What IS This "Party" in the Desert We Call BURNING MAN?

So Burning Man 2009: Evolution is behind us, and we’re back in the “real world.” Now what? Was it just a party in the desert with all our friends? So we danced a lot. We felt the love. We created and experienced a craziness that would blow most people’s minds. We got dusty, then came home, showered, wistfully put away the gear, and continued with our day to day existence…most of us unable to wipe the smiles off our faces while we did so.

But what does it all mean? What is this party, this incredible place…this outlandish experience we call Burning Man…what is it all about? It’s a question that most of us "Burners" have been asked and most of us fumble around for an answer. “Burning Man? Isn’t that just a big party in the desert where everyone does drugs?” seems to be the universal “Non-Burner” question most of us gets. As we all slowly decompress from this indescribable place, I can not help but wonder… how DO WE describe it? What does Burning Man MEAN to those of us who love it so dearly ?

I’ve pondered on this question often…mostly when I find myself reacting to those “Burners” who say, “I’m not going, I’m just not up for the non-stop party in the desert this year.” This sentiment takes me aback every time as I think, “that’s what Burning Man is for you? A party?” I’m not going say that Burning Man is not a party. It’s one of the best parties on the planet, as far as I’m concerned. But, for me, it by far transcends the notion of “just a party.”

I should preface by saying that this year was my fifth year at the Burn and apparently, by some standards, this feat has earned me a distinguished Bachelor’s in Burning Man. I missed the graduation ceremony that was held in honor of those who share this accomplishment with me, so consider this my belated diploma acceptance speech!

My first two years at the Burn consisted of just what you might expect... ingesting a wide range of mind-expanding substances and agonizing over the boy who introduced it all to me. To this day that relationship goes down in the annals as both the most painful, debilitating experience of my life as well as the one that lead me to freedom of the mind and connection to my Source. Although we usually want to kill the person who says it to us, what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. And the more it hurts, the stronger we get! We're like rubber bands, the further we’re pulled back, the further we fly! And apparently the most gut wrenching, unbearable pain that feels like we’re bleeding from our eye sockets, makes us the strongest! But I digress.

It wasn't until my third year on the Playa that I celebrated a milestone in my life: the realization that my JOY was a choice that no one could take away. It felt like the weight of the Universe had been removed from my back and was now supporting my entire being for my flight into limitlessness! I celebrated the memory of my God-given freedom of Absolute Free Will with the most beautiful, breath-taking co-creation of a double rainbow across the Earth. For those who weren't there or have never seen the photos, a brief rain was followed by the manifestation of double rainbow that could be seen unimpeded and in its full glory from one end of the desert to the other.

Tears flowed from eyes as I took in the magnitude of this sight. In that moment, I felt not only a connection to myself that was deeper, more powerful, and more profound than I have ever felt, but a connection to the entire Universe that I didn't even know was possible! It was then that I began to understand what Burning Man is… its an experience of what’s possible, what’s available to ALL of us when we choose to live in Joy. It’s the best example of what manifests when we allow ourselves to do what Abraham-Hicks calls “live in the Vortex.” It felt like the Universe was reflecting back to each of us the light that was in all of our hearts. It was her gift of art, co-created by our joy and reflected back to us as the diverse radiating rainbows of light that we are!

I will never forget that moment. I knew then that we're not alone and never have been… that there was something greater and more powerful at work. When I returned home from the desert that year, I wanted to know EVERYTHING about our connection to the Universe! I had thirst and passion for this knowledge that was a lifetime in the making. I wanted to understand who I was and how it ALL fit together! And I now know that since my asking was launched from a personal vibration of absolute joy and appreciation for simply existing, the answers to every question I have EVER had regarding who I am, who we ALL are, how we got here, why we are here, and how it ALL works together flowed to me almost faster than I could take it all in!

It felt like my consciousness experienced a Great Flood with divine knowledge washing over me for the next few years as I experienced what can best be described as a total rebirth. It was if my water broke and the Truth was washing away all that no longer served me and clearing the way for the birth of my True Self. I then entered a new world like a baby seeing everything for the first time! And I continue to do so!

We are eternal beings who have chosen to incarnate in the amazing time of change for the purpose of experiencing the pure joy of expansion! It’s really that simple. It’s difficult for most of us in our daily lives to stop long enough to truly see and understand this. We currently live in a manifest reality with so many confining rules... allowing ourselves to be governed by mountains of limiting belief systems. The very idea that it’s even possible to stop pushing and resisting long enough to just let go and allow joy to be the basis of life seems impossible! We're too be too busy worrying about making money, paying bills, meeting our responsibilities, etc. that we never give ourselves a moment to question our role in any of it. We're running like hamsters in a wheel, trying to keep up with the spinning, not realizing that its our endless chasing that's creating the very spin with which we find impossible to keep pace!

But whether the hamster figures it out or not, he's still the one creating the motion. And similarly, just as gravity functions despite our understanding of it, so does the only governing law of the Universe: the Law of Attraction. It just IS, whether we understand it or know about it. We exist as energy in an energetic universe that is fueled solely by our thoughts. No “thing” exists. If you need proof of this, turn to quantum physics. An atom is 99.999999 percent empty space! The only thing that is “real” is our experience. And everything that we experience takes place within each of us. What we are thinking right now, becomes our future reality.

What does this have to do with Burning Man, you may now be asking? EVERYTHING. There are many who say that what we create at Burning Man isn’t sustainable, and I say, those are words spoken by a hamster still trapped on the wheel. We create an ENERGY on the Playa that is transferable to EVERY ASPECT of our lives! In fact, the energetic flow created on the Playa is in perfect harmony with how the Universe is designed to function! Most of us who have been to the “party” can tell endless stories of synchronicities, “magic,” and the miracles that seem to happen there. This is how we are meant to experience and co-create EVERY aspect of our lives, not just at Burning Man. The energetic flow of the Universe is designed to give us everything we need exactly when we need it!

For me, Burning Man is our yearly practice run for how we envision the world we all want to create. This Experience we call Burning Man is NOT some “thing” that happens once a year, its the imagination of our collective thoughts creating our collective future. We allow ourselves the experience of what it feels like to give ourselves FULL permission to be who we are, to express ourselves how we choose, to follow our highest joy in every moment, to ALLOW others to express themselves how they choose without judgment, to believe that when given the opportunity to be self-responsible most of us live up to it, to believe that when given the opportunity most of us freely and naturally CHOOSE compassionate and love for one another over anything else.

There is no governing body that dictates what should be offered by those who attend in order to insure diversity? Better yet, there's no governing body that dictates what SHOULDN’T be offered because someone might be offended. Participants are given the space to create whatever they want and are only limited by the limitations of whatever creative mind chooses to envision and create it (and also, perhaps any governing state or federal laws that my take precedence). With this freedom a city develops every year that offers something for everyone! The city dwellers show up and simply choose from an abundant, overflowing buffet of delights and delectable choices, joyously experiencing only those things that excite them the most... without EVER wasting a precious moment trying to ban, remove, or outlaw anything they don't prefer!

And as they move through this delicious city experiencing everything with the joy and excitement of children exploring a huge desert sandbox with little resistance to anything, the PLAYA PROVIDES! She responds in kind. She gives you food when you’re hungry, shelter from a storm, drinks to quench your thirst, the perfect person shows up at the perfect time, the perfect moment is experienced at the perfect moment. Without the luxury of cell phones or clocks, some how all the right people show up at the right time, at the right place and create an absolutely perfect experience that feels effortless. An energetic Vortex is created that manifests a pas-de-deux between you and the Universal Mind of Existence where everything and anything is not only possible but you experience and BELIEVE it to be so! The power of this Vortex is ALWAYS available to us, regardless if we're are covered in dust or sitting behind a computer in a cubicle at work. It is there calling us toward it! Always. Everyday. All the time!

So what does Burning Man mean to me and why does it thrill me every year to do whatever it takes to despite the long drive, sand storms, the desert heat, and dust in bodily crevices I care not to mention? Because I, like so many of us, am committed to BEING the change I want to see in the world. I am choose to live in a world ruled by the energy of joy, love, freedom, self-acceptance, self-responsibility, and unlimited creative expression and every year, under our blazing Sun that is our Source of all life, I get to share in the co-creation of this world with 50,000 others. I get to then carry that energy with me and continue living by it, shining that light out to all those who rendezvous with me in the “real” world. And for all those that ask me the question through out the year, “why are you so happy?” I get the thrill of telling them that I have EXPERIENCED the power of letting go, living in joy, and allowing myself FULL permission to be ALL of who I truly am and THAT makes me smile no matter what! And more importantly, if I happened to forget this power for whatever reason…I know that everything I need to get back to that good feeling place isn’t located out in the desert somewhere, but within my own heart and mind… which is what created that Amazing experience, party, place and ENERGY we lovingly and JOYOUSLY call Burning Man in the first place!