Yes, I’m going to Burning Man

The word is out and yes, it is true.  I am going to Burning Man this year.  Since the choice and decision to go seems out of character, both to most people I know as well as to me, I thought I’d chew on it a bit to try to understand and explain why.

The most simple answer which is now only one small part of the reason is that my husband wants to go.  Andy has wanted to go since I met him.  Of the two of us, he is more of an adventure seeker and risk taker and I am more fearful and cautious.   So while my initial response when he posed the possibility of going was “seriously?? – instead of Europe this year??”, the possibility also intrigued me.

Over the past several years, I’ve been learning to explore ideas and experiences that are outside my comfort zone.  Scuba was definitely one of those.  I’ve learned that immediately shutting my mind to things which “Lisa doesn’t do” keeps me from growing and explanding.

Nonetheless, Burning Man falls way outside my comfort zone.  I am not comfortable running around naked.  I don’t use drugs.  I don’t like wearing costumes.  And I don’t have an active fantasy life or alter-ego waiting to be acted out in an alternate world. I'm a 62-year-old wife, mother, CEO, friend, Rock of Gibraltar type.

So why am I going to spend the better part of a week in the hot desert where an alternative world is erected and dismantled, where nothing will be familiar, where I will have no access to the body part known as my Iphone, where I’ll live in an RV and fill every crevice of my body with dust?  I’m going for three powerful reasons.

I’m going for the art.  While I know that sounds like men who say they only read Playboy for the articles, I am extremely interested in seeing the spectacle of the art created for the playa.  Photos of past years amaze me, and I think that anyone interested in current art has to see this.  A dear friend who is sponsoring me at BRC believes this and I trust her implicitly.

I’m going for the opportunity to see exactly what this alternative world is.  I’m not looking to live in another place nor planet, but rather, experiencing, if only for a short while, a world based on barter, gifts, and self-rule is fascinating.  Described as a catalyst for creative culture in the world, it's a place I want to be, or at least try.

My adorable second or third hand bike, already replete with handprinted designs

And I’m interested in seeing what effect all of this has on me.  Just the exercise of trying to figure out what I’ll wear, if there is an alternate-Lisa waiting to burst out in costume, has been an interesting experience.  (So far there is not!)   

Hat #1 for Burning Man 

Wish me luck.  I am very excited, thrilled to be going.  And scared.

Cheesemonger and Queen of Leather

When you raise your children, you have no idea who or how they are going to be as adults.  You hope, you wish, you wonder.  You try to stay present and love them for who they are, worrying about their challenges and weaknesses, praising them for their hard work and achievements.  But really, you just don’t know.

In my case, I sent my kids to great private schools, schools which allowed my bright young things to learn in their own styles but which I also knew were often feeder schools to, ultimately, great universities and careers.  I was a working mom, a hard-working executive who had the means for these great schools and the desire to give my kids the best chance.

My kids definitely marched to their own beats, with one to whom most everything came easily and one for whom obstacles were ever-present.  One thing was constant, though.  They each had passions, and my ex-husband and I were committed to feeding and nurturing their passions, regardless of what those passions were.   At the college level, neither was pursuing anything which looked like it could ever make a decent living, something I worried about – a lot.  But again, they were committed, passionate, and involved in their work.

Now, here I am, with two adult children each having been acclaimed publicly in the news.  My son was just awarded the winner in the 2015 Cheesemonger Invitational and written about in the Wall Street Journal.  My daughter has been proclaimed “the Queen of Mainstream Bondage” by the New York Times.  Cheese and leather, mongering and bondage, neither are exactly what I had in mind every year as I paid those hefty tuition bills. 

And yet I could not be more pleased.  It’s not the public acclaim that has me so happy, though that is certainly wonderful.  What I’m pleased about is that my kids have become adults who continue to pursue their passions and are figuring out every day how to build their lives around what they love.   Bravo Nick and Zana, following your dreams, making this mother proud.