Take Your Baby to Burning Man
OK maybe don’t, but the two are a lot alike and here’s why.
Founder Devon Clement attends many annual events, but it’s probably true that her Groundhog Day performance-art-meets-party is lesser known than the dusty but beautiful extravaganza that is Burning Man.
In fact, last year she released a podcast episode entitled “Babies, Burning Man, and Unexpected Lessons from a Porta-Potty”—give it a listen, it’s a riot!
Burning Man is a weeklong art and community festival in the Nevada desert, and while this description might not sound like a concept that entirely and wholly unlike a having a baby, we’re here to tell you, it’s really not.
Here are five reasons going to Burning Man is the same as having a baby:
When you tell the story, people are either in love or aghast.
People hearing about your trip to Burning Man and people hearing your birth story are making one of two faces: enraptured by the sheer magnitude of the human experience, or abject horror at the suffering you paid so very much money to endure. These faces come in handy when it comes to #3.
It’s messier than you can accurately explain.
Even in the best of circumstances, you’re dirtier than you could ever dream. There’s a long time without a shower while being exposed to either the elements of the outdoors or the Labor & Delivery Unit. The pictures never seem to really capture the filth of the experience, which, again, really helps re: #3.
People who love it are always trying to recruit their friends.
You’ll look your friends right in the eyeballs and say, “I’ve never been more exhausted, strung out, or in need of a shower in my entire life. This is the happiest I’ve ever been! I am transformed.” Then you’ll start dropping hints through the winter before all-out asking at a springtime game night if you and your partner(s) might be thinking about taking “the most sacred journey.”
Each trip is entirely unpredictable.
No matter how much you prepare, how many times you’ve done it before, how experienced you are with the elements or familiar you are in hospitals, each and every single time is different. There are infinite possibilities for infinite variables, and the only way out is through. Trusting your prep and letting go of outcomes are vital for morale.
Every time you do it, you think, “Never again.” But…
The fallout is physical, emotional, spiritual. After riding the biggest energetic waves you have ever known for so many hours on end, coming back down to reality can feel blah. You might get a little blue after coming home, even bordering on depression. It often takes such a toll, you loudly proclaim you will never be doing any of that again. But after a season or three, the itch comes back. The desire to journey, the readiness for adventure, the willingness to part with astronomical amounts of money…and you start the prep all over again, with a smile on your face.
Want even more Burning Man-baby discourse? Check out Episode #21 of The Parenthood Prep Podcast.
Have you ever been to Burning Man? Do you see any parallels in your experience as a Burner and your experience as a Parent? Let us know!