Awaken the Senses and Your Wild Mind: A Writing Workshop for the Italian Burning Experience 2026

“The Man” to be burned at the Italian Burning Man Experience

I am currently in northern Tuscany, Italy, drinking a delicious Negroni and listening to a fabulous DJ– who I think is from Italy, maybe Milan, but could be from just about anywhere in the world… because the Italian Burning Experience attracts people from all over the world, people with many talents. Last year I fell in love with a DJ from Vienna– and then I was able to go to Vienna and hear her– and attend Pride there!

If you have been to Burning Man, or a Burning Man regional burn, the equivalent of Italian Burning Experience isn’t Burning Man but a Burning Man theme camp –the best theme camp you can imagine. It’s so good that you don’t venture too far away because the camp has it all–amazing people, live music, excellent food, fantastic bartenders, top notch workshops, showers, Wifi, and more at a remote, beautiful location.

I am trying to write this blog post to use for the workshop I am giving tomorrow –“Awakening the Senses and Your Wild Mind”  but this dj is so fun I want to go dance!! So I did, and I watched the moon rise, got another cocktail — this time a “Dolce Vita Margarita”  and now I’m back.

So now to the workshop. Many of the participants probably attended today’s “Wine Writing and Tasting” Workshop, so I don’t want to repeat myself!

I will start with an introduction to Natalie Goldberg’s Rules for Writing Practice which I write about here. She has seven rules which I interpret as:

1. Keep your hand moving. No matter what, don’t stop. Write whatever comes to your mind. Outrace the editor with your writing hand. If you keep your hand moving, the writing will win.

2. Lose Control. Let it rip. Don’t worry that someone will judge you.

3. Be specific. Get in the habit of using nouns, verbs, colors, textures. If you realize you’ve written a sentence that’s full of general vague language, don’t scratch it out, but make the next sentence more specific. You can also make a line through it and above it, write the better word or words.

4. Don’t think. Stick with your “first thoughts” not your thoughts on thoughts. Don’t judge yourself! Forget everything else outside of the immediate words you are writing down. Stay with those words, in that moment.

5. Don’t worry about spelling, punctuation or grammar. That’s right! Who cares? Why does this matter? Keep your hand moving and write clearly enough so you can read it later if you want.

6. You are free to write the worst junk in the world. Yep, you are. So don’t let that fear stop you.

7. Go for the jugular. If something comes up while you’re writing, keep writing about it. Let it out. Goldberg reminds us that Hemingway said, “Write hard and clear about what hurts.”

If you write often, about topics of your own choosing as well as those assigned, it’s like a workout. If you work out regularly, when it’s time to do the heavy lifting, like move a piano or take an essay test, or write something super important, it will be easier because you have developed the muscles.

Natalie Goldberg tells people to write by hand, and I encourage you to do so too, and recent research (May 2026) shows that writing something down commits it to memory so much better. Do your best to follow the rules of writing practice–and just let the writing flow without judgment. No one (not even you!) should be reading your words to judge you, to say this is good or bad. The writing just is. You are writing it for you, to know your own Wild Mind.

After going over Natalie Goldberg’s “Rules of Writing Practice” we each will wander the beautiful landscape here at Rifugio Valnera, and do the “hello” exercise (which I learned from Danika Dinsmore) where we will explore our environment, and by saying HELLO! animate the landscape. And there there’s the writing part!

Our second activity is with a partner– and it’s a trust walk with a partner –where I will lead us into different sensual experiences followed by a writing activity. This is an activity that I have developed over the years with my college students.

Our third activity is a group writing activity– an “I Am” Poem. Depending on the number of participates, we will be in one or more groups to create an “I AM”  poem based on this exercise (adapted from here): 

Stanza 1–

Line 1: I am (two or more positive characteristics)
Line 2: I wonder (something you are curious about)
Line 3: I hear (a sound from your daily life)
Line 4: I see (something you see daily)
Line 5: I want (something you want but do not have yet)
Line 6: I am (repeat line 1)

Stanza 2–

Line 7: I feel (how do you feel today or daily?)
Line 08: I dislike (what do you dislike most?)
Line 09: I cry when (what makes you sad enough to cry?)
Line 10: I laugh when (what makes you laugh?)
Line 11: I am (repeat line 1)

Stanza 3–

Line 12: I understand (something you know is true)
Line 13: I say (something you say often)
Line 14: I dream (something you dream about)
Line 15: I try to (something you make an effort to do)
Line 16: I am (repeat line 1)

Stanza 4–

Line 16: I hope (something you hope for)
Line 17: I know I will (something you will accomplish)
Line 18: I’ve already accomplished (something you’ve accomplished)
Line 19: I can’t wait to (something you’re excited about doing or becoming)
Line 20: I am (repeat line 1)

“I AM” poems are typically about the person writing the poem. But it is more fun to do a group poem based on a surprising topic determined by the group– for example, “I Am A Scary Smell Skeleton Pirate!” Watch a video here made by my 4 year old son with a little help from me…

I am a scary smelly skeleton pirate!
I wonder where the treasure is

I hear black rusty shooting fire cannonballs
and swords slapping

I see other English ships to get their treasure
I want treasure, a golden compass, and a gold ring

I am a scary smelly skeleton pirate!
I pretend to play swords with you

I  feel my bones cracking
I touch the shark’s teeth

I worry about my pirate ship
and how it will disappear one day

I cry when my boat tips upside down
I am a scary smelly skeleton pirate!

I understand that I know that you can be killed
I say aye aye matey, I believe in ghosts

I never dream about black treasure
I try not to kill my pet octopus

I hope to be free
I am a scary smelly skeleton pirate!

Let me know if in the comments if this sounds like fun workshop to you!