Treasures and Amulets from the Dust

There's nothing more complex, nuanced and inspiring than Burning Man. Nearly 1,000 miles up the road from Tucson, AZ, on a dried alkaline lake bed in the Nevada desert, arises another world that exists for a couple weeks every year. My compass needle points as often as it can to this otherworldly place.

I could write 10,000 blog posts on 10,000 facets of Burning Man. I'd start with the mind-boggling, flame-shooting, climbable, introspective, evocative, provocative art!

Then I'd move on to the Art CARS with all the same adjectives. Oh the creativity! The interactive, immersive discoveries and giving via a "gift economy" on a scale unimaginable. Fire arts and pyrotechnics beyond imagination.  

Most of all, a collaboratively motivated, united society living by 10 Principles that are more meaningful and effective than any set of laws in any country on earth.

Also, there is some dust. ;)

Better than any river of adjectives I can type,  is the information at BurningMan.org and I highly suggest the Gallery pages and the Ten Principles. Be sure to read about De-commodification and Gifting to understand why the Burning Man designs at A Nice World are not for sale. Check out the Principle of Immediacy – it’s a favorite, a #1 recommendation. Immediacy absolutely pays off in spades on both sides of the Burning Man experience.

I thank my needle-in-a-haystack stars that late one evening in 2014 in Center Camp, I was wearing my original Burning Man sterling silver shield ring which caught the eye of Christine LadyBee Kristen. She has worked with Burning Man for decades as the Art Director and now is the curator of all Playa jewelry and the Playa Jewelers Guild. Right time, right place. Amazing. 

Now, I’m beyond proud to be a member of this guild and to connect with fascinating, inspiring artists and jewelers at the Maker’s Reception Potluck.  I’m over the moon to be featured in the online series of the book, "Jewelry of Burning Man, a Rich History of Modern Artifacts of the Playa." Read a piece she authored for the Burning Man Journal called Playa Made: Jewelry of Burning Man.  

Thanks to Burning Man I’ve been part of the largest fire dance circle on earth, I’ve built geodesic domes, I've read tarot and law of attraction cards as a Traveling Maenad and performed as Mirrora the Law of Attraction Fortune Teller. I've been a foam noodle forest hanger (Sylvan Path art installation). I've presented on the topic of “How to Virgo Your Burn” which sounds counterintuitive but as it turns out, is pretty fantastic advice for Burning Man and life in general.

Thanks to LadyBee and her encouragement, I created a new piece every year I attended, to gift at Burning Man and Saguaro Man, our Arizona Regional Burn. I’ve collaborated with my Playa camp to design and cast our gifted pendants and have thoroughly enjoyed the fact that they will never have a price tag on them. That's the Principle De-commodification in action -  AKA NOT FOR SALE. 

Here's a few of my favorites!