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What Happens in Black Rock City Doesn't Stay in Black Rock City

I just got back from Black Rock City, the temporary community that crops up at the end of the summer each year in the barren Nevada desert. I had intended to try to live blog from there, but one lesson about Burning Man is that intentions and plans tend to melt away in the intense heat of the playa!

Politics and Burning Man have always had a tricky relationship. Most people who go say politics is the last thing they want to think about when they're out there bonding with friends, meeting new people and enjoying mind-blowing art. It's always been difficult for me to connect with Burning Man enthusiasts about politics, and I hadn't figured out how to reconcile my political passions with my desire to be at this event. Until now.

I met Alix Rosenthal, who is running for San Francisco County Supervisor against incumbent Bevan Dufty. Alix is incredibly inspiring, because her campaign is a chance for people to make the case for electoral politics in the much too often apolitical world of Burning Man.

I got to talk to people about politics this year in the context of my plans to leave on Saturday, before the ritual burning of the effigy of a man that gives the event its name. People don't generally approve of this timing, mostly because they want everyone to participate in the burn together. But because the question "What do you do?" is studiously avoided at Burning Man, the topic of my having to leave early because of the political season kicking off after Labor Day was an easy way for me to spread a positive message about politics. In many instances it spurred long and interesting discussions that provided insights on everything from economics to health care to the upcoming California Governor's race.

Finally, my husband Dan and I took the opportunity of being completely unplugged from the real world to think a lot about and talk a lot about the change we're trying to make here. Somewhere between the long, hot days and the cold, party-filled nights, between the mind-bending art pieces and the constant stream of friendly strangers, between the horrible drone of bad keyboards and megaphone-ranting from an annoying camp neighbor and an epiphanic dancing experience with an amazing house dj, something happened. Something clicked into place.

We saw that Burning Man really is about changing the world, but not in the way it is often talked about -- creating an alternative reality once a year in the desert. The generosity and cooperation and creative potential of humans that we see manifested at Burning Man -- not perfectly, by any means, but a lot more than we see in daily life -- is pointing us toward something incredibly important; something that must happen outside of Burning Man.

This feeling was driven home by the signs that are posted along the road on the way out of the event. "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas," the first series of signs read. And then: "What happens in Black Rock City does not stay in Black Rock City." Today, our work continues to hold true to that promise.

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