Becoming Playable

I wasn’t a Burner my first day at Burning Man or my second.

I wasn’t a Burner until my third day.

Wasn’t a Burner until I decided that I wanted to be the performer dancing for the crowd.

Wasn’t a Burner until I went to the Temple and cried as I let go of my self-hate, my insecurities, my anxieties.

Wasn’t a Burner until after writing on the Temple wall and growing I decided to gift the marker that had been gifted to me to a tattooed, bad-ass looking-mother-fucker, sitting outside the Temple.

Wasn’t a Burner until when I handed him the marker he looked up at me and started crying. And I sat and I heard his story, his pain and struggle. And I took a little of that struggle off his back with an open ear and a firm hug.

Wasn’t a Burner until I realized that with the tiniest act, I could change the world.

I’m a Burner now. I know where True Home is but I try my best to make everywhere I am Home, one open ear and firm hug at a time.


by Cosmic Trooper

About the author: Tales From the Playa

Tales From the Playa

Tales From the Playa are dreams and memories of events that took place at Burning Man, as told by participants. Submit your story here.

2 Comments on “Becoming Playable

  • Micro Kitty says:

    I wasn’t a Burner until I got my Playa name gifted to me. I was just hanging out and feeling kind of alone, then I met a woman and we hit it off. It was one of the best experiences of my life and something I always dreamed Burning Man could be like. Then a guy came up to us and was really nice, and then he asked me to take the thing I had in her ass out. I told him Burning Man is a place where no one tells you to take that thing out of her ass. And he had a moment and we all had a moment, and we realized how beautiful the experience was while we were actually having it. This mysterious man called me friend, and my playa name became ‘friend’.

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  • Hiccup says:

    >…and cried as I let go of my self-hate, my insecurities, my anxieties.

    I found them for you, and now all I want to do is kill God.

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