutely transformed and has been filled up usually pretty much to the gills with all kinds of different messages and pictures and people leave so many things there to burn.
Speaker: And it is such a cool experience to get to see it on the bookends of the experience.
Speaker: So make sure you get out there two times at least.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Great tip.
Speaker: That is a great tip.
Speaker: Because at the end of the week, it's hard to find a crack that you can leave a message in as well.
Speaker: I know.
Speaker: And then plus, if you wait to the last minute to go, sometimes they close it early because they prepare for the burn.
Speaker: So definitely don't wait till Sunday to get out there because it might be closed on Sunday morning.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So burn day would be the Saturday day would be the last time you can know that you can get out there.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And know that you can write to and whatever you'd like.
Speaker: Some people feel like it's a place for people that have passed this last year.
Speaker: It's any person that you are grieving, any part of yourself that you're grieving, any part of yourself that you're hoping to say goodbye to,
Speaker: These relationships, experiences, projects.
Speaker: It's a place for I also experience it as manifestations, you know, to release certain things out there.
Speaker: Doubt, insecurities, uncertainties, trauma.
Speaker: It's a powerful place.
Speaker: I mean, there's a huge fire that goes up.
Speaker: So whatever you put in the fire to release really is what I see it as.
Speaker: And if you can schedule it, stay through the temple burn so that you can witness the very different experiences of the man burn and the temple burn and how the scientific explanation of fire might be the same.
Speaker: But the spiritual energy of the two nights is so dramatically different and both very, very powerful.
Speaker: But I prefer Temple Burn so much more.
Speaker: Oh, it's just so different.
Speaker: I mean, the man burning is like the most incredible music that you ever hear.
Speaker: I mean, it's like sound system after sound system after sound system all playing together.
Speaker: And then the Temple Burn has zero sound systems.
Speaker: So just that alone brings such a different quality.
Speaker: And here's another fun, really amazing tip that I discovered my last burn on 22.
Speaker: It was the first time I had gone by myself or I was mostly solo for my journey.
Speaker: Previous years, I was always with a group.
Speaker: And the night of the man burn, previous years, my first seven years, I was always kind of with a group and sort of wrinkling cats and trying to figure out, you know, what's the burn wearing and then leaving the camp.
Speaker: It was like,
Speaker: Always a lot.
Speaker: And so this last time I went, I went out early, early, early, like six because the man doesn't burn to like nine or something.
Speaker: And I got out there and what I saw was so beautiful.
Speaker: It was all of the art cars getting in position, but there was zero crowds.
Speaker: It was like one person per art car, like usually the artist of the art car getting in position and
Speaker: And then they had taped off the man.
Speaker: And it was like such a beautiful scene.
Speaker: So if you can have an opportunity to get out there early on Saturday night to be able to see that, even if you run back to your camp after that, it's such a cool experience to be able to just see all of the art coming together and feeling the energy.
Speaker: And then on the flip side of that, also, if you happen to stay late,
Speaker: On Tuesday morning, you can go out to the sites and see the ashes.
Speaker: That's pretty amazing.
Speaker: Or Monday also, if you're able to walk back out to the temple site or bike out and just feel the debris and the ashes.
Speaker: It's a massive, massive pile of ashes.
Speaker: And especially the temple, like lots of treasure nooks and crannies of things that have melted.
Speaker: Yeah, I love that you said that because for the longest time, I stopped going out to the Manburn.
Speaker: Like the frenzy of that the burn just did not appeal to me.
Speaker: So I would watch it from Esplanade.
Speaker: And then last year I went out and I didn't quite realize that the hours leading up to the burn is the only time when the entire city comes together.
Speaker: And you can walk around the circle and visit all of these different art cars, and they're all lit up so you can see people's faces.
Speaker: It is the best social time of the entire week.
Speaker: And even if once it starts burning, I do lose interest once people start screaming and it starts burning.
Speaker: It's like, yeah, okay, Spireworks, yay.
Speaker: If you like it, great, but it's not my thing.
Speaker: But that one communal sit-down or stand-up together is really, really awesome.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And then also after the man falls down, turns into a kind of a giant bonfire and a lot of people disperse, the art cars will stay for a while.
Speaker: And then you can walk to each art car.
Speaker: And it's just an amazing experience of being able to, like you said, it's very light and bright.
Speaker: And there's these little scenes and pockets that are all really close together.
Speaker: And you can notice what happens to the sound quality.
Speaker: I had this one time where I was walking in the circle to different art cars, and I would take one step and I would hear one track playing.
Speaker: And then I would take one step backwards and hear a different track.
Speaker: And then I would just move my body a tiny bit and hear a completely different track.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So the sound experience is, well, I'm such an audible type of person.
Speaker: It's really not like anything you'll ever experience.
Speaker: So yeah, if you're out there, make an effort to just check out all the art cars, right?
Speaker: Either right before the man burns, like, you know, the early hours, like I mentioned, or right after it's, it's such a cool thing.
Speaker: And then also I'll just tag on another one.
Speaker: If you don't want to do that, but you want to get a good chance to see all the art cars together at the beginning of the week, if you go to the DMV,
Speaker: That's a really cool thing because they have to all go get registered.
Speaker: And so you can go to the DMV and see a line of all the art cars and you can walk the line and go meet all of the people that made these art cars and talk to them and check them out up close.
Speaker: And it's a really cool experience.
Speaker: Yeah, that's both of those situations are also good places where if you have gifts to give, like you made a whole bunch of stickers or you have a puppet show that you want to give people like people are kind of in a holding pattern and are very receptive to whatever gifts that you might want to present to them.
Speaker: I wanted to, as I'm noticing how exciting and excited we both are here, we can make this episode be about 19 hours long.
Speaker: So this is going to be a kind of just a scrappy collection of whatever pops in our head today and lets you know that, you know, at...
Speaker: applyprinciples.com, there are hours of tips and tricks, as well as if you go into YouTube and go to Hug Nation and find the Burner Bootcamp playlist, there's like four hours of awesome tips that you can go through by theme.
Speaker: So this is just, what we're sharing today is not like the top 10 tips, it's just whatever I'm really excited to share with you today.
Speaker: Yeah, totally.
Speaker: Okay, what if we just popcorn style back and forth, like speed dial all our favorite little burner hacks?
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Want to go?
Speaker: Want to do it?
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: the attitude to cultivate or to get through whatever idea you have that you might, you're going to check out Burning Man or that this is a bucket list thing for you, that Burning Man is not a show that you're checking out, that it is a city that
Speaker: you are a part of.
Speaker: And the quicker that you can realize that your participation in this city is what makes it better,
Speaker: the quicker that you will really, one, enhance it for everyone else and feel an ownership.
Speaker: So if there's some really cool camp, they want you to come in and check it out and play with their stuff.
Speaker: If someone is doing something, they want you to come over and climb on it or ask them questions about it or pick it.
Speaker: You are Burning Man.
Speaker: You are an artist.
Speaker: And if you have some story like, oh, no, no, no, I'm not an artist.
Speaker: Try to just chip away at that as soon as you get there and go, no, no, no.
Speaker: I'm one of the artists that makes Black Rock City.
Speaker: And use discernment.
Speaker: Because sometimes certain groups will be doing a specific thing that is a closed container.
Speaker: So just be aware of that.
Speaker: Because I've done that before.
Speaker: I saw a circle, for example, and then I jumped in.
Speaker: Because I was like, oh, participation.
Speaker: And they were like, so sorry, this is actually specific to our camp.
Speaker: Sorry.
Speaker: Oh, got to go.
Speaker: You know, or like a photo shoot, for example.
Speaker: If you see someone doing a really cool photo shoot, don't assume that you're invited into the photo shoot just because you look awesome.
Speaker: They might be doing something very specific, like they're bringing a vision to life.
Speaker: And so use discernment around your participation and read the room.
Speaker: I think...
Speaker: I think maybe just saying, can I join you?
Speaker: And having that be a genuine question and be totally open to their no energy on the answer would be the way to do that.
Speaker: Because I think the majority of the time they're going to say, yeah, but if there's occasional time they don't,
Speaker: but just practice saying, hey, can I join you?
Speaker: Hey, can I join you?
Speaker: Oh, and I have something to say about photographs and people posing for pictures too.
Speaker: So when I first started going to Burning Man, there were no digital cameras.
Speaker: Every camera and video camera that was brought in had to be registered and tagged so that if someone took your picture and you didn't like it, you could be like, what's your number?
Speaker: Let me, yeah, like you could like report people.
Speaker: Now, everywhere there's cameras, there's cameras all over the place, which is a change.
Speaker: But even more recently, people have realized how easy it is to get an epic Instagram-worthy photograph simply by standing in front of something that's already epic and awesome.
Speaker: So people wait in line to take pictures in front of cool sculptures.
Speaker: Sometimes people will be climbing on the sculptures or playing with them, and you want a picture of the sculpture and you get frustrated by this person who's ruining your shot.
Speaker: I am sorry to say that
Speaker: They are not ruining your shot because they are participating in Burning Man.
Speaker: They are practicing immediacy.
Speaker: Those are principles of Burning Man.
Speaker: If you want to capture Burning Man, it includes the people who are playing in and on it and around it.
Speaker: So if there are a bunch of people waiting in line, sure, wait in line to take your turn.
Speaker: But if somebody, the person who made that sculpture, they made it to be played with.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And if you do take pictures of sculptures, really, if you can, figure out what they're called.
Speaker: So as you share it online, the reason your picture looks so good is because of the 20,000 hours that some artists put into making whatever's behind you.
Speaker: And it is a really honorable thing to do to say, this is me in front of Bernard's blah, blah, blah, blah.
Speaker: And you can find the name.
Speaker: And it's usually there and you can find it after the fact.
Speaker: So remembering that you are not going to a show and your ticket is paying all these artists.
Speaker: You are...
Speaker: being gifted and experienced with people's heart, soul, and usually their life savings.
Speaker: And so the more that you can say thank you if you meet them and honor them when you share it with the world, the better.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And go help them.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: If you see an artist working on a project out there, sometimes little things go wrong or maybe they're running behind schedule and you see someone tinkering with something.
Speaker: Ask them if they need a hand.
Speaker: That happened to me the last time I was there.
Speaker: This one guy was working on a really cool project and he was running behind and it was hot and dusty and...
Speaker: I was early and the job I was working on was done.
Speaker: And so I got to meet and connect with this incredible artist and help hang lights.
Speaker: And it was a little tedious job that just went so much faster with another person.
Speaker: So always ask, you know, hey, can I offer you a hand?
Speaker: You know, and sometimes they'll say yes.
Speaker: Sometimes I say no.
Speaker: Otherwise, you know, just say, hey, thanks for all you're putting into this.
Speaker: You know, gratitude goes a long way with all the efforts and what's happening out there.
Speaker: That's a great, great tip.
Speaker: And especially if you are not able to be there for build.
Speaker: If you have any opportunity to help build the city, whether that is helping your camp, whether that is helping an artist, whether it's helping somebody who is out of their league and they're trying to set up a tent in the wind, anytime that you know that you are
Speaker: are a part, your energy, your efforts helped to build Black Rock City, it will change the way you feel in the city.
Speaker: It's different going to the coolest party in the world versus being a co-creator of the greatest city in the world.
Speaker: Mmm, yes.
Speaker: Be someone else's playa angel, or at least be prepared to be someone else's playa angel.
Speaker: And one of the ways that you can do that is always carry with you cough drops, maybe an extra bottle of water in your backpack, and salt.
Speaker: I learned the hard way that if you carry just a little bit of salt with you, whether that is a vial of pink Himalayan salt or maybe some peanuts that have salt on them or like chips, have those things with you because when you're out and you're connecting with people, there might be someone out there that is struggling.
Speaker: One of my favorite things is talking to someone and their voice has been like so stretched thin because they're talking so much.
Speaker: It's like
Speaker: You can tell they're so dry.
Speaker: And then I offer them a cough drop and they're so grateful.
Speaker: You know, that can really help someone.
Speaker: Or if you notice someone is a little disoriented or just a little off, offer them some salt.
Speaker: Salty peanut, you know, might actually just give them the minerals they need.
Speaker: And then keep an eye on people, too.
Speaker: Like, I remember one time I saw this person laying on this, like, art installation that had a it was like a small bed out on the playa with no shade.
Speaker: And it was like 10 or 11 a.m.
Speaker: And I went over to him and his mouth is all dry and the sun was starting and he's sleeping and I didn't see any water around him.
Speaker: And so I put a little bit of water just on his cheek, you know, and he woke up and he's like, oh,
Speaker: I'm so dry and it was so dry and I gave him water I mean we're in the desert
Speaker: This is not just a party.
Speaker: We're in the desert.
Speaker: And so when he woke up, he drank a whole bunch of water and was like, thank you so much.
Speaker: I feel like you just saved me.
Speaker: You know, keep an eye out for people.
Speaker: Really take care of each other out there because some people might be young or some people might just be inexperienced and they don't know, you know, some of the severity of what it is to live in the desert for a week.
Speaker: So take care of each other.
Speaker: I like to bring salt in small little plastic baggies and then I break it out and I ask cops, hey, you want some?
Speaker: I just dangle a little bag of white powder in front of me.
Speaker: That's why I make it pink.
Speaker: Put salt in your own water, too.
Speaker: That's a great little tip, too.
Speaker: Make sure you get the salt for yourself.
Speaker: Especially you ladies out there.
Speaker: If it's your first time, make sure you write on your arm in Sharpie where you're parked and your camp so that you know your address.
Speaker: If you know your address, you can always get home.
Speaker: If you know that you are camped by this one RV and a blue dome, you're lost forever.
Speaker: So you got to know your address.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And you can also send mail.
Speaker: So there's a real post office there that you can go and you can bring stamps if they'll have some, but you can bring your own.
Speaker: You can write a letter to yourself if you want from the playa.
Speaker: You can send a postcard to someone at home or you could even send mail to someone on the playa, especially if it's early in the week and someone will deliver your message.
Speaker: You know, I did that where I had friends on the playa that
Speaker: They were camped on the other side and I hardly saw them the whole time.
Speaker: And so I sent them little postcards and let them know that I was thinking of them and I hope they're having a great time.
Speaker: That's awesome.
Speaker: I checked out the post office last night in the Berner Sphere VR, Berner World that they've been building.
Speaker: If you have gifts to give,
Speaker: Let me take a step back.
Speaker: Gifting is one of the 10 principles, and it can be easy to get caught up in what that might mean or what you need to give.
Speaker: And there's a lot to gifting.
Speaker: Gifting changed my life, and it took me a number of years to really grok the power of it.
Speaker: But the key is, is there a way I can make someone else's experience better?
Speaker: is without any expectation, without, I'm not, it's not a transactional, like, is there, could I help them out?
Speaker: And sometimes making their experience better means giving them an actual physical gift, maybe a bracelet you made or something like that.
Speaker: Sometimes it means as you get out of a porta potty, noticing that you, there's no toilet paper, you just use your own.
Speaker: And so you tell the person who's next in line, like, hey, there's no toilet paper.
Speaker: Would you need, would you like some of mine?
Speaker: That can be an incredible gift.
Speaker: And also, if you're someone who's like, this year you came back and you've got, I got 700 necklaces that are whatever.
Speaker: See if you can give to people who don't draw your attention as the most burnery looking people you see, you know, gift to the people who might look a little lost and maybe they're not sure if they belong here.
Speaker: You know, a gift to someone who is finding their footing really helps them to feel like they belong.
Speaker: And we all belong.
Speaker: Mm hmm.
Speaker: Don't try too hard.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Don't try too hard either.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It's kind of like, you know, don't be giving a gift because you think you're supposed to or like, you know, go set on a mission and be like, I'm I'm here to gift and I'm going to try to try to make everyone's experience better.
Speaker: Let it come natural.
Speaker: Let it be an intention that you set and allow for experiences to reveal themselves.
Speaker: Because if you're like trying to fix or help or give, then it's felt it's an energy, you know.
Speaker: So that would be my recommendation.
Speaker: I like that.
Speaker: That'll settle.
Speaker: Another subtle gifting thing is I think.
Speaker: The advanced levels of gifting, it becomes an experiential thing.
Speaker: So I like to give out buttons to people that I make with different sayings and philosophies and things.
Speaker: And
Speaker: At one point, somebody in my camp said, oh, can we just put them out on the counter or so people can take them?
Speaker: And I was like, absolutely not.
Speaker: Like, it's not swag.
Speaker: I'm not trying to promote.
Speaker: You know, I don't want them to have this stuff.
Speaker: This is a prop to have an interaction with another person.
Speaker: So at the very least, it's like, can I give you a gift?
Speaker: And it's this physical representation of this interaction that we just had and this conversation perhaps, or at the end of a conversation saying, you know what, this has been so delightful.
Speaker: I would love to give you a gift.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I think it's even more fun is you allow the creativity and the artist and the improv to kick in and you say, I discovered this magic bag of buttons and it will tell your future.
Speaker: Are you open to receiving the wisdom of the Oracle?
Speaker: You know, and just like this play play.
Speaker: And then you'll say anytime you have a chance to to let it out or if you see other people being playful, join like, yeah, the character, talk in an accent for a day that you're there, like eat breakfast at night and have your cocktails in the morning.
Speaker: Rewrite the script.
Speaker: I can't remember.
Speaker: Maybe it was just three.
Speaker: Well, the intention was a cuticle care kit.
Speaker: And so I had it in my pouch with me.
Speaker: And when I would talk to somebody that, you know, I would notice their hands had dried cuticles and tons of ply dust all over them.
Speaker: I asked them, hey, would you like a little cuticle care right now?
Speaker: And it was the best because so many people that are out there don't really take care of their nails.
Speaker: They just kind of let it go.
Speaker: And a nice little refresher partway through the playa.
Speaker: It's so nice.
Speaker: Like, oh, man, like, hey, just a little spray, clean them off, rose water hydrate, put a little essential oil on the shea butter.
Speaker: Oh, so good.
Speaker: And then plus, I got to use it all week, too.
Speaker: I got another one.
Speaker: There's so many.
Speaker: Yeah, go.
Speaker: This one's my favorite.
Speaker: Okay, so the pouch packing.
Speaker: That's my favorite, no matter where I go, if it's a playa or somewhere else.
Speaker: But the pouch packing, especially at Burning Man, and the one particular place that is so valuable to have
Speaker: The pouch that stays next to your bed.
Speaker: It never moves.
Speaker: The entire time that you're there, you have that pouch that has wet wipes in it.
Speaker: It has earplugs in it.
Speaker: It has rose water.
Speaker: It has shea butter or whatever you choose if you use coconut oil and any of your own like specific things that really help you with your nighttime and your waking up ritual.
Speaker: Don't move it from next to your bed, because if you use that pouch, you bring it with you in your backpack, you put it in your basket or, you know, things get lost in the shuffle.
Speaker: Have another separate pouch that has similar ingredients in it.
Speaker: But there's the one that stays right next to your bed.
Speaker: So it never gets lost.
Speaker: That's great.
Speaker: I would say I have three more bags that are good to have.
Speaker: that one that stays by your bed, one that has everything you need for a legit bathroom trip that you are going on, and then a day bag and a night bag.
Speaker: You know, because there's a lot of overlap, but...
Speaker: If you are having to bring your lights and the things you need at night and move it in the day one and nighttime, you don't need all your sunscreen and things like that.
Speaker: But just have like night bag and a day bag and a bathroom bag.
Speaker: And you can take your bathroom bag and put it in your night bag or put it in your day bag.
Speaker: Because if you think you have control over when your body is going to tell you when you need a porta potty, that's not good luck.
Speaker: That's brilliant.
Speaker: I love that.
Speaker: You know what I did actually?
Speaker: Speaking of night and day, I had a nighttime water bottle and a daytime water bottle.
Speaker: And the difference was the nighttime water bottle, I had wrapped a bunch of LEDs around it.
Speaker: So it was those wire LEDs and then I duct taped the little battery pack.
Speaker: So that way, when I'm out and about, I'm at a dance floor, for example, then I, you know, I'm drinking some water.
Speaker: I set it down.
Speaker: I flutter about.
Speaker: And then I'm like, oh, there's my water bottle.
Speaker: It's glowing.
Speaker: And then in the daytime, I don't need those lights.
Speaker: But it's like nice to have night and day.
Speaker: Are you sure we're not going to go this year?
Speaker: I know I really want to go.
Speaker: One of my favorite ways to go without going is sending my clothes with people.
Speaker: I have outfitted many people.
Speaker: So I'm there in spirit.
Speaker: And yeah, I feel like we could probably just keep going.
Speaker: But in the spirit of time and energy and all the hours and hours and hours and hours of footage that you have so lovingly architected and put together for all the playa bound folks, I think we can probably start to wrap it.
Speaker: Yeah, I think I think I think that this is a good you can feel our excitement for you.
Speaker: A couple tips and we've given you some places to go if you want to go deeper.
Speaker: And some of the things are things that might be good to listen on the drive or have just playing in the background while you're driving, if you'd like.
Speaker: Do you have a closing spark?
Speaker: Yeah, you know, my closing spark is something that I hadn't mentioned yet.
Speaker: And you mentioned immediacy.
Speaker: And I think that's a really valuable one to put some spotlights on.
Speaker: You know the saying when you're out there and you ride past an art piece and you're like, oh, I'm going to get to that.
Speaker: Or, oh, I want to do that sometime.
Speaker: My highest recommendation is to really follow that principle of immediacy and go do that thing as soon as possible, because that chance might not come back again.
Speaker: And so if you really want to go climb on that thing or you want to go jump on that giant trampoline or climb into a beautiful dome,
Speaker: Do it.
Speaker: Go do it.
Speaker: And it's such a great metaphor for life.
Speaker: Something presents itself and you feel that calling, then just say yes.
Speaker: Don't hold back and wait for the perfect moment because now is the moment.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: And I think it's also a really wonderful opportunity to notice that.
Speaker: when you are stuck in a schedule or a pattern that is not necessary, you know, like you might think I got to get home because it's getting dark and that's when I eat, like,
Speaker: That's what you normally do, but do you need to?
Speaker: If you check in right now, you can go climb that.
Speaker: You can climb it.
Speaker: It's going to be fine.
Speaker: Yeah, go climb it.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You know, I got one other spark.
Speaker: I mean, I probably have a million more, but I think it's really valuable and important to just remember when conflict arises.
Speaker: to soften your stance.
Speaker: Don't let a conflict ruin your time.
Speaker: And sometimes people might get frustrated and agitated and you might want to fight back.
Speaker: But my greatest lesson is to really don't get swept up into the swirl of conflict and drama because you have every opportunity to just let go and find kindness
Speaker: release the need to feel right and just really come back into a state of equilibrium for the person that might be having a challenge.
Speaker: Really try to be that tuning fork because things can escalate and it's not pretty.
Speaker: I've seen tons of playodrama.
Speaker: I've experienced it before.
Speaker: And if I could go back and tell my previous self, like, hey, Betsy, just relax.
Speaker: Just let go.
Speaker: Just be, you know, you don't have to be right.
Speaker: And just remember, this is a place to have fun.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I like to say that, no, you can build utopia and people will still bring their shit there.
Speaker: So, you know, everybody's still got all their issues and stuff, except now they're hot or they're tired or their serotonin is all messed up.
Speaker: If you are going with a partner,
Speaker: There's a relationship-specific video in the Burner Bootcamp that I made that I really think is helpful.
Speaker: It's a unique place to be in partnership or with a relationship.
Speaker: It can be incredible and it can be taxing if you don't have some conversations in advance.
Speaker: I want to encourage you, a couple other closing sparks.
Speaker: One is it's so visually incredible, a part of you is going to take pictures of everything.
Speaker: And trust that there are better photographers taking pictures of everything.
Speaker: So you don't need to spend a bunch of time taking the perfect shot of this and that.
Speaker: If you're going to, just snap, snap, snap a memory so that you can, something that can bring you back to a moment so you can have the memory again.
Speaker: But don't go into it thinking like, I'm a photographer going to capture the beauty of this place.
Speaker: Maybe spend, have like an hour that you go out to be photographer, but don't sacrifice the immediacy and the participation to be a documentarian.
Speaker: There's other people that are going to do it way better.
Speaker: You can look at their stuff.
Speaker: And the other thing I wanted to close with is Black Rock City is a city and it is not all perfect.
Speaker: And it is not filled with all beautiful, non traumatized, open hearted people.
Speaker: They're just like any city.
Speaker: There are people there that lie and steal, that take advantage.
Speaker: It's a way less percentage than your average city, but you had 80,000 people.
Speaker: And especially when we have, it's been so awesome for so long that it attracts billionaires and others.
Speaker: And any place that attracts billionaires, that attracts other people, they're like, how can I maybe take advantage of things?
Speaker: So I know this isn't a happy thing, but you do have to have your wits about you.
Speaker: And you do need to lock things.
Speaker: You know, almost there's 80,000 people
Speaker: There might be 10 people out there who are going to steal, but it happens because we're so trusting.
Speaker: So you got to lock your bike up.
Speaker: You got to know that if you see someone that you're hanging out with that is a little too intoxicated, that they might need help advising what they consider to be radical self-expression to be.
Speaker: Maybe they need to be walked back to their life.
Speaker: to tent instead of just trusting that they're radically self-expressing themselves with that guy who's not quite as drunk as them and might take advantage.
Speaker: Exactly.
Speaker: And the Zendo, look out for each other.
Speaker: The Zendo is a safe sanctuary for people.
Speaker: There's no Zendo this year, but there are camps that are soft landing places.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Find out where those are.
Speaker: Look out for each other.
Speaker: I think that's so valuable.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I think it's really unfortunate that there are some some dark energies that can come at play.
Speaker: So, yes, use your discernment.
Speaker: Take care of yourself and take care of each other.
Speaker: And don't let the existence of dark become what you focus on.
Speaker: Yeah, of course.
Speaker: And as you come home, too, it's a terrible thing that is traditionally what happens.
Speaker: People come back online and you go online to share your experiences and your stories.
Speaker: And people get worked up and tell a totally out of whack percentage of things that they didn't like or bad things that happened.
Speaker: Acknowledge that bad things happen, do what we can to minimize them and know that just like in life, where you place your focus determines your experience.
Speaker: So, and even more so in Black Rock City because you are creating it.
Speaker: So you don't like, if something's not cool, walk somewhere else.
Speaker: If that's not cool, create something awesome.
Speaker: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker: Hey, here's I know we're gonna just keep going.
Speaker: Here's one of my favorites that I did, though.
Speaker: I can't I can't not share this.
Speaker: I'm sparked.
Speaker: So I had this experience in previous years.
Speaker: If the music wasn't good, I would just sit there and judge the DJ.
Speaker: And I'd be like, eh, this is lame, you know, and not have a really great time.
Speaker: So my final year that I went 22, I decided to play a game, an energetic game.
Speaker: And when I would get to a stage that I wasn't really vibing, I would actually just go towards the DJ and just love them up, give them love, just be like this, energize them, celebrate that they're up there doing their thing, even if it wasn't really quite my vibe.
Speaker: And I would say nine times out of 10, something shifted in the music.
Speaker: It was amazing.
Speaker: There was this really cool shift, whether it was for me or from them or something happened.
Speaker: And so when we can really put energy into something good, rather than like putting more judgment and annoyance into the collective field, right?
Speaker: The playa is flat.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: the wide open landscape, there is like no natural obstructions.
Speaker: And so energy moves in a very different sort of way out there.
Speaker: And so what we put out comes back to us more.
Speaker: So just a fun little game to play.
Speaker: I'm so glad not to be going and so excited for those that are.
Speaker: Make sure you get a little bit of understanding the 10 principles or remind yourselves what they're about.
Speaker: I mean, the magic works and has continued to work because the 10 principles are guiding things.
Speaker: So, you know, I'm biased, but I would watch my videos about it.
Speaker: But however you refresh your memory, do that and know that the city is waiting for you.
Speaker: That's right.
Speaker: Amazing.
Speaker: I love you so much.
Speaker: We could rap about this all day.
Speaker: Any chance there is a... Well...
Speaker: I'll say again, the places you can find my Burning Man stuff is at the Hug Nation YouTube channel.
Speaker: It has playlists of the Burner Boot Camp as well as Pink Ride music videos.
Speaker: If you're not sure yet, if you want to go to the Pink Ride on Thursday, watch those music videos.
Speaker: And if you watch those and go, I don't think that's for me.
Speaker: I don't think that's for me.
Speaker: It's just not going to happen.
Speaker: So also, playaprinciples.com has many, many videos about topics, different topics.
Speaker: And if you're short attention span, the Instagram account Burner Prep is where I've taken a lot of those longer videos and taken little chunks of how to deal with this and this and this and this and this and this.
Speaker: So have a blast.
Speaker: And if you're watching this right now and you have friends staying home that are going to be around on September 7th, I'm doing a heart-centered men's gathering in San Diego.
Speaker: And really, I'm getting a lot out of these intimate, safe places for guys to grow together.
Speaker: So if that's you or someone that you love, send them my way.
Speaker: Amazing.
Speaker: I love that so much.
Speaker: Well, in the spirit of making more offerings for those of you out there that haven't found me yet on Insight Timer, that is one of my primary places where I share my audio affirmations that are really designed specifically to help you get in a good mindset and different areas of life.
Speaker: And this might actually be really great for those of you going out to the playa, start listening.
Speaker: There's one for traveling with ease.
Speaker: There's one for trust.
Speaker: There's one for all kinds of different things to really just help you get into a good mindset.
Speaker: You can also find them on my YouTube channel too.
Speaker: It is My Power Affirmation.
Speaker: There's some on there.
Speaker: And then I also love working with people in person.
Speaker: And I too am working on putting together a live event here in Asheville with an amazing woman.
Speaker: We're co-facilitating a retreat at the end of September called Rooted.
Speaker: Rooted retreat.
Speaker: It is on the anniversary of Helene, which was the hurricane here in Asheville.
Speaker: And so we're going to
Speaker: bring together a group of women to do ritual, to pray, to dance, to just really come together in reverence and intention.
Speaker: And so, yes, hit me up if you want more information on that.
Speaker: And just loving that I'm holding space with the women while you're holding space with the men.
Speaker: And then we get to come together and share inspiration.
Speaker: That is so awesome.
Speaker: I do want one more thing because
Speaker: For this show, it's relevant.
Speaker: One of my kind of focuses in coaching is working with people who have transformative experiences or realize aspects of authentic expression, such as at Burning Man, and then struggle to integrate that into their year-long lives.
Speaker: So if that is you, once you get back, that is definitely an area that I have a lot of experience and would love to work with you with.
Speaker: Amazing.
Speaker: Any chance we can get an affirmation?
Speaker: Well, wouldn't you know it?
Speaker: I happen to have a Burning Man affirmation.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: So I'm going to share with you a really playful Burning Man affirmation that really works and it really helped me.
Speaker: For those of you out there, affirm, affirm, I know where my headlamp is.
Speaker: I know where my headlamp is.
Speaker: I always know where my headlamp is.
Speaker: I am hydrated.
Speaker: I am hydrated.
Speaker: I am very hydrated.
Speaker: Dust clouds avoid me, and I ride through sand dunes like a boss.
Speaker: My bike is tip top, and I always know where it is.
Speaker: I sleep easily in the day or night.
Speaker: I sleep easily in the day or night.
Speaker: I face the porta-potties with courage and they happen to be clean every time.
Speaker: I attract all things of kindness and inspiration and magic.
Speaker: The music seems to always get better every time I arrive.
Speaker: Wow, I am amazed at the magic that I get to experience here on this playa, and I am a part of it.
Speaker: Have an amazing time out there, friends.
Speaker: Keep affirming your beautiful experience, and we hope this episode has sparked you.
Speaker: Yeah, have a blast and bring back stories.
Speaker: We love you.
Speaker: Find us on Instagram at staysparked and leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts.
Speaker: Thanks so much for helping us spread the spark.
Speaker: Stay Sparked, friends.
