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?