Preconceived Ideas...

... what is it they say about "assumptions" making asses out of people? It's funny... people seem to have very specific ideas about what Burning Man is and why we are going, but in reality 100% of those people have never been to it. Where are they getting their ideas about what Burning Man is all about? I sincerely doubt any of them has even taken the time to go to the website and check it out from the original source. No, just like many of today's journalists, there is no time to be wasted looking for "facts" or "data" or trying to verify whether something you read is gospel or not. It's just so much easier to listen to rumors, gossip, or hearsay, and then make up your mind without having to do any actual research or analysis. Many of the people who have discovered that we are attending Burning Man this year have had fairly negative reactions, and seem to think that we are heading into a sort of modern Sodom and Gomorrah situation here. They think that we are going in order to discard our values and dissolve the standards that we live by in our normal, day-to-day lives, so that we can be completely free of any boundaries that morality places upon us. Hmm... so far, sounds good!

Actually, I was being slightly facetious there. I personally see this as an experience that will help me to remember the free, wild, innocent child-like me that's living inside this mommy-wife-provider who has to be responsible and worry about bills and wear certain clothes and plan out recipes, and just generally live the roles I've chosen. I want just one week where I can be Me, the me with a capital M, the individual, the me who exists in a more hidden place and who needs to breathe every so often. I want to dress up and wear costumes and act silly, to take risks and introduce myself to strangers and watch fire dancers and soak up the positive energy of thousands of free spirits and open souls. And if that sounds too hippie for someone else, so be it. I'm not making them go!