Report this comment

I had a super shitty 2010: my father died in January and my boyfriend died last fall. I came very close to committing suicide in December. One day, I saw a room advertized for rent in Portland on Facebook, and something in me woke up. I realized I had more options than to be or not to be. I moved from the SF Bay Area to the Pacific Northwest and focused on getting to Burning Man. It was eight months away when I thought that if I kept myself alive long enough to see the playa, I’d be ok.

The move was tough. I was lonely and antisocial for a few months, but in April, I decided I’d better meet locals so I could get a ride to Black Rock City. I poked my head up on our regional list, asked if anyone needed help with a project, and was directed to the CORE build.

What serendipity–my life exploded wide open because of that bridge. I didn’t just find a build, I found a new chosen family. And I’m not the only person on our build who needed something special to move forward in life.

Building early on the playa was incredible. For months, most of our team worked in isolation, but we became part of the CORE family when we arrived. I loved talking to other Regionals about their projects. I spoke to someone from The Other Portland in Maine who said making something tangible injected energy into their Regional. I had an incredible conversation with a guy who was working alone on his build in the middle of the night. I learned about a newspaper article that inspired another CORE piece.

Plus, they all looked damn cool burning together on Thursday night.

I had an amazing experience and sincerely hope the CORE becomes a regular fixture in the Burnerverse.

Report this comment