Burning Man writing exercise "Community"
Community (LJ)
I found this was the first year I felt enveloped in a micro community, rather than being responsible for it. I have always camped with theme camps. My first year at the burn was with Shadyvil, a San Francisco based camp that a friend of Jody's was co-running. I knew exactly 3 people in the camp before showing on the playa, one just barely. Jody was doing a lot of infrastructure work at the camp, as well as his own project, The Church of Ceiling Cat. I was friendly with many people in the camp, but didn't really get close to anyone. Meals were communal, other than for food and rest I didn't really hang out a lot at camp. There was a lot of tension in the camp too, which didn't help. I visited Poly Paradise a few times, going to the Poly High Tea really helped me sort out the issues I was having with a then-recent breakup, and I felt more supported by the attendants than my campmates, but then again I didn't talk about things with them.
The next 2 years I camped with Midnight Poutine, a small, Montreal based food gifting camp. The first year was a mostly close knit group, most people knew at least 2 or 3 people. I was also part of the early arrival crew, along with 4 other people, including Jody. During the day we worked hard at setting up, at night we invited artists and other early arrival people for dinner. We served over 1000 poutines that first year, and burners loved us. People waited in line for over 30 minutes for yummy fries, sauce and gravy. The next year during set up we had people squealing with delight to discover we were back in business. That year was weird, the core group of MP early arrivals was mostly the same, but outside some other Montrealers that were friends the group was largely different. We acquired a sizeable French contingent, as well as a few people who remembered us from the year before and wanted in. I felt the group didn't have the cohesion we had the year before. While MP was still as popular as before, and the lines were longer, the spirit wasn't the same.
This year was radically different. With Midnight Poutine taking the year off and needing my space, I had to find somewhere new to camp. After considering a few options, I chose to camp with Poly Paradise, where I already knew a handful of people. I found a camp that had the infrastructure I lacked that would have made camping solo hard, and a welcoming group of people whose company I enjoyed. There was a common space where there was always someone to chat with. As I didn't feel the stress or the tension that coated Shadyvil and MP. Ok, so some of that probably had to do with not having the responsibility of running a camp, or dating someone that was. Also, PP does a lot for the Burning Man community at large, like the Human Carcass wash, which is as much about honouring boundaries than getting clean, and the previously mentioned Poly High Tea. In general, this was a good fit for me.
I found this was the first year I felt enveloped in a micro community, rather than being responsible for it. I have always camped with theme camps. My first year at the burn was with Shadyvil, a San Francisco based camp that a friend of Jody's was co-running. I knew exactly 3 people in the camp before showing on the playa, one just barely. Jody was doing a lot of infrastructure work at the camp, as well as his own project, The Church of Ceiling Cat. I was friendly with many people in the camp, but didn't really get close to anyone. Meals were communal, other than for food and rest I didn't really hang out a lot at camp. There was a lot of tension in the camp too, which didn't help. I visited Poly Paradise a few times, going to the Poly High Tea really helped me sort out the issues I was having with a then-recent breakup, and I felt more supported by the attendants than my campmates, but then again I didn't talk about things with them.
The next 2 years I camped with Midnight Poutine, a small, Montreal based food gifting camp. The first year was a mostly close knit group, most people knew at least 2 or 3 people. I was also part of the early arrival crew, along with 4 other people, including Jody. During the day we worked hard at setting up, at night we invited artists and other early arrival people for dinner. We served over 1000 poutines that first year, and burners loved us. People waited in line for over 30 minutes for yummy fries, sauce and gravy. The next year during set up we had people squealing with delight to discover we were back in business. That year was weird, the core group of MP early arrivals was mostly the same, but outside some other Montrealers that were friends the group was largely different. We acquired a sizeable French contingent, as well as a few people who remembered us from the year before and wanted in. I felt the group didn't have the cohesion we had the year before. While MP was still as popular as before, and the lines were longer, the spirit wasn't the same.
This year was radically different. With Midnight Poutine taking the year off and needing my space, I had to find somewhere new to camp. After considering a few options, I chose to camp with Poly Paradise, where I already knew a handful of people. I found a camp that had the infrastructure I lacked that would have made camping solo hard, and a welcoming group of people whose company I enjoyed. There was a common space where there was always someone to chat with. As I didn't feel the stress or the tension that coated Shadyvil and MP. Ok, so some of that probably had to do with not having the responsibility of running a camp, or dating someone that was. Also, PP does a lot for the Burning Man community at large, like the Human Carcass wash, which is as much about honouring boundaries than getting clean, and the previously mentioned Poly High Tea. In general, this was a good fit for me.