Do you ever hear your friend’s talk about an experience and think, “I want to do that too!!” And I had that same reaction when my friends were talking about Book Club, hard pass on going to Burning Man.
TL;DR
- Find my friends at burning man, they will have lip/body balms
- Book club read: High Achiever by Tiffany Jenkins, a true story about addiction
Burning Man Principles
To be a fly on the wall as your friends plan for Burning Man is fascinating. You get to see the practical aspect of packing what they need to survive and the creative side of what they’ll share and wear.
The playa has a gifting economy, to help people stay moisturized, they’ve made 150 tubes of a lip and body balm with “secret messages” in the colored letters. If you are going to Burning Man, I hope you find my friends at the red lampshade creperie camp. They have surprise food gifts and these lovely balms in 3 flavors.
Burning Man (remote)
My ideal Burning Man experience is one I can enjoy from the comfort of home while navigating through the playa via an iPad controlling a drone or GoPro’s live streaming from my friends camelbacks or bikes. I would love to tune into different cameras and be a commentator for the artwork and experiences. To be able to turn on sights and sounds from different neighborhoods like you were flipping channels on TV. I finally understand why kids watch other kids play video games on YouTube or Twitch.
Why Book Club?
Along the lines of living vicariously, I joined my best friend’s Book Club to be exposed to books I wouldn’t ordinary select and to explore topics that make me uncomfortable, to continue learning and growing. The first book, definitely hit my book club goals.
LIGHTWEIGHT BOOK REPORT
The book we read was called High Achiever by Tiffany Jenkins. The book was a difficult read because it dragged you painfully into the main character’s addiction and withdrawal. It brought me to a dark place and sadly, made reading incredibly unpleasant because I tend to experience the main character’s feelings as the story progresses. While it made me uncomfortable, I empathized with the struggles reading from a junkie’s point of view. Even though it wasn’t a fun read, I’m grateful for the chance to discuss such a difficult subject with intelligent women. I was impressed with how open people were with personal experiences which paralleled the book. I loved hearing everyone’s opinions and how the book affected them.
I love reading because it allows you experience life outside your comfort zone; to travel, to be rich or poor, see life through different ethnic lenses, and learn from the journey in the book.
This book taught me empathy and patience because you never know what people are struggling with. You often don’t know the pain they are recovering from or covering up. You never know how your words or actions can uplift or crush the people around you.
Eats
First Course
- Assortment of 5 cheeses and 3 crackers
- Spicy Fig Jelly
- Red Pepper Jelly
- Habanero Pork Rinds
- Spread (ramen, Szechuan beef, flaming hot cheetos, jalepeño Fritos)
Second Course
- Jasmine Brown Rice
- Zoodles with Crushed Tomatoes, Corn, & Cilantro
- Dry Rubbed Chicken Thighs
Dessert (not pictured)
- Berry Trio
- Homemade Whipped Cream (heavy cream, vanilla, cinnamon, & coconut palm sugar)
Technology Used
- Samsung Galaxy S8
- Evernote to write and edit
- WordPress app to layout and publish
No excuses, use that little computer in your hand to blog. I wrote and edited this post after book club, while watching stand up comedy on Netflix.
If you must watch TV, create while you consume. ~Cheryl