This was one of the gifts I received the first year I went to Burning Man. It was just a simple plastic necklace of a dragonfly, but it’s meaning came to be so much more.
Its genesis was from an unfortunate accident the year before. The road leading to and from the Black Rock Desert is a simple two-lane highway. There is no fencing for much of the route so it is common for animals such as cows and rabbits to be in the road. Combine this with the limited sight due to hills and curves along with 70-90 mph gusts of wind and you have a recipe for disaster. In 2004 a Department of Public Works (DPW) volunteer, whose playa name was Dragonfly, flipped her vehicle while on route from Burning Man to the Texas Renaissance Festival. She was swerving to avoid hitting a rabbit.
Dragonfly’s parents had always heard about Burning Man. They had been told countless stories and seen more than enough photographs to understand what it was about. A place where art is as plentiful as advertising and the community spirit that allows for spontaneity to flow like water over the desert. The difficulty was spending two weeks going from their seaside home in Florida to spend one week in the hot, dry, and occasional cold extremes of the Nevada desert. Burners were Dragonfly’s second family and the playa was home to her. They knew this already, but were surprised by how many people they had never heard of or only seen in photos called, email, or came to the funeral to express their condolences. The DPW informed her parents that part of the design of the Temple would be a poster sized inlay of a dragonfly. For those that were not able to pay their respects in person it would be a more than fitting way to say goodbye.
As the summer approached they decided that it would be fitting to do the same and finally see what all the fuss was about. Their motor home was parked next to the spot of dirt my fellow campmates had staked out. The DPW had constructed an awning and windbreak along the front of the motor home. They also checked on them throughout the day. For the unfamiliar the Burning Man Department of Public Works are perhaps the most closed social circle within the community. Along with being the most self-righteous, arrogant, and rude. The fact that they were taking the time to check on a newbie, a stranger to Burning Man is to be considered VIP status. As confirmation of this her parents were given the honor of starting the Temple Burn on Sunday night. Dragonfly’s Dad showed as the torch used as a match on Monday morning.
One of the things Dragonfly was always showing them were the gifts she received out there, usually necklaces. One part commerce and another part courtesy, gifting is a part of Burning Man. Since there was no telling how of the 35-40,000 people who go to Burning Man ever year knew Dragonfly they ordered these simple necklaces in bulk from Oriental Trading Company. At the time I received it I was in a job I knew would ultimately go nowhere while I continued to wander the country as a sales management nomad. At that time Dragonfly's life was freer than I could imagine. To some people spending half the year camped in either the Nevada desert or a forest in Central Texas may seem nuts. To me it seemed like paradise. It still does.
That simple plastic necklace was and still is my favorite gift. It became a symbol for following your own path. From that point on every time I saw a dragonfly it was a reminder of that credo. That path might not be a straight line and you might go back to same place more than once, but you will get there while everyone else stares in amazement at much ground you have covered.
Over the course of the next two years I took steps towards following the path I wanted as opposed to the one someone else put me on. My job had served the function of getting me out of Pasadena and to see as much of the country as possible. That sidetrack had grown stale as I remember what I really wanted out of life. Unfortunately some change takes a little time. For people like myself with a varying degree of patience it was hard not to just walk away. Anytime I would feel that urge my hand would go to that little dragonfly around my neck. This talisman was a reminder that day-to-day issues of meetings, deadlines, and reports did not matter. These things are the sideshow, the distraction, from life, not life itself.
It seemed fitting that on the day I was officially leaving my working world in New York for the academic world in Stockton, Ca it would break. That moment was the sharp turn left while everyone else was going right. It was something that had happened plenty of times while chasing dragonflies. The night before the dragonfly sat intact on my nightstand with the necklace coiled around its wings and tail. That morning the tail had inexplicably been broken off. Gluing it back together crossed my mind, but it didn’t seem right. My belief is that it was Dragonfly herself giving a sign that I was finally on the right path again.
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