Burning Man is always an adventure.
And I don't just mean the two weeks I head out of town to travel down to it. I mean the whole event of it. The figuring out of it all.
This year's adventure began when Max ended things back in Fall. It began then because that changed the plans we'd started to make to go together and camp together.
And it continued with my applying to volunteer with the set up crew. (Will know one way or another in the next few months) And with the people I know who might have gone all choosing not to go this year.
And then the thought of possibly buying a camper van type thing to take down with me since it looks like I'll be going solo this year. (Still not quite sure what's happening there, but there may be some progress soon... I think I'll go ahead.)
And the latest part of the adventure occurred last week when I didn't get a ticket in the general ticket sale.
(Sad face)
Yes, the odds are low. Yes, I've been lucky each year so far. But... in my view there was a glitch in the way the sale was run vs the way they told us it would be run so I'm trying not to be extra sore about that. There is always always going to be ticket drama now that it's such a popular event. I'm just blue I wasn't on the luckier side of it this year.
I thought, going into the sale, that if I didn't manage to get a ticket, I'd just see it as a sign that it wasn't meant to happen this year. And maybe it still isn't meant to happen this year, but once I'd stopped crying over the sale being sold out before I got my ticket (half an hour in to the random/lottery/but then not quite for some but hey no one's going to admit that part, ahem.) I realized that I still wanted to go.
So I'm still hoping to go. I just don't currently have a ticket. And I'd likely be going by myself. And not sure where to camp. But I feel like it will either work out or it won't.
And I will be proactive about trying to find what I need, but I won't push too too hard. And it won't be the end of the world if I don't get to go this year. Will be sad, but, it really is a first world problem. I'm safe, healthy, housed, employed. My life is good. Maybe not going to an amazing art festival in the desert? A bummer, maybe, but not earth shattering.
Things have always worked out for me with regards to going and this year will work out just how it's meant to. This time five or six months from now, I'll know how this year's Burning Man adventure played out. Right now? It's still in the middle of playing out. And right now, that means I don't have a ticket yet.
Maybe that's the playa's way of not having me stress out about OMG I'M GOING BY MYSELF for the entire Spring/Summer. Maybe I'll get my ticket in Summer and only stress out for a month rather than four, maybe I won't get a ticket. Maybe I'll get seventy two (I don't know where that number came from) The point is I don't know. And I'm ok with that.
Not to say I didn't cry. Not to say I didn't wake up the day after really really angry (but that was less to do with tickets and more to do with someone telling me something Max said with regards to me... not going there. Karma takes care of that kind of stuff.) Not to say I won't have days of up or down. Just... I've always just sort of trusted that what's meant to happen will happen with Burning Man.
I didn't get a ticket in the main sale. That sucked. We'll see what happens now.
3 comments:
Sucks you didn't get a ticket, but it does seem like Burning Man is exploding as a thing, so it does seem to all come down to random lottery-level chance.
Glad you're taking a "what will be, will be" approach to things. At minimum, the exercise of planning will likely have longer-term benefits for next year.
You're pretty amazing and wonderful, btw. Just gotta toss that out there.
What a huge change in attitude. Yes, you were rightly disappointed and had a good cry (who wouldn't?), but your attitude now should help your anxiety and disappointment.
It really seems that Burning Man is taking on a larger life and sadly that means regulars will have a harder time getting tickets.
We've been disappointed twice lately with on-line tickets too (nothing like Burning Man). For the first time in years, we were shut out trying to get tickets for Springsteen at the ACC and Mumford at the Amphitheatre. Seems like people have more disposal income and event tickets are being gobbled up. Both concerts were sold out in less than 2 minutes. And I had both a phone and a computer trying to get tickets. We looked at as the universe telling us to save a few hundred bucks...but still disappointing.
Almost wonder if more improvements are needed because people have figured out ways around those robot thingies...
Aw man, way to make me get all teary Jason, thank you :) And yes, "exploded" is putting it mildly :/
Yeah, I don't have much faith in the current concert/ticket online type buying systems. But, I'm not a computery person so I wouldn't know what improvements to make...Sorry you missed out on your shows E.
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