Tales of a Drifting Mind

Being a Burning Man Virgin

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 05:34:02 -0400

Words come short when you try to describe what the Burning Man festival is. It’s not an event, but an experience. An exploration trip to the mind. So much is going on that your mind starts to dizzle. I always thought New York was the city that never sleeps. I was wrong: it’s Black Rock City. The adopted city in the Nevada desert.

Being a Burning Man virgin felt a bit akward. You really want to contribute more to this amazing community after a while. More than 50.000 people come together to celebrate the freedom of life, break boundaries and explore the beyond. It felt great to be part of this warm, happy community. No rules, no currency, no stress. If you ever need a break from everyday life, this is the place to go to! It clears your mind and fills it with inspiring thoughts.

Pictures may give a better view of Burning Man, but they too can only show a small part of what is going on. Forget about the naked and weird looking men & women you find googling BM, they’re just part of the new normal. People dress up (down) to inspire, not to shock. It brings people closer and starts conversations. Everybody talks to everybody, give compliments and share thoughts and gifts. Positiveness floats over the desert like a warm wind. It’s a free world out there.

You spend your day cruising by bike to the great art projects on the Playa while looking at the amazing Art Cars passing by. And attend workshops with a large variety of subjects: from Yoga classes to science lectures about neuro enhancement to getting the basics on bondage techniques. Enough to fill your day (and mind).

As soon as the sun sets behind the mountains, the open playa transfers into this mindblowing world with dancing colors. Making your head spin. It sometimes feels like you are hallucinating. The people and the art projects litteraly light up. Music sets in and hundreds of tents invite you to have a drink and dance. Till sunrise.

In short: it was a-ma-zing. Worth every while. Sharing my experience with Burning Man in a short blogpost like this might not give you the best idea to grasp the real-life experience. You have to live it. I can only invite you to go next year. It sure is a life turning point.

I even wonder what the world would be like if it were more like Burning Man …

Building dreams

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:08:39 -0400

A few years ago I was able to get my hands on a beautiful industrial building in Hasselt, Belgium. The perfect location to start a ‘business’center for the creative industry. Today KAAI.16 hosts several creative & ambitious companies, a co-working place and several flex offices for young entrepreneurial minds. Besides that, it is a venue to host activities like PechaKucha, Barcamp, TEDx Conferences, OpenCoffee and many more. But, the work is not done.

By 2013 a new building has to arise next to the existing one. Enlarging the available space to even more innovative companies. Although KAAI.16 is just a structure made out of bricks and steel, I do believe that creating the right surrounding and the right atmosphere really can add value to the people residing in it. “Making things possible by proximity”. The trick is to stay an open space. Not a walled garden for residents only. That’s why I asked Holistic Architecture 50|5 and my advisor Geert Pintelon to seek possibilities to include a state-of-the-art conference center, meeting & break-out rooms and an open lounge as well. To ensure a flow of people coming in and out while getting in touch with the creative residents.

There is still a lot to do: plans to finalize, investors to seek, getting the financials straigth … but again, I’m really enthusiastic to make it work. Next deadline is November. Hasselt will then host the Creativity World Forum. The ideal timing to unveil the concrete plans about the new KAAI.16 … Can’t wait!

A Burning Man virgin

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 08:44:24 -0400

I’m attending Burning Man in a few days. For the first time. Some might call it a holiday, I call it my trip to the refugee camp. Getting a way from the normal. The usual. The ordinary. It was not an easy decision to take for a no nonsense guy like me. On top of that: no wifi, no iPad, no working?! I’m sure my mind (and body) will protest heavily.

So why am I going through with this? The urge for the unknown I guess. And playing hide and seek. But most definitely: to reload my batteries in a way no vacation in Bali can do.

This is how I feel on a ordinary day. Speeding through life....

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 07:52:20 -0400

This is how I feel on a ordinary day. Speeding through life. Having ideas is no problem. Deciding which ideas to follow is the tricky one. I hate choice by the way. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was just ONE BIG, GREAT IDEA you could work out ? The chosen one.

Or no, have the ability (and time/money) to work them ALL out and have a ‘survival of the strongest idea’-marathon.

I know, that would be too cool ;-)