He understood

A short time after last year's Burn2, Kev Sweetwater sent me an IM out of the blue.  He said he understood why I did things on a small scale.

At the time, I wasn't sure if it was a compliment or just an acknowledgement.  During the last Temple burn in October, he said we should do more burns.  And I declined.  He must have wondered why.  I figured he did some research and found all the other things that I did.

I wanted to clarify why he said it anyway, but I was very busy then with the holidays approaching, so I said, "Let's chat sometime."  He agreed.

Unfortunately, we never did.  And we never could.  He passed away in real life this week.


I hardly know Kev.  I met him as one of the coordinators for Burn2 in 2011.  So when he said that he understood me, I was intrigued.  It isn't often that you get a mere acquaintance who says they understand you and mean it sincerely.  It stuns you.  It leaves you speechless.  It is a very potent form of acknowledgement.  With a single sentence that probably seemed benign to him, he honored me, he honored my being, he honored my existence.

Tonight, we burn the Burn2 2011 Temple again during his SL memorial.  To honor a man, to honor his being, to honor his existence.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Burning%20Man-%20Deep%20Hole/145/135/25