What They Carry

I have held firm to a weekly post for years now, but for months I have not been posting much at all. This is the reason - an on again, off again project called What They Carry. The on/off reasons will be explained later. It will be obvious to see that not the least of these would be better described as excuses.

The process here is not difficult. You see the image above with a silhouette of two people (one shadows another) surrounded by a constellation of unusual icons.

Each of these icons point to a personal story. Some will seem to favor humor on a sunny day sporting a cool breeze while others will be dark and overcast, with thunderous clouds of emotion. These stories reflect the more impactful lessons discovered throughout my years of interacting with Black brothers and sisters. Each matter to me as I continue this journey toward loving my neighbor - all of them.

If you want to follow the stories chronologically, start with the water bucket icon and move clockwise. Each icon includes a clickable link. The silhouette points to the wrap up for this project - a webpage that is easily navigated with the arrow keys on your laptop or mobile phone. 

To begin, click the Blue Button below. You will be taken to the same image in a clickable PDF. Since there are 11 stories plus a 20-page (they're short pages though) website, it is easy to download the PDF to your laptop for future reading/reference.

I have anguished about this publication for many months. Most of these stories will be exposed for the first time within this project. Nearly all of the emotion has been concealed for much of my life.

I encourage comments and discussions as long as they're civil, respectful, and based in a desire for understanding and enlightenment. 

Many of you will find it difficult to agree with what I've been experiencing. I absolutely encourage your comments - this is not an echo chamber. Maybe we can both learn something together.

Of course, my current fearfully anxious mood would also welcome supporting comments as well.

Thank you for spending your time reviewing this material. That also matters a great deal to me! 

Mike

Hippies and Burners

Today I confess:

• I have, apparently, been living under a rock (pun intended). Every so often, I have come across the words, “Burning Man”.  Until today, I had no idea what it was.
• At first glance, my research reminded me of the Hippie movement in the late 1960s. I was certainly very aware of them. I was tempted to call myself an overripe Hippie as I remembered those days, but since most things called ‘overripe’ have already or will soon be spoiled, I’d like to take this self-inflicted adjective back. I’m not rancid yet, and I never was a hippie.
• Some core values are common between Hippies and ‘Burners’. But there are differences – especially in structure. Burners are very organized and adhere to "10 Principles" while Hippies have an informal, relaxed existence. As part of my confession, I admit that I would fail to perform well with one of those Burner Principles. They call it “Radical Self-reliance”

Burning Man is now a global event. In the United States, Black Rock City is temporarily created in the Black Rock Desert about 120 miles Northeast of Reno Nevada. Growing from 20 people in 1986 to a current population of approximately 70,000 people, they construct a pop-up city for the event's duration (about 9 days) and then make it all disappear, "leaving no trace” (another principle).

You can use the links to discover more about the Burning Man movement, but I just wanted to look at those 10 Principles for a couple of minutes.

• Radical Inclusion: No roadblocks. No judgments. All inclusive. Buy a ticket and you’re in - and welcome.
• Gifting: The value of any gift is unconditional. There is no expectation of reciprocity. A gift is just that - free of any strings, whatsoever.
• Decommodification: Commercial sponsorships, advertising, and transactional arrangements are prohibited. They are considered to be exploitative and also violate the community's spirit of giving.
• Radical Self-reliance: Individuals are encouraged to discover and to rely on inner resources.
• Radical Self-expression: Everyone has a gift that can be shared with others. Sharing this gift is generous when respecting the rights and liberties of recipients.
• Communal Effort: Burning Man values creative cooperation and collaboration. “We strive to produce, promote, and protect social networks, public spaces, works of art, and methods of communication that support such interaction.”
• Civic Responsibility: “We value civil society. Community members who organize events should assume responsibility for public welfare and endeavor to communicate civic responsibilities to participants. They must also assume responsibility for conducting events in accordance with local, state and federal laws.”
• Leaving No Trace:  Recognized as an environmental term, it stretches to include Burning Man events. In fact, it goes a little further encouraging participants to leave things ‘better’ than when arriving.
• Participation: Transformative change results only within a framework of deep personal participation. This is true individually and corporately. Everyone is invited to work and play together with actions that open hearts.
• Immediacy: “Immediate experience is, in many ways, the most important touchstone of value in our (Burning Man) culture. We seek to overcome barriers that stand between us and a recognition of our inner selves, the reality of those around us, participation in society, and contact with a natural world exceeding human powers. No idea can substitute for this experience.”

Reading these 10 Principles slowly, I find it difficult to find fault in any of them. 

And then, those Hippies. Well, yes. They are informal and relaxed, but they do have a code of sorts: Peace, love, artistic expression, and anti-commercialism, are front and center while living outside traditional societal norms.

I’ve already admitted that I am not a Hippie. This year’s tickets for Burning Man were $575 each. It’s unlikely that I’ll ever be considered a Burner either. But I would like to adopt the viewpoints and ethics that both groups offer to us individually and as a society.

I find it so very unfortunate that these cities must be temporary.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

 

Burning Man

Burning Man Artwork - Take Your Breath Away Awesome

Burning Man Black Rock City 2026