Tag: magic

Burning Magic and Love

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Last year it was all about magic.  The trip down the rabbit’s hole, as I like to describe it, has been anticipated every day since I discovered the burner community.  Last year was without a doubt magical.  The lesson learned was finding belief in myself, in the powers that lies within and all around.  I felt that magic comes from a special feeling, but its has to be brought out.  Magic exists intrinsically, but it has to be manifested, it has to be sought out and forced out into a constructed being.

Last year was a very exquisite introduction to an alternative lifestyle, one that puts moral values over monetary ones, one that puts imagination before practicality, that puts friendships before convenience.

This year, it was all about love.  You go into it having some set of expectations, but also knowing that you have no idea what to expect.  It’s never the same, something (actually everything) always changes.  This burner concept is a very fluid environment, so preparation only takes you so far.

I thought that this year would reestablish that magical feeling of rediscovering imagination, but it that was not lesson that I learned this merry-go-around time.  This year, I felt the love of the temporary community and spaces that we made.  I soaked up every second of the town, of the merriment, of the place and space that we created.  I felt special to bond with people through a shared effort, through tribulation, struggle, problems, shared adventures, true connection.

This year helped me reestablished that I absolutely love feeding people, and when it comes down to it, that is really the one thing that gives me the greatest joy, sharing food.  Eating is the backbone of everything we do.  Nothing can be created or enjoyed without the energy to do it.

It made me realize how important it is to have special connection with a person, how much you can learn from a community, how everyone adds values to your life, how relying on people around you is not a weakness, it makes you stronger.

This year, it was all about love.  My heart feels shiny, in fact I think it’s glowing

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Hands Off Magic

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“There is something cathartic about making bread.  I think it has to do with the process of creating a dough and then leaving it alone to do its thing.  Even though you may have brought it to life, what it does most of the important thing on its own.” –Ideas In Food

 

Yeast is magical and delicious, and the best part is that the magic of bread making happens on its own, the synergy and the interaction of ingredients that happen in between the baker’s input.  There are just a few steps, simple yet very precise, and then the dough takes on a life of its own, and does the caterpillar thing to transform to a whole new creation.  Yeast, protein structure, fermentation, air, salt, with a high dose of heat all together form a completely new and totally phenomenal monster.

Growing Young

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Nobody questions the importance of embracing the imagination of children, promoting their fictitious games, bringing out the silliness in their perception, playing make believe and dress up, reading stories filled with cartoon characters, coloring outside the lines with mismatched colors.  Somewhere, though, when that innocence of childhood is shrugged off, when you learn that life is serious and not a fairytale daydream, when you realize that life hurts, that pain can last, that disappointment is a daily task, we lose the grip of the whimsical, we forgot about imagination, we don’t believe in magic anymore.  Maturing and dealing with this circus named reality is very important in not collapsing under the stress, in not giving into defeat.  We need this foundation to function, but this is the base layer.

After you grow up, you have to grow back down.  You have to grow back into imagination, into not taking everything at face value, at challenging the world around in a creative way, to bring art into every corner.   Not just because it is fun, but because it is inspiring.  If you cannot imagine it, that something will never happen.  Not all dreams come true, but they certainly will not materialize unless you have the mind power to form them.  Playing, drawing, giggling, creating your own fairytale is important.  Don’t let bills and heartbreak scare you away from the whimsical, don’t let the cold world freeze your playful thoughts, don’t let the negative weight of psychology dampen that free spirit.  It’s in there, so let your imagination spring, let your daydreams wander, let your doodles fill up blank pages of computer paper.

Whimsical Nature

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To behave like a child again.  To believe in magic.  To let go of time, forget about money, loose all sense of shame and embarrassment, but still take care of oneself.  Radical self reliance is the concept.  Everyone gives and everyone shares, but you are expected to take care of your basic needs and try to help out anyone when the opportunity arises.  You make sure you are fed and sheltered and happy, then you explore a world where imagination and fun are fueled by fire and energy.  Its a magical place.  Magic and connection exist here.  I felt magic and delight come together in an adult playground.  There are swings that are built tall so that you can swing as high as you did when you were a child.  There are all type of swings:  long pendulums, various bench swings, a large circle swing suspended from the middle at the top that sways slowly in the wind, dancing to the constant drum beat from the loud camps, another circle swing, this one built for just one, hidden in the forest.  There were all multitudes of hammocks, along the shore and floating on a barge in the lake.  I got to swing in a tutu with a long scarf dragging behind me, as I sway high and twirl around the heavy chains, with my toes pointed and legs fashioned in sweeping grace.  I also got to sway in my Indian princess dress, feeling like queen.  Magical.

The swinging was one of my favorite parts.  Another was a giant, throbbing pink heart that you could sit in.  The heart was made out of thin wood with 4 cut-outs ranging from red to light pink.  Behind each heart were rope lights that light up singularly, blinking backwards toward the largest inner heart.  Afar in the darkness, the heart looked like it was throbbing.  Behind the largest heart, there was a spot for two people to sit facing each other.  There were two heart shaped pillows for each person, one for your back and out for your head. It was very peaceful in there.  I had three great moments in there.  One of the best moments was when that magical man appeared out of nowhere just to catch my eye.  He light a cigarette and in the space between the cut-out hearts, his eyes smirked a fiery hello, greeted with my refreshing glaze.  That twinkle is the magic that I seek.  Its more than a sparkle, its a twinkle, a small yet hot spark.

The flame.  Everywhere the flame.  The cumulative burn is on the last night, when this giant, beautiful wooden structure is set ablaze, a literal burning of ideas and concepts that are your own personal restraint, a concept that can free one’s mind to behave again like a child.  To not be burdened by stature, looks, dress code, financial status, popularity, skin or gender or sexuality, hair type, shoe size, breast size, pant size, style, trend level, emotional problems.  Its less complicated then that.  Its like when you were 6 and you wanted to wear mismatched cloths, your friends were all in the neighborhood and nobody had any idea what their parents did for money.  Except here it is better, because you know who you are and how to take care of oneself.  Its magical.

Aside from the magnificent and epic burning of the effigy, fire is a constant theme throughout the camps. It is embodied in many shapes, but mostly coming hot and fast through iron pipes.  Some spit fire balls high into the air, the heat being felt strongly below.  Some are laced close to the ground, circling the dance floor.  Some are the top of an art sculpture.  Another interpretation of flame was slinking along a black ceiling,  creating a fire flower affect.  There were fires in iron barrels that had stencils cut out identifying the camp.  Of course there was a fire pit at the camp ground, which was the base for our camp home.

I felt a smirk of magic there, and I hope to keep some of that feeling here in the real world.  I left that magic man in the fairy tale, because its best to end at the last page in the story.  I will take home the simplicity and the whimsical, the content to not want anymore that what the imagination can provide.