Flightster

Top 10 Reasons to Go to Burning Man

• by Srinivas Rao
• on September 29th, 2010
• 2 Comments

1. Freedom:You can do what you want.  Outside a few safety and principle rules, at Burning Man anything goes.
2. Gifting Economy: Everyone wants to contribute.  Everyone is there to survive.  The playa has a way of providing.  Outside of ice and coffee, there are no concessions and nothing is for sale.  Burning Man is a gifting economy.  This does not mean barter.  It means gifting.  A simple thank you is all that is needed to spread the positive energy to the person contributing.  This thank you can be because someone gave you something you needed but is not limited to physical gifts.  It can be because someone is wearing something so unique and awesome you just have to let them know.  There could be an art car you enjoyed free drinks and good company at.  Or you had a profound conversation with someone that changed your outlook on life.  And on and on and on.  Being free from the confines of money is liberating.  Things are less stressful as the worry about having enough to pay for something doesn’t exist.
3. Art: The art installations are simply breathtaking.  There are no words to describe the amount of time, detail, and genius originality that goes in each piece.  There is art everywhere.  There are art cars, life size and larger than life artwork.  The way people dress (or lack thereof) is art.  People spend all year building and making art installations for burning man.  These can incorporate every type of material imaginable, along with sound and fire.  There was a giant interactive piano with giant white and black keys.  As you jumped on each key, the respective note blasted from speakers.  It took about 15 seconds to run across the entire length and hit each note.  Metallic flowers that looked straight out of Alice in Wonderland on steroids, belched fire and rotated at night, yet remained stationary and lifeless during the day.  While these nocturnal flowers rested, other forms of art took on life.  Beautifully sculpted and innovative art installations were scattered across the playa.  Many were interactive.  Some you could climb up to gain a beautiful bird’s eye view of Black Rock City, NV.  “Art Cars” as small as decorated couches and golf cars, to as large as double decker buses and multi story yachts floated across the desert in artistic serenity.  They were decorated like caterpillars, dragons, pirate ships, mushrooms, jellyfish, animals, and things inconceivable until you saw it yourself in person.  Art is everywhere.  Art is constant.   The art will blow your mind.
4. Most Unique Self Expression In the World: You can be anyone or anything.  People don’t judge.  They dress (or don’t dress) however manner they want.  The originality of the costumes is unimaginable if you have never been to burning man.  Looking at a thousand pictures is nothing compared to seeing a thousand people dressed like that all around you at the same time.  A lot of people go by a playa name.  Some people are donned one and keep it for every burn.  You can introduce yourself as anything you want.  The creativity never stops.  It flows through desert and touches every facet of life on the playa.  Burning Man is the pinnacle of human creativity.  It is the most spectacular display of what is possible if humans stepped out of the narrow confines society and expressed themselves with ingenuity and imagination.
5. Music: Music is constant.  Music is varied.  This is not a concert, yet music and sound are key to the Burning Man experience.  Crystal Method, Bassnectar, and Deadmau5 sounds radiate from giant speakers at ridiculously elaborate clubs with names like Nexus or Mal Mart.  A marching band will cross your path in the desert night complete with trumpets, drums, trombones, and a tuba that belches fire as notes pour out.  Spontaneous acoustic guitar sessions jam out as someone in an art car playing a didgeridoo rolls by.  Salsa music blares from a tent sporting a gigantic wooden dance floor.  Live blues music blares from another.  Michael Jackson blasts in a bar setup that looks right out of the Mos Eisley Cantina from Star Wars.  Head to center camp to hear a cappella jazz and solo harmonica.  DJs mix beats as they blare from random turn tables scattered in set ups across the playa.  You’ll see instruments you recognize.  And some you won’t.  The musical creativity and variety is unending.
6. Sense of Community: There is a sense of community like no place else on Earth.  Everyone is there to have fun.   The mood is festive.  Everyone is nice.  Everyone wants to help everyone else out.  You can run down the street, smile, and high five everyone.  They will smile and high five back.  People aren’t in a hurry to get to a job, or run to an errand.  Even with all the mayhem, you feel safe.  Everyone is looking out for everyone.  If you look tired someone will offer you a comfortable couch and some shade to crash under.  If you look thirsty there will be water.  With 50,000 people trying to survive in the desert, it’s humans vs. the elements with the humans trying to better the experience as a whole for everyone around them.  Burners have a common bond, and that doesn’t just stick to the playa.  Run into a fellow burner in “the outside world” and there is a bond and sense of community that they share and know.
7. Battling the Elements is Fun: There are harsh weather conditions.  I heard someone describe the environment as the most inhospitable place on the planet.  Debatable, but the dust storms, large temperature swings, and gusting wind can make things “interesting”.  A shade structure shields you from the sun.  Goggles keeps the fine baby powder like playa dust out of the eyes as a dust mask or bandana keep it out of your mouth.  It can be fun to see all the ingenious ways people around you battle the elements along with the ones you come up with using the supplies you have.
8. Interact With Cool and Interesting People:You will meet cool and interesting people.   This is a fact.  You will meet people of all backgrounds, faiths, and creeds.  There is not a typical burner.  Nothing is typical about the place.  Those don’t exist at Burning Man.  There are some of the most interesting people on Earth.  You have to be a bit interesting to come out to the middle of nowhere and camp in the desert for a week.  These will not be your normal everyday conversations.  They will never be boring.  People are nice.  People are open.  You will never have a chance to interact with so many awesome people in so short a time and space anytime else in your life.
9. Fire dancers – largest gathering of fire dancers on the planet: This is the largest gathering of fire dancers in the world.  The spectacle constantly overwhelms the senses with awe that can only be experienced at Burning Man.  As twilight falls, they trickle out.  Then they pour.  The rush is mighty.  The playa bursts into flames as fire dancers from all over the world descend across the desert practicing their skills.  Some dance solo.  Some are in pairs.  Others are in huge acrobatic groups that put on a show in an ostentatious and grandiose manner that seems more fitting in Las Vegas instead of the middle of know where.   They can be a part of a band or just show up without notice sharing their beautiful art and dancing up a storm.  If you like fire, or fire dancers, this is the best place to admire this great skill.
10. It Will Change Your Life: You will see how different people live, act and interact in ways completely different from your own.  You will gain a different perspective and views on life.  At Burning Man everyone is free from the normal social inhibitions that dictate how we should act in certain situations.  The result is people being more real and true to themselves.  As they interact without fear of judgment from those around them, they can bypass social formalities and get straight to the heart of their personality.  There is a sense of liberation from the societal pressure, money, and time.  Living in a community with principles completely different from the real world will leave a special touch in your life.  I have a new found optimism and sense of refreshment that is hard to put into words.  Come to Burning Man and feel this sense of refreshment and freedom that can be found nowhere else.  When you arrive in Black Rock City, NV welcome home.

Srinivas Rao

Srinivas is an avid surfer and personal development blogger at The Skool of Life. He's also the host and co-founder of BlogcastFM, a podcast for bloggers.