Wow. What a week! It's Friday morning (bagel day!) and here are some thoughts.Burning Man
The above image was taken in 2007. Get stoked. No drugs necessary, though highly recommended, the sphere and energy of the valley secluded between the Black Rock mountains is purely indescribable. 960+ acres of interactive & creative projects, art cars, fire machines, dancing, glowing shit, theme camps, and the 4th largest city in Nevada for one week. Simply, I've come to understand it as such: Burning Man is a week-long (or longer depending on your interest in preparation or Earth Guardian-ship) experiment in self sufficiency and a mind bending trip into a Creative Circus-like Pirate Carnival Extravaganza, rated in the top 10 parties/experiences in the world to attend.
My first impression of the event was a bunch of hippies in the desert. How wrong I was. This thing is prepped all year long, and a $2M a year business. There are street signs, a DMV (Department of Mutant Vehicles), post office to the outside world, WiFi access, coffee bars, absinthe bars, food and booze at every turn, art installations, costumes, and parades. A very well orchestrated event.
The drawn out point that I'm grasping at is that Burning Man is like nothing else, and I'll be attending this year. In prior years, I've just showed up, but this year I'll be going hog wild in preparation with plans for wrapping my geodome in canvas, daisy chaining some solar tech to have a small fridge, and getting really creative with the projects.
More to come as the weeks go on.
Workin Man
This week has been incredibly hectic and busy with work. Late nights and near impossible deadlines give me little breathing during the week for anything else and there is this unspoken pressure of making my designs hot as a steaming pile of shit, but maintaining low hourly billing to the clietn. Considering I'm leaving in a few short months, it may seem odd I care so much. That's how I roll. 100% till completion.
The cube aside, work on freelance has been up and down. Because I have been at the office for such a good period of the last month or so, I've neglected a few clients, and subsequently they've been going to other freelancers. While I was dismayed at first, I see now that its only natural for things to shift, priorities to re-order, and loose ends to tie up. Additionally, I don't want to get stagnant even as a designer doing the same things. I've been learning my lessons about pricing, turn times, and productivity. In my defense, working at the office for 12 hours and then coming home to work until 3am takes some serious passion, motivation, or maybe just lunacy. I literally have to keep a calendar now and schedule in "relax" because otherwise I won't.
So clients come and go, and that's just the natural ebb/flow of interaction. However, I'm really excited about this new client that just entered the fold, and I intend to focus energies appropriately. Client name aside, these are some guiding principles of said client, paraphrased:
- To deliver the wisdom of Nature, relieving suffering and promoting optimal health.
- to further the organic movement, nourishing body and soul with pure whole foods
- To nurture and sustain Mother Earth, the source of natural healing.
- To honor personal growth, for enlightened teamwork depends on the vitality of every member of the family
I'm also continuing to press forward with WhoRulez, which has made some leaps and bounds in the last year. We've been working on this for the last three or four years, and only recently are we seeing it materialize into the humblest beginnings of what it will eventually become.
Closer to farming, but still in the realm of design, I've been talking to the Odiyan Tibetan Buddhist Retreat Center about a possible farming apprenticeship on their 1100 acre land of temples, gardens, and cultivation. While my initial inquiry was based just on physical labor and a little deeper understanding of the eastern philosophy, the person I spoke with said they are always needing graphic designers for web updates, brochures, etc. Wow! So I can continue to be graphically tapped as well as learn Buddhism and get a farming/cultivation experience. Awesome. More to come on that as things progress.
Farming Man
I have been met with some resistance by my parents to quitting and beginning the path of sustainability. They are worried about my financial situation, how I will make ends meet, health insurance, and general things any sane parent would be concerned about when their kid says they're going to quit a well paying job to go, as a Steinbeck character would say, "live off the fat of the land." I'm sure they perceived it as some stoner pipe dream and were obviously unsettled. So we talked it out. I sent them links to the WWOOF farm in Hawaii, Aprovecho, Simondale, and the EPA website that talks about all the permits, tax incentives, and possible grants for eco-project homes. After a rather lengthy video chat (modern man, I am), my mom was pleasantly satisfied by my depth of research and forethought. It's not just some stoney idea of utopia. This is a reality for me and my goal in life(side note: 4 acres of land in Oregon is only $8000). It's a tough thing to grasp if one's mind is not able to understand the possibility of life outside of systems in that are already in place. Sounds so Matrixy...
Nevertheless, onward!
I'm so exhausted, but I've managed to parlay that into fuel for creative productivity. Last night was a 2am night, the evening prior was a 3am night, and tonight will be similar. So this weekend will be fully deserved. It's funny though, I have to do chores and play catch-up from the week.
There will be little down time, but at least I'll be able to relax at home with a nice herbal blend and a cup of coffee on the back porch while I tend to the tasks at hand.
Cheers.
