Category: Archives

The full collection of explorations.

Special Is Defined By You

Published on September 10, 2025

“My dear Matt ~ I was just watching the video of us celebrating Drew. Thank you from my heart for instigating that. A few people told me that was the best moment of their Burn. It was beautiful. It was magical. It was profound. Thank you thank you thank you. Be well. And I love your move at the end of the clip. I am so grateful. My friend had the time of his new life.”

Here’s what I did: knowing it was one of our campmate’s last burns (for declining health reasons), I saw him walking home after a night out, and I instigated a dance celebration in his honor.

…Although I can’t take full credit because another campmate was playing the most phenomenal music set and I had several other campmates who were dancing their hearts out with me.

All I did was yell, “DREWWWWWW” a bunch of times really loudly… dance wildly around him… leaned into the moment that I felt was uniquely for him and got the rest of the campmates to dance on board.

It was an incredible night featuring some of my favorite moments from the burn. There wasn’t a lot of us, maybe 12 people celebrating this man’s legacy as a part of our camp, but it felt like there were 1,200.

…What’s interesting is that there were shows happening that night that probably had crowds of at least 1,200. But, what we shared right at our camp that night, with Drew being the central focus, was special. And not because it featured some major headliner at some incredible art car at some magical dawn/dusk time of day… but because we made it so.

Keep Your Eye On The Ball(s)

Published on September 9, 2025

A lot happens throughout the day.

And a lot of what happens isn’t given enough time to be fully processed, addressed, or resolved.

Taking 5-15 minutes at the end of your day to just sit and actively replay all of the happenings that unfolded can be an excellent strategy.

Maybe not to fully process, address, or resolve every single thing that comes / came up…

…But to at least plan it into your schedule or calendar to be addressed at the appropriate later time.

Because when tomorrow comes and a lot more happens throughout the day… guess what’s going to get pushed further into the background of your mind?

…You guessed it: everything you haven’t given enough time to either process, address, resolve—or schedule and later prioritize.

If you want to prevent that feeling of having “dropped the ball”—this active replaying is an excellent way to keep your eye on all of the balls that came your way throughout your day.

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?

The Secret To A Rich And Filling Life

Published on August 23, 2025

The secret, I think, to a rich and filling life… are rich and filling moments.

…Moments that are made rich and full with an unwavering devotion to the present, what’s real, and what’s right in front of our face.

The idea is as simple, yet as hard as it gets:

When sitting… just sit… be with yourself… resist the urge to chronically be doing something.

When walking… just walk… be immersed in all of the worldly elements.

When talking… just talk… be completely and totally consumed with the words.

When eating… just eat… be mindful of the experience as a whole and savor each bite.

When dancing… just dance… surrender to the pull of your soul… without fear and as un-self-consciously as you’re able.

When working… just work… do the damn thing with as much excellence as you can manage.

…And as much as you can: minimize and subtract all that distracts you.

It’s far too easy to never be where you are.

…Which, I’d say, is the antithesis of the rich and filling life.