San Francisco is best when it is inventing utopias (executing on it sometimes goes astray, but stay with me).
In our Covid/Pandemic world we are all pushed into virtual classes, virtual work, virtual relations. Lets face it, we can only stretch virtual so far.
Let’s invent a physical world, and a desirable fabulous sharing wonderful world, in the age of Pandemic. Together.
Burning Man is cancelled this year. But it was an inspiration– I went in 1990, the first year in the desert– 80 people. It was called Zone Trip #4 in the paragraph in the Rough Draft physical newsletter– show up, be it, no spectators. No tickets, no city planning, no directions, no rangers, no sherpas. Make it happen, we were it. It was so great that Mary and I invited our friends there to be our wedding in 1992 when there were 400 people and getting married at Burning Man was not a thing, nor would it be for years.
Ephemerisle has same “lets invent the world we want to live in” feel– 400 people on the delta trying to stay afloat, literally. Inventive, dangerous, and wonderful.
Both early Burning Man, and Ephemerisle are all about adapting to a difficult environment, and with panache.
So… how about Zone Trip #5: Pandemic? In this case we start with a large chunk of desert, and then we invent a temporary utopia that works in the age of Pandemic– staying safe and loving it.
With lots of inventors. Everyone an inventor.
- Maybe someone brings a traincar of rice, a truckload of beans.
- Maybe someone figures out what a school is, what a school means, what a school teaches.
- Maybe there is a glass-cube restaurant.
- Maybe pandemic fashion takes a positive turn– a full-length clear isolation tube-dress 3ft in diameter.
- Romancing while social distancing?
- Virus free camp.
- Recovered camp.
What could you add to the world?
