Being a Burning Man

by Tom Bloor ~ September 7th, 2009. Filed under: Blog.
So, for several thousand of you (around 40,000 or more), you will have just left Burning Man. Im not saying your all reading this blog, but thats neither here nor there is it? But still, what is it to be a Burning Man?
Does it take setting yourself on fire? Because i know for a fact that i wouldnt find it much fun. Nor would it be as spectacular as the ending of Burning Man 2009 (have watched the live webcast of the burn. Impressive!) But really, what does it take? Well, after much thought (ok, not much thought..) and a lot of time, I think i may have come up with an answer. Possibly not a good answer, maybe not even a correct answer, but an answer. And that answer is….
Ok lets not jump the gun here. I mean, theres obviously a lot of things going into being something spectacular. In the case of the Man, that is a lot of time, wood, fireworks, and manpower. So its obviously not going to be easy. Nor is it going to be cheap. Well, it might be cheap, but it certainly isnt going to be free. The Man is made up of many seperate parts, not just the arms, legs, torso and head, but of individual nails, pieces of wood, glue, cells in the wood, etc.. And this all goes together to create this single monument, something that everyone can unite under, and that everyone can relate to. So, as has been seen, it takes a lot of work. But what kind of work?
Well, for a start, the work must be fun, and interesting. Otherwise, why the hell would people do it? Why would they invest their time and money into building something and then burning it, if they werent interested in it? If they did it just ‘because they were told to’? That is a large problem i see at the moment, there is a lot of people around who just take orders, and never go on to do something else. Never take an initiative. And there are people who’s job it is to make sure people dont use their initiative. I will quite confidentaly assume that there are no such people in Burning Man, and so there should be no such thoughts in yourself. Nothing that says you shouldnt go and do that, even if it doesnt work or blows up in your face – learning the hard way is normally the way its done anyway. And this leads us onto the answer…
The answer is: Do what you want. But dont sit around and wait for the oppertunity to come to you, just go out and DO IT. You want to get fit? Go out on your bike. You want to build things? Go out and build them! You want to learn a trade, language, skill, something? Go and do it! This ritual of going to the desert and burning a Man has been around for over 20 years, and is showing no sign of slowing. Started out as just a few people on a beach, and ending up as over 40,000 people in a desert having fun and doing what they want to do, this is the perfect example of how everyone should live, and how everyone should lead their lives. So get out there, and become a Burning Man. That includes you, all you Women. Just because it is called a ‘Man’ doesnt stop you!
-and so it is

So, for several thousand of you (around 40,000 or more), you will have just left Burning Man. Im not saying your all reading this blog, but thats neither here nor there is it? But still, what is it to be a Burning Man?

Does it take setting yourself on fire? Because i know for a fact that i wouldnt find it much fun. Nor would it be as spectacular as the ending of Burning Man 2009 (have watched the live webcast of the burn. Impressive!) But really, what does it take? Well, after much thought (ok, not much thought..) and a lot of time, I think i may have come up with an answer. Possibly not a good answer, maybe not even a correct answer, but an answer. And that answer is….

Ok lets not jump the gun here. I mean, theres obviously a lot of things going into being something spectacular. In the case of the Man, that is a lot of time, wood, fireworks, and manpower. So its obviously not going to be easy. Nor is it going to be cheap. Well, it might be cheap, but it certainly isnt going to be free. The Man is made up of many seperate parts, not just the arms, legs, torso and head, but of individual nails, pieces of wood, glue, cells in the wood, etc.. And this all goes together to create this single monument, something that everyone can unite under, and that everyone can relate to. So, as has been seen, it takes a lot of work. But what kind of work?

Well, for a start, the work must be fun, and interesting. Otherwise, why the hell would people do it? Why would they invest their time and money into building something and then burning it, if they werent interested in it? If they did it just ‘because they were told to’? That is a large problem i see at the moment, there is a lot of people around who just take orders, and never go on to do something else. Never take an initiative. And there are people who’s job it is to make sure people dont use their initiative. I will quite confidentaly assume that there are no such people in Burning Man, and so there should be no such thoughts in yourself. Nothing that says you shouldnt go and do that, even if it doesnt work or blows up in your face – learning the hard way is normally the way its done anyway. And this leads us onto the answer…

The answer is: Do what you want. But dont sit around and wait for the oppertunity to come to you, just go out and DO IT. You want to get fit? Go out on your bike. You want to build things? Go out and build them! You want to learn a trade, language, skill, something? Go and do it! This ritual of going to the desert and burning a Man has been around for over 20 years, and is showing no sign of slowing. Started out as just a few people on a beach, and ending up as over 40,000 people in a desert having fun and doing what they want to do, this is the perfect example of how everyone should live, and how everyone should lead their lives. So get out there, and become a Burning Man. That includes you, all you Women. Just because it is called a ‘Man’ doesnt stop you!

-and so it is

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