The 10 Principles

 

Burning Man is a city that exists for one week a year, and life there is unlike anywhere else. This is due, in large part, to the 10 Principles. 

Here they are, in the words of BMORG: https://burningman.org/about/10-principles/

Here are some practices that flow from the 10 Principles:

1. Radical Self-Reliance: Burners come to the Playa with everything they need to survive in a challenging-to-hostile environment for a week. This blog won't tell you everything you need to know, because it differs from person to person, and based on your sleeping quarters. Yay, a research project! 

For example, I require some physical comfort on Playa, and need to be highly organized. So, I do a lot of body care (lotions, oils, clean pajamas and cozy socks I don't wear out of my tent) and I spend the first 3 hours there organizing my shit in packable/folding bins.  

Do some soul searching about what you need, and be as generous with yourself as you can be (knowing you have to schlep it all in and out). 

2. Leave No Trace: Pack it in, pack it out takes extreme form at the Butn. Grey water is the biggest one. 

Tooth brushing, hand washing, shower water, the coffee ground rinse--it all has to come out with us, and that means you. Re-think your waste water and come up with a plan to reduce it, now. 

For example, I wash my face in a black plastic carry out container, and then it becomes its own evap pond. I lay it out in the sun and away from dust, and the water evaporates before my next face washing. I brush my teeth with food grade peppermint oil (a teeny dab) and spit the rinse water out into a separate container that I set out to evaporate and/or bring home.

Consider bringing cold brew or coffee granules that dissolve. And have a plan for how you'll clean that bacon grease with paper towels and wet wipes. 

Prepare to take one or two showers, max, at the Butn. Yep. Otherwise, we'll all be packing 5-gallon buckets of dirty shower water out in our rental cars.  

You'll mostly get clean with baby wipes and some vinegar or lemon juice (more on that later). Wet hair on Playa is a nightmare anyway-the dust turns to clay in your freshly washed hair. Embrace the dry shampoo look. 

We'll also be bringing out all of our trash. Cans and crushables are ideal, on Playa. We'll talk more about this in the Food discussion. 

3. MOOP: Matter Out Of Place is anything that does not exist naturally on the Playa. This means beer cans and food packaging. 

It also means glitter, sawdust, sequins, grey water, that hot, half-drank IPA you decided you didn't want at 4 am (my least favorite kind of MOOP), and other human waste. 

None of it can be there, when we leave. And you're responsible for all of the MOOP you generate. Got a beer at a bar on Playa? That empty can is yours, now.  

You're also responsible for other people's MOOP. This is because someone else will be picking up that safety pin that fell off your backpack at the Temple. 

This takes consistent effort and awareness, so MOOPing is a verb (MOOPing: to engage in the act of identifying and disposing of MOOP). 

That paper towel you left on the table will be miles away in seconds, if a dust storm kicks up. So, Burners have a good rule. Just don't put it down. If you do, come back in short order to put it away. 

Also, don't bring costumes that shed. I know the Playa Chickens look glorious in their feathered outfits on the Insta. But they shed like crazy. This means I leave glitter and sequins at home, and ya'll KNOW how much I love the shiny. 

4. Gifting, De-commodification: There is no capitalist economy, on Playa. Fuck yeah! We're all socialists, and it's grand! This means you can't buy anything on Playa, except ice. 

The Butn is not a gotdamned "barter economy" either.  We gift, and we receive, in a non-transactional way. 

We all gift many things, including: 1) our MOOPing efforts; 2) our attention, presence, and authentic selves; 3) a helping hand with someone's tent, heavy ass ice wagon, lack of TP at the porta potties, etc.; 4) our patience and self-soothing when shit's all going to hell; and 5) camp set up, during-the-week camp maintenance, ice runs, and break down.

More formally, the camp will throw some happy hours, which will be our gift to the Playa. Likely, it will be cold cocktails from a keg and Richard Cheese playing on the sound system. More on this later. 

Some people bring things to "gift" to other Burners. Necklaces, small pieces of art, custom stickers, custom patches, etc. 

Others volunteer for BMORG or art projects. The JackRabbit Speaks newsletter will have info about how to volunteer, as will the Burning Man website, if you choose to gift this way. 

Some people share or bring extras of their favorite "survival item." I'll stand out onto street with a mister full of cold water with peppermint oil on a hot day (it's air conditioning, seriously) for passers by. I also bring extras of my favorite natural chapstick, to share.  

Gifts of extra bandanas and LED lights are always useful, especially late in the week when everyone has lost or broken theirs. 

This is all gifting. 

If this is your first Butn, you do not need to worry so much about gifting physical goods. I wouldn't overcommit on volunteering, either (all my volunteer efforts my first year failed). 

Instead, plan to help out in camp, give your time and money for camp ice runs, and maybe bring some extra blinky or bandanas to share with those in need. If you come back, it is likely that you'll be with a Theme Camp or art project, and then you'll have the opportunity to gift in a more substantial way. 

And prepare to receive! 

5. Radical Self-Expression, Participation, Immediacy:  Some people come to the Butn to become the fullest expression of their "Burner Selves," the person they can't be in the Default World. They take up a goofy name (which they will use to introduce themselves, like "Hi, I'm Fancy Tits") and never take off their unicorn ears. 

Others play pranks that will escalate over the week and loudly crack jokes in a bullhorn at 4 am, just because it pisses you off. 

I like to engage in performance art, and it never goes as planned. Like that time I wore my Creepy Bunny costume and handed out easter eggs with babydoll heads to try to weird people out. But everyone just thought I was adorable. 

Bottom line, think about what you want to do more of, in your daily life. Then, plan to do that at Burning Man. Want to be more naked? More silly? More connected to your vulnerability? More connected to your badass side? More at ease? Do that. Do all of it. 

Just leave the feathers at home. ;)