Tag: Burning Man

Waking Up Blanketed In Legacy

Published on October 12, 2025

I visited a friend this past weekend who has Alzheimers.

It was a bit of a shock to show up, announce his name, and give him a hug only for him to stare blankly back at me and ask me who I was.

…Granted, we’ve only spent three Burning Mans together as a part of the same, larger camp, which maybe amounts to 15-25 interactions buried inside a rich and long-lived life… but still… we have some rock-star memories together.

And this was coming from a once very sharp guy.

…He was an educator.

…He was a pilot.

…He built his own home from the ground up.

…He was incredibly well read.

…He had remarkable taste and skill in the arts.

And so when he asked me who I was… or when he couldn’t remember the word for “wood”… or when he asked what “cantaloupe” was—as he finished eating it off his bagel (yes, you read that right)… it was heartbreaking.

And yet…

…As I looked around his home—the one he built from the ground up—and felt the warmth that radiated not only from the loving visitors that shared his space for the weekend—but from the decades of love that was proudly featured in every available space, that was crafted under each step and met with each touch, that was baked into every possession and crevice and quirky detail…

…It made me feel better.

…Knowing that when he forgets—at least he’s blanketed with evidence of a love and legacy many of us would kill to have lived and remembered even just once.

“It’s A Long Story…”

Published on September 18, 2025

One night, while dancing hysterically at Burning Man, three others who were dancing hysterically joined me—right in the middle of a massive crowd in front of an incredible DJ set.

In the heat of this incredible exchange, we all got to talking and one of these dancers mentioned that she was having a really emotional burn. And when I asked her why, she said it was a long story.

I told her to take her time and not to shorten it at all.

A little taken aback, she paused, looked at me to gather more information, visibly relaxed once she saw I was serious, and then leaned towards me and began…

And for the next few minutes, she told me about how one of her campmates had a miscarriage at burning man a few years ago… and how they managed to revive the baby… and how later that week… after the indescribable wave of emotions… the baby passed.

…And how deeply it effected everybody in the camp.

At the end of the story, she looked me dead in the eye, into what felt like my soul, and thanked me for saying what I said and holding the space for her to share that story.

I share this to serve as a reminder that “It’s a long story” is often a key that opens up deeper layers of a person, and to not miss your chance to open that door—if you feel like it’s appropriate—when it’s presented to you.

On Solving Problems You’re Used To Other People Solving For You

Published on September 16, 2025

The very first time my Burning Man RV-mate went to ride his bike, after just having purchased it the day before, the tire went flat.

He didn’t even get one pedal in when he sat on the bike and watched the rim sink into the ground.

Seeing this, my first reaction was to recommend he take it to one of the bike camps and have them fix it—stemming from the same learned helplessness I mentioned yesterday.

But, he had a much different, “This is no big deal” and “It’ll only take five minutes” type of attitude that had him already gathering supplies before I could even finish my thought about which camp to take it to.

…And it was maybe a total of fifteen minutes later when he was riding off on his completely repaired bike, well before any of the bike camps would’ve been able to do anything about it.

Watching him do this and working with my other campmate on fixing her bike gave me a confidence in not only working with bikes, but as I mentioned yesterday, in trusting myself and my own problem-solving skills.

…Skills I realized grow not only with formal teaching, but with experimentation and time invested—something I knew cranially but knew better viscerally after getting down and dirty and actually having done it myself.

Because at the end of the week, on the biggest night of Burning Man—the night of the man burn—as I hopped on my bike to join the camp squad going, guess who got a flat tire?

That’s right.

…And guess who fixed it in about 20 minutes and still made it in time?

That’s right.

Fighting Back Against Learned Helplessness

Published on September 14, 2025

Walking towards the camp’s lounge one morning at Burning Man, I found one of my campmates curiously squatted close to her upside down bike.

Asking her if everything was alright, she distractedly replied that her outfit got stuck in the chain, was entangled into the derailleur, and bent some of the wheel spokes into the bike mechanics the previous night.

My immediate impression was that it was a complete mess and that it should be taken to a person who knew what they were doing and have them fix it.

…But that wasn’t even a thought in this campmate’s mind.

She had the derailleur completely taken apart, was balancing about ten pieces, three tools, and an entire bicycle in two hopeful hands… and was… remarkably focused… patient… and determined.

After a minute or two of watching the scene… my hands turned hopeful too and I squatted next to her.

We put it back together… wrong… and took it back apart.

Put it back together again… wrong… and took it all apart again.

Tried it a few more times… wrong… and repeated a few more times after that.

Until finally, after about an hour of trial, error, and head scratching: We finally got it.

And let me tell you… it was an incredibly rewarding victory. Not just because we fixed the damn bike… but, because we fought back against a learned helplessness that runs rampant in modern society. A feeling I was guilty of at the outset of this process.

And what this campmate reminded me is that we’re far more clever and resourceful than we think—we just have to give ourselves more credit… more time… and particularly: more trust.

What Makes A Path Not Beautiful

Published on September 13, 2025

There were a few nights at Burning Man when my friends and I spent more time chasing DJs than actually enjoying DJ sets.

…And when I say chasing DJs, I mean actually chasing DJs… on bikes… in the dessert-like environment… where DJs often play on moving art-cars… and park arbitrarily all over the event.

And I’m not just talking one or two DJs… there’s a plethora of world-renowned DJs playing multiple sets… in any given direction… at all times throughout the day… in this other-worldly environment that’s packed with shiny, neon lights wherever you look… and sounds and people and art, too… all calling for your attention and steer of your bike.

…It’s quite an impressive feat to ever find anything you aimed to attend. It’s much more common to set out for that thing and end up somewhere else completely because… squirrel.

Anyway, I digress.

The secret to maximizing your time at Burning Man is the secret to maximizing your time in everyday life—because the one isn’t that much different from the other in the sense that there’s always an endless array of things we can do…

And the secret is this: When given an abundance of choices… choose one thing fully.

If you decide to commit to a specific DJ set: commit fully.

If you decide to side-quest and have a “squirrel” moment: commit fully.

If you decide to skip it all and bring the party to you: commit fully.

And if you decide to not do anything at all: commit fully.

Each path is beautiful in its own right. What makes it not so is our desire for it to have been something else.

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.

The Ripples Of Help

Published on September 8, 2025

Yesterday, I mentioned how during periods of prolonged rain (at Burning Man), people went out of their way to gift those who were struggling.

Let me share a story with you as an example.

Towards the end of one of the worst periods of rain, as my RV-mates and I finished our umpteenth game of rummy, I peeked my head out of the side door to look for signs of life.

There was some really great music playing somewhere in the vicinity, there was murmuring and rustling in the nearby tents, and—what really caught my eye—our camp’s bar appeared to be open. The lights were on, the curtains were pulled back, and there was movement.

Letting my curiosity take hold, I called it quits for rummy and placed my bare feet into the cold, sludgy, cement-mix-like ground and trekked towards the bar.

When I got there, I found one of my campmates walking drinks to passerby burners and offering them a place to rest before they finished the rest of their journey back to camp.

The gratitude on their faces at the sight of a drink and a chair, after having traveled much too far in the exponentially-more-difficult-rained-on-terrain—was inspirational.

Needless to say, I jumped on board and helped how I could—And did so for a while into the night.

…But, you know who it was helping just as much as anybody who was passing by, exhausted and demoralized? …Us.

It was helping us get through the misery of the weather and it brought all of us closer together.

…It was a beautiful reminder that helping is never just about the one on the receiving end.