Researching My Freak Nation
Some questions for all y'all my beloved gentle freaks: be you nerds/geeks of any stripe, gamers, Rennies, goths, steampunk, kinky, poly, Pagan or other "alternative" spirituality, trans, queer, bi/gay/les, burner, spinner...you get my drift
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(This is the 10 million dollar question, isn't it? What creates Hot Panting Demand?)
For me, all of these can contribute:
- stimulation, maybe even a bit of a challenge: mentally, emotionally, spiritually, maybe even physically. I can watch a dumb movie or stay at home to tune out and turn off. If I'm going to an event of human interaction, I want to turn ON.
- participation/interaction
- beauty, awe, wonder, splendor. Cirque do Soleil's makeup and costumes and gorgeous music. Rituals where the ENTIRE SPACE has been decorated and transformed. Beautiful woodland trails and well-constructed bonfires. Color, sparkle, texture, sensual indulgence.
- Excellence. I think this is actually huge for me, let me see if I can explain what I mean by this. If I think that I will see/meet people who are achieving excellence, doing what they do and love at the peak of their ability, while questing toward improvement, encouraging/inspiring/facilitating others toward the same... that attending this event might help me learn to become more excellent in *whatever*, myself... and in the participatory events, that I think I might have the opportunity to shine a bit, to share some of my flavors of excellence, to hold the torch for others... FUCK YEAH. Example: Dragon*Con, for me, isn't just about the great mad chaos of it all, or meeting other geeks like me. It's about looking for some of the BEST fantasy art, costuming, new games, crazy geeky discussions, etc... and seeing if I can *contribute* to the critical mass of AWESOME. And get ideas and learn new ways to bring out more awesome, more often, when I go home again.
- feeling like I am totally the Right People for the event. (Meaning that not only am I the event's target Right People, but that this has been communicated in some way that I lit up and went "ooh! This is for me!" instead of "oh, this is for someone more [adjective]." I have missed awesome events because they were crap about getting this across... and I have regretted attending events that were marketed perfectly for me... but were actually for Someone Very Different.)
- someone I love will be there: lover, friend, mentor, crush. I admit, it's a factor.
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