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By far the greatest experience of my life. Nothing else comes close. Here's a "journal entry" I wrote in an attempt to capture the power and emotion of the man burning:
I could hear the music of about ten different sound systems, sometimes as individual sounds, sometimes as integrated sounds harmonizing to create an auditory concoction that no one will ever hear again. It was a clusterfuck, but one that was so beautiful--the energies of 70,000 people, over 200 art cars, and what felt like the collective consciousness of everyone who had ever lived, was all culminating in one place. And we were here to witness it, to be a part of it, to make it happen, because without us, it wouldn't have. This was the centre of the universe, and as the firespinners danced in front of us, the sounds played around us, and the hearts beat within all of us, the flames took charge and the green man burned. First his arms and then his head and torso before his entire 92-foot tall body was engulfed in flames. Explosions of fire burst from within him as fireworks blasted above and around the tall man. Fireworks so far beyond any we had previously seen that words do them no justice. Just think of the history of July 4th fireworks all happening at once, and then you might gain a sense approaching what we saw. Explosions everywhere and massive balls of fire and smoke launching into the sky, engulfing the air and blasting the crowd with heat and powerful love. The fireworks ceased and the the fire began taking the man down and shifting below to the UFO, which then went up in smoke and launched more massive explosions into the starry night sky. The music continued and green and blue lasers covered the air and the collective euphoria was so powerful that the air was moist with joyful tears, despite the powerful flames. Tornados of fire and dust emanated from the centre and headed outward and it seemed dangerous, but the kind of dangerous that makes everyone feel alive and instills no fear. The kind of danger that lets you understand, 'I'd be happy if I died right now.' I looked around at dropped jaws and genuine eyes--the kind people have after reaching simultaneous orgasm with a lover--as people stared in wonder at the profundity and beauty they helped create. Burning Man is not manufactured by any individual but by the collective of humanity. Even those not present play a part, and this event and this moment of the burn is a representation of everything; a representation so strong that it might as well be everything, and in fact, it is everything. The fire, the sounds, the dancing, the love, the joy, the power, the infinite magnificence of it all, and the realization that we are forever, and we are all everything, and the fucking beauty. The fucking beauty that makes me cry as I type this. The realization that we are so powerful and we can do absolutely anything we want: the proof existing in that we just did everything we wanted. We did everything we could have hoped for, and so much more. And we must smile because we have gone so many extra miles on a playa made of dreams--dreams that were turned into reality all to make a man burn. And when it's all said and done, we will leave no trace, and there might not even be any evidence for what took place except for the feeling that exists inside all who were there. And much like our existence as a whole, the physicality will eventually disappear, but the consciousness never will. We exist forever and we are all part of infinity. And I am so happy, and I know we are all so happy to have participated in this anecdote--because honestly, nothing has ever been more powerful. And still, these words pale in comparison to the reality of the dream we endured.
Thank you to everyone who played a part in making my first Burn the greatest experience of my life.
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