Burning Man

The thought for this event was spurred a few weeks ago when I had dinner with a friend who was struggling to move beyond her past. Though things were picking up in life, she talked about being saddened by missed opportunities. She wanted her impending 40th birthday to symbolize a new lease on life. At the same time, we had a few in the group who’d hit a familiar plateau. Wanting more from life, but stuck in the emotions, patterns, beliefs, excuses and reasons generated by their past. I needed to help them let go...and the idea of fire crossed my mind.

I don’t know if you’ve heard of burning man, but it’s on my bucket list. For years now people have gathered in a desert outside of Reno and built a temporary community that symbolizes renewal and celebrates self-reliance. The crescendo of the event is the burning of a large wooden figure as a way of symbolizing letting go; that’s my version anyway.

Yup, we needed our own version of burning man. This was by far the strangest idea I’ve had to date, but as you know, I’m blindly following hunches these days.

When I thought about the permanence of letting things go up in smoke, I was not suggesting people forget their past. But instead, honor it, extract the lessons, keep what works, and ditch the rest. In other words, stop reliving the aspects of one’s story that keep you small; I’m not good enough or smart enough, money doesn’t come easy, I’m not ready yet, I need to be perfect so people won’t see my faults, what other people think is important, I rely on others to save me because I don’t think I can do it on my own, or whatever else you tell yourself when you start to dream about your future.

And, that’s what this weekend was all about – making room for our dreams. It was a small group, but the visions of success were big. Yet, we were honest about the familiar themes that could block our paths, and so, we told our stories one last time. Then, we painted a picture of our future in the horizon, shared a meal, popped open a bottle of Vueve, and burned our stories in a roaring fire when the sun finally surrendered to the Puget Sound.

I'll tell you about the dragonfly and whale later.......