Transcript
Speaker: On today's Sparkle Snack, we're addressing the question, hey, why aren't you going to Burning Man?
Speaker: We are here to share with you a little pullback behind the curtain around why we aren't going to Burning Man this year.
Speaker: This is the first time I haven't gone since the 1900s.
Speaker: 1998 was my first year.
Speaker: I went every year.
Speaker: When COVID, they asked us not to go, I didn't go.
Speaker: I did go for the renegade year, but it's been a huge part of my life.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But my life has been changing lately.
Speaker: One of the things, maybe the, you know, I'm in a state of a sober journey.
Speaker: And there is no place on the planet that reminds me how fun drugs are more than Black Rock City.
Speaker: You don't need drugs to enjoy it there, but I have a 26-year, well, actually 24 since the last two years I went sober, 24-year history of intoxicated memories there.
Speaker: And so it's kind of like you have to sometimes make new friends or stop going to certain places.
Speaker: Right now, it's a place that is harder for me to enjoy because of how much of my life I spent there buzzed.
Speaker: Mmm.
Speaker: Powerful.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: Way to go, John.
Speaker: That's really, that's big.
Speaker: My last year was 2022, and it was the first time I was sober there also, and it was my best year ever.
Speaker: And that's part of the reason why I'm not going, because the bar got set so high that year.
Speaker: It was just...
Speaker: top tier.
Speaker: And I have felt since then, I feel complete.
Speaker: I feel good.
Speaker: Unless there is another opportunity that arises that is so streamlined and so aligned, I feel like I can just be at a place in my life to say the Playa has
Speaker: been deeply ingrained into my cells and my DNA that I can live with the playa inside of me now.
Speaker: I don't have to go there to actually access the depth of magic that the that Burning Man has inspired in me.
Speaker: And that's the goal, right?
Speaker: You want to be changed and then be that change in the world.
Speaker: One of the things that I discovered last year, it hit me that I have developed a little bit of a wonder tolerance, meaning my first one, five, ten years, I would see these incredible creations and be like, wow, wow.
Speaker: And last year, I noticed myself going, well executed.
Speaker: I wonder what the infrastructure was for them to get that all put together.
Speaker: And I was like, how am I not jaw dropped as I'm seeing these things?
Speaker: I'm like, oh, I think I need a little break to to to kind of loosen up and remember and stop remembering, you know, how incredible it is.
Speaker: Mm, yes, good on you.
Speaker: And you know, one of the reasons why I also am choosing not to go, and I imagine you too, is that the preparation and the kind of post-burn also, there's a lot of energy and time and things to tend to beforehand and after.
Speaker: And by choosing not to go this round, it's
Speaker: I am able to focus my attention on other things, which feels really good that I'm not cataloging mentally and physically on my computer all the lists and all the things.
Speaker: And it's just kind of freeing up some mental energy for me to be able to just watch from a distance.
Speaker: Yeah, unlimited love, limited resources of time.
Speaker: So, yeah, it's hard.
Speaker: Yeah, and one of the things I love that you shared recently on a post that was about you are choosing to focus on your relationship, which is really beautiful.
Speaker: That's a whole other endeavor in itself.
Speaker: And, yeah, way to go.
Speaker: Thanks.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, I feel like...
Speaker: My home is my current theme camp.
Speaker: This is the place I want to beautify.
Speaker: This is the place I want to be thinking about as a source of inspiration and creativity.
Speaker: Yeah, me too.
Speaker: Me 26 years ago would have heard this guy say that and judged me partially.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And another reason that I'm not going is, or at least not that a reason I'm not going, it's a reason why I feel good not going, is that some of the most proud, significant, artistic creations of my life, Pink Heart Camp, which I was a co-founder of, and the Pink Ride, which is an event that happens on Thursday, they are both...
Speaker: Continuing.
Speaker: There was a time in my life when I felt like the things, my artistic projects, they only worked if I just hustled and promoted.
Speaker: And like I was trying to fly a kite on a day with no wind.
Speaker: And if I just kept running, I could keep it in the air.
Speaker: Everybody look.
Speaker: Everybody look what I'm doing.
Speaker: Hey, everybody.
Speaker: And it actually, that was an old story I had.
Speaker: And as I look, and last year I didn't even camp with Pink Heart.
Speaker: And I rolled up to camp and I saw this, this fucking,
Speaker: It's like a dream of mine that was glowing and it was giving gifts to everyone, like the thousands of people that were going to be touched by it.
Speaker: And none of my labor, none of me, of my physicalness was in it.
Speaker: And yet it was me.
Speaker: It was my heart.
Speaker: It was so much of the investment of my life.
Speaker: of my essence was continuing on and shining.
Speaker: And it just felt, it feels so good knowing that that's going to happen this year too.
Speaker: And then the pink ride, there's three people that are taking it on and I'm meeting with them.
Speaker: And I just feel like it's this, it's a, I feel like I'm a parent whose child is,
Speaker: Fully equipped to go be an incredible person in the world.
Speaker: And yes, I've influenced them, but they're their own.
Speaker: They're going to grow and do and touch people way beyond anything I could do.
Speaker: And there's something so satisfying about that.
Speaker: That's called legacy, my brother.
Speaker: Yes, living legacy.
Speaker: I love that.
Speaker: You don't have to be there for your magic to keep inspiring people.
Speaker: I remember last year afterwards, you told me that this woman shared with you one of her highlight moments was pulling a card and she didn't know, but it was from the power affirmation deck that I made.
Speaker: And so I have a similar feeling about that is like, wow, I poured my love into a product and a creation and somehow it has made its way out into the world and into the hands and the hearts of the people out there.
Speaker: And it's touching them.
Speaker: And I'm not having to be a part of that.
Speaker: It's pretty amazing.
Speaker: So my hope and wish is that my Finkelhoo magic, whether it's through affirmation or through painting or through any kind of sparkle that I may have inspired, will make its way into the playa.
Speaker: And same for you.
Speaker: Yeah, I love that.
Speaker: We both still love Burning Man and we...
Speaker: It's in us as we are in the default world and we are in it.
Speaker: That's right.
Speaker: That's why we're not going.
Speaker: And we can't wait to see your pictures and hear your stories.
Speaker: You can take the people off the playa, but you can't take the playa out the people.
Speaker: And if you do, you got to wash it with like vinegar or something like that because the plywood dust doesn't come out of it no matter what you do.
Speaker: I think it's been three years since I've been.
Speaker: I'm pretty sure I still have some in my cuticles.
Speaker: It's in my soul at least.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: Enjoy your journey, friends.
Speaker: Stay sparked.
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 these sparks.
Speaker: Stay spark, friends.
