Re-Entry & Burning Man
A few months have fled into history since my last update and in an effort to ward off any illusion or misconception that I am settling into a normal lifestyle I thought it best to get an adventure update out the door and set the record straight. Although I find myself in familiar surroundings it is not an indication that my adventures have come to a close – far from it – the journey continues, a new chapter unfolds, and amazing things can happen even under the veil of the familiar, you just have to be open to it…
I shifted back into life in the US fairly easily – I think it helped that I was not coming back to a job, able to take my time to adjust and relax, intently ease back into the relentless current of life in the States that can so often sweep us up and carry us along though life. It was surprisingly easy to be back at home, more so then I imagined, but there were subtle differences in my actions and attitudes that I noticed. First my diet, both mental and physical has shifted over the last six months. On the mental front television is off my consumption list, it no longer has the ability to hold my attention and after all that I have been through and seen, I find that TV is a thin shadow compared to true life experience and I would rather just head out to experience life rather then watching someone else’s on television. Physically I was surprised to learn that I had lost over 20 pounds on my trip – my diet has shifted more into the vegetarian realm, although I live by no hard and fast rule and still eat meat a few times a week – it’s more about being in tune with your body and figure out what it is asking for. I feel great and have lots of energy to invest in projects that spark my interest.
I find myself compelled to simplify my life – my intention is to strip things down to only the essentials freeing myself from unnecessary ties – from this place new thoughts, ideas and a simpler lifestyle will be free to emerge. Possessions add to the complexity – all this stuff that I have accumulated over the years feels like a heavy weight restricting the freedom of life, I guess there is some truth to the old adage that you don’t own things, they own you. Changes are afoot; I have delivered tons of clothes to Goodwill and am in the process of selling a bunch of stuff on Ebay – I feel like this is a positive endeavor on many fronts – it simplifies my life, eliminating excess things and clearing clutter, I get some money in my pocket, other people get stuff they need at a good price, reducing garbage and saving resources that would have been used if the person had bought the stuff new. Very interesting… I am also planning on selling my house here in San Carlos, buying a camper van and doing some additional traveling over the next few months watching life unfold from behind the windshield. I am headed back East for the holidays and my Niece’s wedding, and am planning on taking a trip to Alaska in the spring. Eventually after a few months of van living, I hope to move into San Francisco to experience the eclectic society that city life has to offer – I have been a suburb dweller for sometime now, and I am ready for a change of pace. Probably by the end of 2004, I will be in need of some income and will have to begin working again, but I have some time to figure out what that is going to look like and hope to return to work under my own terms and not someone else’s…
Since coming home in June my creativity has been in overdrive with most of my spare time over the last two months going to my art project for the 2003 Burning Man festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada. If you don’t know much about Burning Man, it is an experiment in temporary community that happens for one week out of every year at the end of August where over 30,000 artists, performers, and partiers get together to create an incredible experience in the most desolate environment you can imagine, Black Rock City as it’s affectionately known is the third largest city in Nevada after Las Vegas and Nevada – for a week, then it all disappears. My project this year is the Temple of Reckless Abandon (TORA) an art car deigned to provide transportation services for the citizens of Black Rock City as well as celebrate and inspire a lifestyle guided by momentary inspirations – where with lack of caution, and no care of consequence, a person surrenders thoroughly to ones own natural impulses. I am not sure how much the latter came across in the execution, but it is definitely an intriguing concept. Imagine discarding your inhibitions, forgetting the past, ignoring the future, and living completely in the moment, enjoying immediate experience as it unfolds in reckless abandon – I enjoy planting these kinds of seeds…
The TORA is built on a flatbed utility trailer and modified to look like a temple, dramatically lit for night adventuring – it is pulled by a 20 year old (read piece of sh*t) three wheeler ATC which I had the pleasure of rebuilding pretty much from scratch to get it to run. It all turned out better then I could have imagined, and I received lots of great comments from many people, but I had times during the construction where I definitely wondered how I would get it all done; it definitely felt great when it all came together. One fulfilling aspect of the project was the many different skills I had a chance to learn or find an “expert†with knowledge to help me get along – architecture, carpentry, fabrication, tie-dying, sewing, upholstery, motorcycle repair, welding, electrical design, project management, sound design, bus driver, just to name a few, I now know a lot more about all of them then when I started. A special thanks to all my friends that pulled through during the creation, setup and tear down phases – it would not have been possible without all their help. How often to you get to spend time with some of your favorite people in the world building something that serves no purpose other then to have fun. Not often enough I think…. When it was complete and lighting up the night, I saw all my friends and all their efforts to help me pull it together – Jeff and Elizabeth in the design, Brian in the benches, Brad in the banners, Cathy and Gretchen in the tie dye, Dan in the pillars, Terry in the paint, Pete and Callum in the assembly, Don in the towing, Mark in the trike, Sakamoto in the generators, Ray in the driving, Kylie and Theresa in the tear down, James, Halvy and LaFontaine in the financing; it was my project, but they made it a reality and they made it fun. You guys rock!
Coming down off the high of Burning Man and the TORA, I am working to get my house ready to sell, getting rid of more stuff and doing some minor repairs as well as looking for a camper van to purchase so that I can get back to the freedom of the open road. In mid September I will meet my brother Phil in Colorado for a two week horse packing trip into the mountains – it will be great to reconnect with him and enjoy the clean pure air of the Rocky Mountains. October will bring me to the start of a ten week online writing class – I am thinking about taking some of my time off over the next year to do some writing – maybe even publish a few things – it will be interesting to see how that develops – if nothing else it’s another new skill I get to learn – how exciting!! Well until next time – hope this finds all of you well…
Peace,
Matt
PS – Click here to see my pictures from Burning Man including the Temple of Reckless Abandon – my art car project for 2003. To learn more about Burning Man check out their web site at www.burningman.com.