Burning Man, Nikon 990

This week's Photo Friday challenge: Man was a no-brainer. I wonder how many other submissions are going to be of The Man...

It's interesting how much Burning Man has effected and changed my life. I don't mean to be all mushy or deep or sentimental about how "Burning Man changed my life, man!" But many things are different in my life as a result of a couple of journeys to the Black Rock Desert.

The most obvious Burning Man influenced change is the introduction of Michael to my life, who I might not have met if it hadn't been for Burning Man. Of course with Michael also came the kids, and Dominic, and the rest of the Holdens and near-Holdens. Now, a large portion of my current friends are people I met through Burning Man or related events, and nearly all of my social functions are Burner-related. My sense of style has evolved into something I wouldn't have dared just a couple years ago, strongly influenced by the edgy and sensual nature of the playa.

I have also come to realize something that has been lurking in my psyche for a long time, but which I had never really identified. I don't really view the world the way "average" people do. While I can "pass" in mainstream culture, I've come to understand that my views of life, morals, and purpose are actually subcultural. They encompass an eclectic mix of subcultures, and verge even on subversive.

Michael talks about the idea of "subcultures of origin," or the place where a person first recognizes that they don't fit into the mainstream and finds a group that shares some of their values. For me, this started with activism for social justice, which branched into pacifism and environmentalism. Fairly early on I identified with "granolas" or even "hippies," and found I was most at home way out in nature, with outdoor freaks and activists like me. Naturally, I found my way into the massive scene of the Grateful Dead, and while that period of my life was marked with bliss, adventure, and experimentation, I never really embraced the Dead scene as "home" or "family". The Dead scene was something that I did, not something that I was. After Jerry died, I felt less of a need to belong to a subculture, as by then, my values and beliefs were fairly well defined and self-sustaining.

What I love about Burning Man is that it is a huge dwelling for people from all "subcultures of origin". There is no one type of person that goes to Burning Man. Instead, it's a sea of conflicting beliefs and values and fetishes. Besides the art and the party, what defines Burning Man is really that it's an umbrella for diversity and deviance that somehow comfortably embraces us all. We Burners are not all the same. If anything, it is the fact that we are different that unites us. For me, Burning Man has given me permission (that I didn't really need but strongly appreciate) to explore more of myself and more of others, to judge less, and to respect more. My eyes are wider and more appreciative now.

224 days until The Man burns in 2004...