parentheticals.com - Report, Reflections and Robots (Burning Man 2018): Part 8—Leaving BRC, Mysterious Meetups, Pinkies in Reno, Reflections and Takeaways

Monday morning Josh woke me up bright and early because he was eager to get our yurt and stuff packed and get us out of BRC. We worked hard and managed to get everything put away and loaded into the communal NorCal truck and our minivan without too much stress (and thank god it wasn’t super hot again). We said our goodbyes to those who were left and then Josh, Mom, Vid and I got in the van and headed out of BRC to Reno. Our exodus wasn’t bad at all—maybe a couple hours total from camp to blacktop. We stopped along 447 to drop off our trash bags and to get Indian Tacos at Oasis 29. While we were at Oasis 29 we ran into the same people we’d spent burn night with on Headspace—Wheels and his mom (Myriam) and aunt (Sandra). They called me “Unicorn Lady”, I think because of the unicorn horn I had on my hat. It was one of those “oh isn’t that funny” bits of playa magic.

We arrived in Reno without any issues and took our dusty selves to the Grand Sierra Resort, where we checked in and had that first, heavenly shower and a bit of a nap before meeting up with various other pinkies for drinks and dinner and the beginnings of debriefing and decompression. Going from the playa to a big fancy casino is a weird transition but it’s also great to see everyone emerge clean and shiny but still relaxed and open from the playa. I had a chocolate milkshake with my dinner because I was still in the “give me frozen sweet treats” mode. We didn’t stay up late because we were really too tired, but made plans to meet up with people for brunch the next morning.

Brunch was great and we all enjoyed debriefing and talking about what had just happened, what was going to happen, and all the other things. Entertainingly enough, we once again ran into Wheels and Myriam and Sandra at the brunch restaurant. We couldn’t figure out why we kept meeting up but decided to try to keep in touch. After brunch we said our sad final goodbyes and drove home, arriving in time to have dinner with our kids, who were unusually glad to see us.

Reflections and Takeaways:

- I really should expend the effort as soon as I get to playa to organize and arrange our yurt home, so that it is user friendly for the rest of the week. If it doesn’t happen right away, it is unlikely to happen later.

- It was kind of a quiet, homey burn this year. I stuck around camp a lot (mostly because it was awesome and so many of the people I wanted to hang out with were there), and didn’t do a lot of adventuring. I did spend some nice hangout time on the patio (sunsets and sunrises were particularly nice there) and I did go on a couple of small art adventures, but didn’t explore the city much or make it to deep playa or any big burns besides the Man and Temple, I also really didn’t get a lot of dance time. Not sure why not, it just didn’t really happen and I didn’t *make* it happen.

- I did a lot of familiar things this burn, and didn’t try a lot of new things (though there is always plenty of novelty at the burn everywhere you go). I repeated the same volunteer shifts I usually do (Greeters, Arctica, Ice Cream server, Water Bar, Bike Parking, Headspace), I ran the same Freak Flag workshop I always do, I went to the Foam Camp again, I played handpan at Center Camp again (twice), I went to the Man and the Temple, and hung out in frontage a lot. It almost felt like I was kind of in a rut, but at least it was a very pleasant and enjoyable rut. I think I need to mix it up some next year.

- Playa magic is really a thing. Chance meetings, getting the perfect thing gifted to you at the perfect time, experiencing things you never expected but really wanted...it happens every year and it’s always fabulous.

- I took on a lot more responsibility in Pink Heart this year, and learned a lot more about how the camp works. I felt a deeper connection to and ownership of all things and all people Pink Heart as a result. It was a lot of work, and sometimes I found myself knowing things I didn’t want to know or being responsible for things I would rather not have been responsible for, but overall I think I maintained my own boundaries reasonably well.

Pink Heart at night, with beacon completed

- I also took it upon myself to be as friendly as possible with both the “young folks” (yeah, because I’m ooooold now) and the new folks, and as a result I think I made some good connections. It’s hard when there are so many people you want to spend time with, but spreading the love around a bit worked well this year.

- This was a much more sober burn for me than past years. I’m on new meds this year and I wasn’t sure how or whether they’d interact with various psychedelics (not that I ever have done those at any past burn, oh no), so I chose not to take any. Except for a Josh-made margarita at the newbie social and a couple raspberry vodka shots on the ice luge, I didn’t drink either (I never do, it makes me feel icky afterwards, especially in the desert). I did have some whippets and smoke a bunch of weed, but that’s nothing new and I never overdid it, so I was never out of my comfort zone. Being mostly sober at the burn made me realize a couple of things. First off, there is definitely a gleeful and ubiquitous drug culture among the people I hang out with at the burn. Second, not joining in the reindeer games made me feel a little left out at times, but for the most part what other people were doing to change their headspaces didn’t matter to or change my own experience. For that matter, what *I* was doing (or mostly, not doing) to change my headspace didn’t seem to significantly change my experience. I still experienced wonder, joy, love, delight, curiosity, pleasure, excitement, creativity, connection, novelty, and that special lightness of being that comes from being your authentic self in an atmosphere of general encouragement and approval.

- Art cars are awesome. I think I have gotten lazy with having such easy access to an awesome car like Headspace, and I haven’t gone and experienced any other art cars for a couple of years now. I would like to do more of that.

- I had a lot of early mornings this year. I do like the sunrises and the sweet, less hot morning time, but it did make it hard to stay up and do any of the night-time adventures (like going to the big dance parties). Maybe a mix of both next year would be good (which means scheduling myself for fewer morning commitments.)

- I talked to more than one person this year about Halcyon’s story of “crap or cone”, and the idea that we choose where to put our focus and that’s the kind of experience we get. I am really trying to keep myself in the grateful, happy “I have an awesome ice-cream-cone” space and guard against being distracted by all the damn ubiquitous dogshit that I and those I love will inevitably step in.

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