INW Acculturation Series: Burning Man Culture

#3: Principle 2 – Gifting

Hi there! This is Shuga coming at you from the Acculturation Committee for Ignition Northwest. This is our third installment of our exploration of the Ten+1 Principles of Burning Man: Principle 2: Gifting.

As a refresher, Principle 2 – Gifting states: Burning Man is devoted to acts of gift giving. The value of a gift is unconditional. Gifting does not contemplate a return or an exchange for something of equal value.

The critical reason for spelling out that no exchange is required/expected is that once that expectation exists, you are no longer offering a gift, but instead are dealing with a transaction. A true gift should create no obligation. In addition to the above, there is also no expectation that a gift be accepted; the receiver is also free to decline without judgement (Consent in All Things). Gifting is one form of decommodification, which is Principle 3 (see more on this in December). Gifting also doesn’t need to involve stuff, you could offer a skill, useful knowledge, a compliment, your sense of humor, or a keen observation of what might be helpful in a given situation.

What gifting can look like on the Playa or at your regional events:

Camps bringing music, art, crafts, food, beverages, workshops, etc. to share openly and freely with all participants
Individuals bringing stickers, patches, handmade items, food, beverages, art, etc. to hand out and share with others they encounter
Your event organizers giving freely of their time and energy to build things for the community’s enjoyment
Community members volunteering their time to run all of the departments necessary to pull of our wonderful burns

This is all done without expectation of compensation/transaction.

But gifting shouldn’t be something only done at events, this is a principle that is critical to bring to all communities we care about. This has become increasingly obvious during the last 2 years of COVID when the whole world has become disconnected from their support networks. I have seen Burners step up to volunteer their time and energies raising funds to help those without work keep afloat, collect goods for those in need, and man COVID testing and vaccination sites among many other things. I have seen the Burners Without Borders (BWB) networks jump into action to lead this push in many areas. I have seen Burners create gifts to send to their community members in the mail to maintain connection and show caring while unable to see one another in person. These actions bring light in a dark time.

Beyond COVID times, we can find organizations like BWB, United Way, Fresh Start, the Humane Society and many others that we can volunteer with. We can open a free store or library in our front yards. We can gift compliments to friends and strangers alike to make their day. We can lead a free workshop in a skill we possess or put on a free show in a local park.

Another area in which to consider the principle of gifting in our everyday life is around holiday gift giving. In the modern world, holiday gifting has gone a little off the rails, as Halcyon puts it in his essay, Embracing Gifting by Ditching Obligatory Present-Giving (https://journal.burningman.org/2020/12/opinion/shenanigans/embracing-gifting/). We can feel inundated with capitalistic messaging and expectations around gifts at this time of year. The frustration that accompanies this is not what gifting is about. The principle of Gifting teaches us that true gifting isn’t transactional; there is no expectation of getting a gift in return if we do provide a gift to someone else. This is in stark contrast to most current holiday “gifting traditions” which are really just present exchanges. Sadly, this robs the practice of much of its magic. “A true gift is motivated by the goal of making someone’s moment, day, or life better. A transaction, on the other hand, is motivated by the desire to balance the ledger.” To restore the magic of gifting during the holidays, we need to check our motivations and bring it back to the consideration of what would make our friends and families’ moment, day or life better. Don’t be afraid to skip the gifting all together and instead drop a handwritten and personalized note in the mail. If a few months later you find something that is perfect for your parent or your bestie while randomly pursuing a store, send a gift then instead. This will help to bring back the magic.

I’d like to close this installment with a few additional thoughts on gifting that Caveat Magister shares in the article, Four Insights About Gifting After Watching “Gift” (https://journal.burningman.org/2019/11/philosophical-center/tenprinciples/four-insights-about-gifting-after-watching-gift/). First, gifts in motion increase their impact on the world, while gifts that are hoarded lose value. This means that when you are gifted and you in turn pass it on, this in turn stimulates others to gift as well, growing the impact of the original act of gifting exponentially. Second, gifts create value. This value can take the form of not only fiscal capital, but of social capital, improved health and safety, or creating a compelling environment. Third, good gifting is risky. When gifting is at its best, you have imbued your gift with personal and emotional labor, and you don’t know what the receiver is going to feel or do as a result or if you will ever see the fruits of your gift. Finally, gifts are an act of creation. They generate possibilities outside of our normal capitalistic environment. They help us imagine something new and something better, so let’s build a culture of gifting together!

If you’d like to get more involved in volunteering, check out our regional Burners Without Borders Seattle site at: https://bwbseattle.org/ or Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/bwbseattle

If you are interested in getting more involved in the community, check out the INW Get Involved web page at: https://ignitionnw.org/home/get-involved/. You can find all of the active committees and roles that you can participate in, including the Acculturation Committee.

Look out for our next installment in December, where we will discuss the Principle of Decommodification. See you then!

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

If the introduction of this principle piqued your interest, check out