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Month: September 2025

Why Do Anything Hard Ever?

Published on September 8, 2025

The start of Burning Man was rough.

There were record breaking wind storms that wreaked havoc, and in many cases, completely ruined people’s camp and art installation setups.

There were rain storms that turned the ground into a feeling of cement mix and halted all travel in any direction for hours and hours on end.

And because of the above, there were unprecedented delays that left burners stranded in the entry line, in their vehicles, for in some cases, 21+ hours—and this was after having driven 6, 8, 12 hours to get into that line.

Burners had to build camp not once—which is already labor intensive and taxing enough as is—but twice because of the above mentioned ordeals, on very little sleep, all well before anything of the event itself could be experienced.

…So, why the heck do it?

Because during those record breaking wind storms, people came together to fight back.

During the periods of prolonged rain, people went out of their way to gift those who were struggling.

When the camp had to be torn down, the team not only did that, but built it back up better and stronger than before.

…Why do anything hard?

Because nothing worthwhile comes easily.

If Burning Man was “plug-and-play” and all people had to do was show up to five star campsites and well paved roads… to perfect weather via seamless flows… without any obstacle or issue or concern…

…Then there wouldn’t be any coming together, no triumph, no victory, no down-and-dirty, no reward.

So much of what makes the reward so rewarding is the challenge and adversity that had to be overcome along the way.

Setting Your Uncompromised Soul Free

Published on September 5, 2025

While at Burning Man, a campmate made a comment that resonated deeply with me. She said, “I’m very selfish when it comes to Burning Man. I’m happy to introduce, give people the 101, and even travel with friends to and from the burn. But, while there? I need to be completely free. This isn’t just building, gifting, and dancing—there’s a spiritual component for me. And like any spiritual journey in life—I need to follow my uncompromised soul.”

This goes back to one of the points I made in yesterday’s post: Do more alone… together requires compromise and while there’s nothing wrong with that, there IS something wrong with never following your uncompromised soul.

My first year at Burning Man, I went completely alone and knew nobody there. Since then, my soul has found and connected with so much of what it needed. From workshops and classes to art and expression, from trial and tribulation to triumph and celebration, from one-off conversations to deep and long lasting connections… there are spiritual happenings that can only happen when your soul is given that uncompromised freedom.

Again, this isn’t to say there’s anything wrong with compromise. Sharing time and experiences with others also feeds the soul in equally nourishing ways. It’s simply a reminder to balance shared, compromised experiences with solo, uncompromised ones—not just at Burning Man, but in whatever ways your soul needs in everyday life.

12 Ways To Connect With The Core Of A Person (First)

Published on September 4, 2025

As a continuation from yesterday’s post, here are some ways you might be able to connect with the core of a person first in a world that prioritizes social hierarchy and status: (in no particular order):

  • Give more gifts… think less in terms of transactions.
  • Do more with art… do less with passive entertainment.
  • Go where love goes (i.e. music festivals), not where hate goes (i.e. news / media).
  • Less money on luxury and name brand… more money on experience and worldly travel.
  • Don’t shy away from hard tasks/situations/questions… easy only ever reveals the superficial.
  • Less time fighting the other national political side… more time volunteering at the local soup kitchen.
  • Ask better questions: “What are your political beliefs?” vs “What charities do you love to support?”
  • Rather than joining clubs based on status, (i.e. country clubs) join clubs that have nothing to do with status.
  • “What do you do for a living?” Rather than job title/company/history/trajectory… try reason/feeling/vision/dream.
  • Do more alone… together requires compromise and while there’s nothing wrong with that, there IS something wrong with never following your uncompromised soul.
  • Take on a project and team up with people who are ready/willing to help problem solve… distance yourself from people who exacerbate problems and problem compile.
  • And maybe most important, do the inner work and get to know who YOU ARE at your core first… because we can only ever meet people as deeply as we’ve met ourselves.

Inner work prompt: What would somebody have to do to connect with the core of who you are? How might they act? What might they say? Where might they be? …What situations/circumstances/experiences bring out the vulnerable, raw, real you?

The Magic Of Meeting The Core Of A Person First

Published on September 3, 2025

At Burning Man, you don’t meet people from their social hierarchy position first… you meet them from their character position first.

…And this is no small difference.

In everyday life, we meet people in our neighborhoods (socio-economic position), we know pretty clearly where people stand in school (educational position), ask usually first what people do for a living and where they work (career position)—if we don’t know already…

And all of these aspects of our identity act as layers that surround the core of who we really are.

It isn’t until a person removes their professional persona; can eliminate from their mind any judgments or predispositions they have about different status indicators, educational backgrounds, political beliefs, and so on; and can meet another person honestly where they are… that the real magic of connection happens.

See, peeling back these layers of identity and trying to unlearn these conditioned judgements takes tremendous inner work.

But flipping the script and meeting people BEFORE any of this information is ever known… and building art, surviving harsh weather conditions, creating gifts and offering help to others, problem solving, and going out to have a good time with them…

Introduces you to the core person without any peeling back… without any unlearning…

…Are they helpful? Kind? Hard working? Loving? Patient? Fun?

…Or are they the opposite?

I know not everybody has gone to or will go to Burning Man to experience this.

But it’s worth reflecting on: how can I/we show up with a different intention that seeks to connect with the core of a person BEFORE we cover them up in layers of hierarchical social position?