Be Like a “Burner” and Wear a Mask!
Some of you might know that for me, late summer often means a trip to the Burning Man Festival! For one week, in Black Rock City, over 70,000 people come together to form a temporary city dedicated to creativity, self expression, revelry, community and radical self-reliance.
Black Rock City is in the high desert where the conditions can be harsh — hot during the day, cold at night, with strong winds that kick up A LOT of sand! “Burners” often wear masks or face coverings to protect themselves from breathing too much sand!
The same way that Burning Man challenges you to rise to the occasion our current everyday world of the pandemic, politics and natural disasters is a challenging climate!
It can help to bear in mind some key principles from Burning Man — such as “self-reliance,” “civic responsibility” and “communal effort.” To me, self-reliance is built on the foundation of self-care, and civic responsibility is about holding others in mind in a caring way.
Scientists are still learning about Covid-19, but what we already know can help us protect ourselves and others by taking these common-sense measures: Maintaining a physical distance of at least six feet between ourselves and other people and wearing masks that cover our noses and mouths.
In 2020, because of Covid-19, Burning Man attendees couldn’t physically gather in Black Rock City — but we all have the opportunity to make the effort to live by its collectively considerate principles now!
