A camping festival is truly a journey, an undertaking not for the light of heart. A curious venture that brings people together.
We piece together last minute rides or fly solo, and end up spending days with complete strangers, sleeping within arms reach in a cramped coupe, or sharing space on a bus.
Every moment along the way we learn the nuances about our comrades-in-flight.
Every day we take on roles and develop our position within the team. The team that will go on to drive across the country, get lost in a beautiful escape that we all so eagerly chase, and then summon all the energy it has left to drive home.
These few days together at Moon’s Eye View, captive with one another, will create bonds that last a lifetime, often among complete strangers.
The first glimpse we have into a person’s soul is their music.
These extended drives allow everyone a chance to DJ, for a long time. We are poked and prodded by these new sounds and musical creations. We delve deeper into genres than we ever have before or get shown new ones entirely, in detail, great detail, the we-just-drove-from-N.Y.C.-to-Missouri kind of detail.
Phew. Music is just the beginning. A few days together gives us time to shed the layers.
Let’s say the radio’s broken…I guess we get to chat for this 18-hour drive. Truly we can all remember the conversations we have had at festivals with brand new friends and how the depth they achieve is a place still unchartered with friends we’ve had for years.
The drive up, all of the time together cooling down on site in the afterglow of the day, the few minutes in line for a vendor, we talk, and talk, and talk. This flow of energy and true sharing of ideas is not interrupted by our nagging desire to check all things electronic.
Perhaps this growth runs free because we finally put our phones down.
So many of us enjoy the luxury of forgetting about our phone for the weekend.
We bask in the unexpected relaxation that “No Service” bestows upon us, knowing that we can’t check social media, even if we wanted to. We actually brave an unheard of 24+ hours without a phone.
How long do we make it on a regular day? For me it’s ten minutes… tops. At Lucidity the growth that can take place when we focus on the people right in front of us will be realized. Conversation and connection is restored to the sanctity it deserves.
The greatest thing we experience at festivals is each other.
See you at Lucidity.
Tickets available here.
PO BOX 6616, Santa Barbara, CA