BE Creative

Right now, lots of my friends are doing something that they’ve been trained not to be — creative. But they’re at Burning Man doing what they do best: being creative. (Believe it or not, a bunch of my friends are busy this week putting on weddings at the Elvis Wedding Chapel where last year I was part of a crew of 14 who put together over 80 weddings — and that included dressing all of the brides (male and female) in bridal gowns as well as their entire wedding parties. Here’s how to experience Burning Man from the comfort of your own home).

And on Saturday night when the Man burns, they will toast each other and celebrate the New Year! (There are actually lots of cultures that celebrate a new year in the fall around the Equinox including the Chumash, the local Native American group.)

With the New Year, comes the opportunity to start again. Burning Man has inspired many people to live more artistic, authentic, creative lives, to bring creativity into their days and nights. To be makers — on and off the playa.

But even with a strong New Year’s resolution, it can be hard to be a creative in the default world — to follow our dreams — in a world that has trained us to fit in, to conform, not to think and problem solve for ourselves.

As my students and I have been reading from Seth Godin, Gloria Anzaldua, Maya Angelou, Sherman Alexie, Mike Rose, Stephen King, and Malcolm X, we see how our education system too often fails us. Too often our educational systems forces us into a particular compartment. But many of us are shaped differently around the edges and we don’t quite fit in.

It may not be easy — but what else is there for us to do but to BE who we are? A human being who lives in community and who is part of NATURE?

So with this challenge — what can you do to BE more YOU? I’d like to propose these “New Year” Resolutions:

1. Take time off from screens.
2. Spend time in nature.
3. Reduce consumption, especially of non-renewables.

Here’s to BE -ing YOU!