Judge not...

Everyone I've spoken to who has actually been to Burning Man gets a sort of dreamy, starry-eyed look on their faces as they reminisce about the sharing, kindness, generosity, friendliness, and genuine caring that they found there. They tell stories about the random group of strangers who gave them dinner one night, and the guy from a nearby camp who would bring over coffee in the morning, just because he thought they needed some... they talk about the deep friendships they've built from meeting people there, and they speak with a sort of awe about how quickly and deeply you can build connections there.

In a way, I see this as a way to gauge people, almost the same way I used to see the way people reacted to my shaved head or tattoos. They typically either jump right into the judgment chair and have a negative and moralistic reaction, or they sit back and take it all in, say something along the lines of "wow, seems like something you're really interested in; cool" and then let it be. Rarely, someone will be positive and supportive right away, and that's when I feel the most accepted. But you know what? I've realized I don't really need their acceptance; the people I really care about love me no matter how weird or out there my interests lie, because they know that it doesn't change who I am or how I care about other people. So the judgers can all just get together and point out everyone else's differences and pontificate about how wrong they all are; go ahead, enjoy yourselves. I'll be out living my life and enjoying *that* instead!