Monday, August 12, 2013

Flowing

Bob Freund, MA, 2013
I no longer have the bracelet in that photo, so I'm glad it's been well-documented. It was woven onto my wrist at last year's Burning Man [my first].

It's amazing how much that one unexpected event has rerouted my life. I never had any interest in going to Burning Man, and then, when offered the chance to go completely for free [and with all amenities and food provided], I told myself I wasn't going to become one of those who "go to Burning Man".

Granted, I think I've done a good job keeping the rest of the year full of aspiration and movement, rather than dwelling in nostalgia or anticipation. However, much of my adventures in the last year have been a direct result of my experience at Burning Man and the friends I made while there.

For example, guess where I am now?

In a part of Northern California I'd never before ventured to go.

Why?

Because I'm learning pyrotechnics and building huge fire effects that will sit sixty-five feet in the air and shoot flames an additional twenty feet higher. I've been reacquainting myself with old skills [some basic metalworking] and acquiring new ones [like plumbing], and keeping company with some hilarious characters. Plus some other side adventures: today, a precocious nine-year-old girl taught me all about the herbs in the community garden across the street, and we picked some and brewed a huge vat of tea for everyone.

I've been sleeping in the warehouse/studio [alternately on a mattress in a loft, and in a gorgeous handmade teardrop camper made by one of the guys here], waking late, then working late into the night. It's been six days, and eight days ago, I was helping to coordinate a beautiful desert event in Nevada and had no idea that I was going to be coming here.

Back to modeling, though:

In the last few days I've gotten some really encouraging correspondence and am realizing that I miss it. More than I expected to, I mean. Modeling's been the one constant element in my ever-changing adult life--my primary anchor since I first endeavored to leave the place I grew up calling home. While I'm fully committed to other projects this year...you bet your asses I'll be back.

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