The Ten Burning Man Principles, Number Six

Yet another reference to gifting. The principle reads: Our community promotes social interaction through collective acts of gifting. We value creative cooperation and collaboration. We strive to produce, promote and protect social networks, public places, works of art, and methods of communication that support such interaction.

If I think about it, I can see how communal effort is a gift in itself. It also provides a place for people to give of their inspiration and their simple appreciation for the city.

A lot of the creative cooperation and collaboration happens outside the event. The larger art installations may be planned for two years or more, with fundraisers and lots of meetings. This year I have already looked at a group camp proposal for next year, and I've been back less than two weeks. The thought process around Burning Man churns along all year. The questions are how to do it better, how to give the gifts, how to make it more equitable for everyone. I've known a fair number of long-time "burners" who were completely burned out. One reason this happens is that new people have no way of really understanding the level of communal effort involved. You have to go to discover what, why, and how it works. With so many new people coming each year, we are seeing new levels of burnout from the people who do know how it works and want to recreate it better and better. Like all creative projects, it is easy to make promises during the inspiration phase, and then find it difficult to come up with the time and energy as the months roll along.

Methods of communication can always use improvement. I know of one large camp this year that came into being with almost no communication. It was unfortunate that the core organizers of the camp chose to limit the camp's communication, when there are such easy ways to connect a group of people online. Like anywhere on earth, politics and egos play their role in the population. The only solution to this darker side of the city is to keep expanding communication, asking questions, and creating vehicles for people to connect.

The fact that so many intelligent people want to come together in a way that works for everyone speaks to the very heart of the Burning Man community. If enough people articulate their experience, again a communal offering of an archival nature, we may find entirely new ways to approach this special opportunity each year.