Here’s a timely thought from my friend Rebecca in Baja, “Time is one of the great illusions: we think we’re running out of it or we have all the time in the world, It’s all part of the cosmic joke. As you well know, all we have is now.” Reading this was an emotional salve for me as it helped me to fathom that every moment contained eternity. And, if that’s the case, then worrying about my likelihood of living another ten years is silly.
My sense is that one reason psychedelics have become so popular is because they focus us on the present moment, a heightened awareness of the “now.” For type-A achievers, this is such a different state of mind, so far from the impatient timelines of our everyday life. Maybe that’s why Silicon Valley decamps to Burning Man this week, every single year.
For those of you heading to Black Rock City, here’s a piece I wrote eleven years ago, The Emotional Survival Guide to Burning Man. Enjoy the “immediacy” of the Playa (the last of Burning Man’s 10 Principles). And, men, don’t let anyone tell you that “men don’t have outfits” (something I once heard as a teenager). On the Playa, everyone has an outfit!
-Chip