The three B's: Burning, breaking or both in the Amazon jungle?
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I had cause recently to consider the word "break" as a synonym for "burn". Unfortunately I can't recall the circumstances and context for how this arose and perhaps it is symptom of the weight of our daily experiences that results in forgetfulness.
So what might these synonyms look like, what might they mean and does it help? |
Burn, Burning, Burned
For the sake of this exercise, I'm going to use these terms in this context:
Burn: Sometimes, Burning Man and the official Regional derivatives are termed as "Burns", or a "Burn". I'm going to use the term "Burn" in that same sense of the event itself, for example, "I am going to Burning Seed" can be equivalent with saying "I am going to a Burn".
Burning: Participation at a Burn. You might be running a theme camp, volunteering, gifting, creating art or simply finding yourself. You are Burning.
Burned: So, you have been at a Burn, at which you were Burning and then at some point felt Burned either during the event or afterwards. You've been Burned. Welcome home!
Break, Breaking, Broken
Break: Perhaps not so common in the Australian vernacular, the term break is used in various ways to describe a holiday, a career change, a relationship dissolution or any number of other positive or negative events or circumstances. I'm going to take the term to mean "break" as in an opportunity for change and or transformation. Break might be used to describe the space or container in which new experiences are occurring or will occur.
Breaking: Precedes being broken. It is the 'in progress' activity of something about to be broken that has not yet reached the final stage of being separated.
Broken: It is unfortunate to note that for many us, the term "broken" might be associated with the negative connotations. Perhaps you have tried really hard to make something work and it has not worked and in the end you feel "broken". Perhaps you wanted to exercise or work hard at something to see how far you could push yourself and the reaching the point of being broken is a measure of success! I'm going to take the term broken in a more agnostic sense of reaching the conclusion of an attempt to stress test ourselves under pressure.
And now both, bothing and bothed
So if these terms were combined, it might look like this:
Burn=Break: A place/event/container that enables experiences of change.
Burning=Breaking: The process of experiencing change and transformation.
Burned=Broken: An outcome of challenging our boundaries, assumptions and or existing life.
A Burning Man event does not necessarily have to have this sense or impact of a break, breaking or being broken. And if these concepts are helpful, they need not be considered negative. Many peoples lives have changed because they needed a catalyst for change. Habits have been broken, lives set on new courses and new friendships made.
Imagine if we all had a piece of a jigsaw puzzle and the aim of the game was to find each other and put all the pieces back together again - upside down.
An analogy for going to a Burn event might be like going to the Amazon jungle (see also about "compression") whereby when you first go you see all the lushness, the jungle and green - lots of green. As Terrance McKenna commented once, when you go with a Botanist, you may start to see much more than what appears as part of that first encounter.
Burn bright!
For the sake of this exercise, I'm going to use these terms in this context:
Burn: Sometimes, Burning Man and the official Regional derivatives are termed as "Burns", or a "Burn". I'm going to use the term "Burn" in that same sense of the event itself, for example, "I am going to Burning Seed" can be equivalent with saying "I am going to a Burn".
Burning: Participation at a Burn. You might be running a theme camp, volunteering, gifting, creating art or simply finding yourself. You are Burning.
Burned: So, you have been at a Burn, at which you were Burning and then at some point felt Burned either during the event or afterwards. You've been Burned. Welcome home!
Break, Breaking, Broken
Break: Perhaps not so common in the Australian vernacular, the term break is used in various ways to describe a holiday, a career change, a relationship dissolution or any number of other positive or negative events or circumstances. I'm going to take the term to mean "break" as in an opportunity for change and or transformation. Break might be used to describe the space or container in which new experiences are occurring or will occur.
Breaking: Precedes being broken. It is the 'in progress' activity of something about to be broken that has not yet reached the final stage of being separated.
Broken: It is unfortunate to note that for many us, the term "broken" might be associated with the negative connotations. Perhaps you have tried really hard to make something work and it has not worked and in the end you feel "broken". Perhaps you wanted to exercise or work hard at something to see how far you could push yourself and the reaching the point of being broken is a measure of success! I'm going to take the term broken in a more agnostic sense of reaching the conclusion of an attempt to stress test ourselves under pressure.
And now both, bothing and bothed
So if these terms were combined, it might look like this:
Burn=Break: A place/event/container that enables experiences of change.
Burning=Breaking: The process of experiencing change and transformation.
Burned=Broken: An outcome of challenging our boundaries, assumptions and or existing life.
A Burning Man event does not necessarily have to have this sense or impact of a break, breaking or being broken. And if these concepts are helpful, they need not be considered negative. Many peoples lives have changed because they needed a catalyst for change. Habits have been broken, lives set on new courses and new friendships made.
Imagine if we all had a piece of a jigsaw puzzle and the aim of the game was to find each other and put all the pieces back together again - upside down.
An analogy for going to a Burn event might be like going to the Amazon jungle (see also about "compression") whereby when you first go you see all the lushness, the jungle and green - lots of green. As Terrance McKenna commented once, when you go with a Botanist, you may start to see much more than what appears as part of that first encounter.
Burn bright!
