wrote at length<\/a> about how ecstatic and life-changing it was. The experience was so chock-full of highs, it was easy to forget the lows.<\/p>\nBut the lows were there. They always are. You just never hear about it on your social media stream.<\/p>\n
No Burn is complete without long stretches of loneliness. Punctuated bouts of frustration and exhaustion. At least one solid ragequit sesh (bonus points for tears).<\/p>\n
And that ubiquitous moment where you\u2019re feeling down and out, watching everyone and their frickin\u2019 unicorns have the most magical time ever, wondering, \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with me? Am I not doing it right?\u201d<\/p>\n
You\u2019re doing it exactly right. Trust me.<\/p>\n
To think that unpleasant emotions shouldn\u2019t happen out there – or that you\u2019re doing something wrong if you experience them – is not just inaccurate\u2026<\/p>\n
It\u2019s missing the entire POINT.<\/p>\n
Burning Man is special BECAUSE it\u2019s a place where we\u2019re allowed to feel those lows!<\/p>\n
Where our raw, messy humanness is completely embraced.<\/p>\n
And celebrated.<\/p>\n
Not just the shiny, fun parts.<\/p>\n
ALL of it.<\/p>\n
See, in the default world, our culture teaches us that we should never feel those \u201cnegative\u201d emotions. <\/p>\n
That we should only feel the \u201cpositive\u201d ones. Only show others the \u201cgood\u201d ones. Heaven forbid if anyone saw us upset or sad!<\/p>\n
But at Burning Man, this emotional repression finally loosens it\u2019s iron-fisted grip.<\/p>\n
Here, every emotion\u2026 Every way of being. Every raw, authentic expression of humanness is not just allowed – it\u2019s welcomed!<\/p>\n
On the playa, seeing someone cry is just as beautiful as watching them dance. It\u2019s a dance of it\u2019s own.<\/p>\n
And the invisible boundaries that keep all of these emotions from touching or crossing-over, come crashing down.<\/p>\n
Emotions and experiences all swirl into one unidentifiable, pulsing mush of aliveness – where you\u2019re ecstatic one moment, crying the next, then feeling angry and alone, while simultaneously overflowing with gratitude.<\/p>\n
This is what healthy human expression looks like once we free it from it\u2019s cage and let it naturally roam.<\/p>\n
When we drop the notions of what we\u2019re supposed to feel and how we\u2019re supposed to be – and just FEEL and BE.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s freedom.<\/p>\n
Freedom to be fully, messily, divinely human.<\/p>\n
These \u201cnegative\u201d emotions deserve to be felt. And expressed. Without shame or judgment.<\/p>\n
They contain, within them, immense beauty and numerous gifts.<\/p>\n
My most powerful experiences on the playa were often made up of these lows that we so fear.<\/p>\n
Like wrapping my arms around a stranger, holding her as she sobbed in the middle of a blinding dust storm. Flagging down an ambulance and frantically guiding it to a couple convulsing on the ground. Bonding with a journeyer in a quiet teahouse over how down and alone we both were feeling.<\/p>\n
Look, I\u2019ve had a million feel-good moments on the playa.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s these \u201clow\u201d moments that have stuck with me. Challenged me. Touched me. <\/p>\n
And left an imprint on my heart.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what makes Burning Man so different from other festivals, like Coachella or EDC.<\/p>\n
At those festivals, it\u2019s all about having as much fun as possible.<\/p>\n
At Burning Man, it\u2019s about opening up to as much as possible – to the highs, lows, and everything in-between. <\/p>\n
Diving fully into uncharted territories. Touching depths you never knew existed.<\/p>\n
And letting them CHANGE you.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a reason why Burning Man is called a \u201ctransformational festival\u201d.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s about more than having a good time. It\u2019s about learning. Growing. Walking out of the playa slightly different than how you walked in.<\/p>\n
And as is true in life, the experiences that teach us the most can often be the difficult, painful ones.<\/p>\n
Case in point: my second Burn was the exact opposite of my first.<\/p>\n
It sucked.<\/p>\n
I was sick the whole time. I felt out of place. Like I didn\u2019t belong. Sure, there were moments of magic. But they were mostly drowned out by a constant, unwavering malaise.<\/p>\n
It was an extremely depressing experience. Especially after having such an explosive, life-altering first Burn.<\/p>\n
But looking back, it couldn\u2019t have been any other way. This low was EXACTLY what I needed to experience.<\/p>\n
It taught me humility. Shined a light on the subconscious thought patterns and insecurities that were holding me back. Showed me that Burning Man couldn\u2019t fix the rest of my life – especially the parts I was neglecting. And it revealed to me the ever-changing nature of the Burn, and consequently, of life itself.<\/p>\n
It was harsh medicine. Not the kind I wanted to drink down. But what I deeply needed.<\/p>\n
As the oft-repeated Burner saying goes:<\/p>\n
\n\u201cYou don\u2019t get the Burn you want, you get the Burn you need.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
I love this saying for many reasons. But mainly for pointing out that what you WANT and what you NEED are two very different things.<\/p>\n
And what you need can come in many different forms – high, low, and in-between.<\/p>\n
Whatever gets the job done.<\/p>\n
So, if you ever find yourself in Black Rock City and notice you\u2019re feeling down. Out. Frustrated. Or disconnected.<\/p>\n
Just know that you\u2019re not doing anything wrong.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re doing Burning Man completely, absolutely, 100% right.<\/p>\n
Let whatever you\u2019re feeling be felt. Listen to what it has to say. Don\u2019t try to run from it or shut it down, like you usually do.<\/p>\n
Remember, you\u2019re now in a place that embraces ALL of you. Not just part of you. Not just the magical you. Not just the you-that-woke-up-on-the-right-side-of-the-bed.<\/p>\n
All. Of. You.<\/p>\n
So do yourself a favor and extend the same courtesy within, to your sadness, anger, and pain.<\/p>\n
Dust off the doormat and invite them in with open arms – just as the playa does for you.<\/p>\n
Welcome home.<\/p>\n
You are all welcome here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The way people talk about Burning Man, you\u2019d think it was heaven on earth. <\/p>\n
A place where only magical things happen and if you\u2019re not feeling wondrous and euphoric and oh so sparkly at every single moment, then there\u2019s something wrong with you.<\/p>\n
Sorry, but that ain\u2019t true.<\/p>\n
Burning Man can be a place of magic and ecstatic highs, for sure. But it\u2019s just as much a home to lows, frustration, and loneliness as well.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s what makes it so special.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2062,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/jaeminyi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Lows-of-BM-1250.jpg?fit=1250%2C788&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p79mZF-xc","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jaeminyi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2058"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jaeminyi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jaeminyi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaeminyi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaeminyi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaeminyi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaeminyi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jaeminyi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaeminyi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaeminyi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}