September 2008 Archives

Ahh...Feels Good

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Sarah Palin is no wilting flower. She is a politician who took the national stage and sneered at the work of community activists. She boldly tries to pass off incuriosity and lassitude as regular-people qualities, thereby doing a disservice to all those Americans who also work two jobs and do not come from families that hand out passports and backpacking trips, yet still manage to pick up a paper and read about their government and seek out experience and knowledge.

When you stage a train wreck of this magnitude -- trying to pass one underqualified chick off as another highly qualified chick with the lame hope that no one will notice -- well, then, I don't feel bad for you.

When you treat women as your toys, as gullible and insensate pawns in your Big Fat Presidential Bid -- or in Palin's case, in your Big Fat Chance to Be the First Woman Vice President Thanks to All the Cracks Hillary Put in the Ceiling -- I don't feel bad for you.

When you don't take your own career and reputation seriously enough to pause before striding onto a national stage and lying about your record of opposing a Bridge to Nowhere or using your special-needs child to garner the support of Americans in need of healthcare reform you don't support, I don't feel bad for you.

When you don't have enough regard for your country or its politics to cram effectively for the test -- a test that helps determine whether or not you get to run that country and participate in its politics -- I don't feel bad for you.

When your project is reliant on gaining the support of women whose reproductive rights you would limit, whose access to birth control and sex education you would curtail, whose healthcare options you would decrease, whose civil liberties you would take away and whose children and husbands and brothers (and sisters and daughters and friends) you would send to war in Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Russia and wherever else you saw fit without actually understanding international relations, I don't feel bad for you.

Indeed, I think we've all had enough of the pity party. At least, all of us still able to form a coherent thought while suppressing that primal scream of anguish over the raging shit pile 8 years of W have wrought.

After a week of decompression, I can start to encapsulate the Burning Man 2008 experience. Reading through my journal entries, it's interesting the number of times I started a sentence something like: “Maybe that's the lesson to be learned from Bman.” I went into it with the determination to get as much out of it as possible, to endeavor to be part of the scene, to participate. It's not surprising, then, that I was looking to bring something back.

So, what were these numerous, yet singular, learnings? A sampling:

* We really do make our own reality. If you come out to Black Rock City and have a great experience (and that's “great” in the “impactful” sense, not the “party” sense), regardless of conditions, that's a powerful illustration.

* I now have a true appreciation of the structural utility and elegance of the ball bungee.

* In a raging dust storm, if you don't have a vehicle to retreat into, you might as well pull up chair, get a straw for your cup, and have a cocktail. You're not going to stay any cleaner in your tent anyway, so you might as well be “in it.”

* The raw unpleasantness that can permeate life on the Playa is a great tool for appreciating the simple pleasures of your life at home (yes, my default life is “home”). By the time you've decided to face the exodus, you don't mind spending how ever long it takes in your comfy car seat.

Those are all valuable, but after some time to reflect, I believe the most meaningful experience/lesson learned, the one that will make me pause next January to consider heading back to the Playa, is this: at it's best, the spirit of Burning Man is one of expansive generosity. It makes me smile to remember how I was kind of stressing out before the event about the money I was burning through, getting ready. I realize now that at least some of that investment was a kind of municipal contribution to Black Rock City. Like many, I over-packed for my own needs (and in anticipation of catastrophes that luckily didn't materialize), and instead found myself transferring that slack, that investment to my fellow citizens. Need extra ball bungees? Here's a dozen. Trying to build shade? I have extra tarps and rope you're welcome to. Having trouble getting your structure set up? Here, let me help.

How cool is it to have something as simple as attention, a hug, a beer, be a valued and appreciated gift? Yes, those things are often appreciated in the default world as well, but I submit that those gestures are amplified in a the commercial quiet of the Playa. Other gifts remind me of the broad definition of “treasure” we have when we're kids. One of my valued treasures from this year is a beautiful polished stone that I was given in return for helping a couple register their camp at Playa Info. I'll think about how nice they were, and what a sweet gesture of gratitude the stone is, every time I look at it. What a gift.

More to follow...

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This page is an archive of entries from September 2008 listed from newest to oldest.

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