The Burning Alchemist

Here's a link to a post by a friend that well describes my attitudes towards the dust storms and "whiteouts" of the Burning Man festival.

"Bats in the Wind"

Ever since my first year at the burn I've loved the dust storms.  The milder ones are great to just walk around in as they give such a wonderfully surreal feel to the world around you that's delightful to experience. 

I attended Burning Man same year as this video was created, and as soon as the dust storms kicked up later in the week I said "now THIS is the playa that we've come to know and love".  I said it because the weather had been too mild all week. There was not a challenge in being there and that is a major part of the event. To me it is supposed to be a challenge to attend, in every possible sense, physically, mentally and even spiritually. It challenges so many of the things that we take for granted on a daily basis, food, water, shelter, and that's only the beginning.  It challenges your concepts of city and community. It pushes at your boundaries and tries to blow them away into whole new realms.  It's a place where everything that you hold onto in the outside "default" world can be left at the gate, and where you can be free to explore so many new possibilities, so many new ways of being and interacting.  But what it won't do is push you past your limits, unless you choose to let it, and sometimes you find out that your limits weren't where you thought they were.

And as much as I love the city, I also acknowledge that it isn't for everyone. Others can find their freedoms in other ways and other places.  Burning Man is not the only way, and certainly not the best for everyone, but it is certainly a wonderful way for me.

See you sometime on the Playa...