The music was banging. The vibes were insane. Seemingly everybody was entranced and moving hypnotically.
…And what was I doing? Hesitating and looking on from the edge.
This was one the first, important realizations I had while at Burning Man.
For some reason or another (or for many reasons), I was confronted with a level of self-consciousness that I didn’t realize I had.
I was so consumed thinking about what everybody else thought of me and how I danced that I resisted dancing at all—even in the midst of complete and total strangers who I’d likely never see again!
This certainly wasn’t an innate belief and was something I must’ve (mistakingly) learned along the way. Maybe from comparisonism, a comment from a person in the past, a story I was telling myself about how I had to be or act… or a combination of all of the above.
It was only after I confronted this hesitation, sat with it for a few minutes, and unpacked the feeling in full that I was finally able to let it go.
“What the hell are you doing thinking so much?!” I thought.
And I locked my bike, duck taped my ego’s mouth, and let my body do whatever the hell it wanted as I surrendered to the pull of the bass and sway of the crowd.
P.s. I’ll be sharing pictures from Burning man on my IG. The first has finally been posted. More to come :)