“Pacman, I love you. But the hero is a fool. He runs into battle and dies. All these people, these people walking around the streets of Black Rock. Contributing nothing, going to the theme camps, taking your workshop, giving nothing in return. They are the smart ones. They do nothing, and gain everything. The hero is a fool.”

He looked at me, one of those piercing looks, at first I thought it was pity, but then his eyes lit up, and a giant smile came across his face. “A wise man would have fun being the hero.”

He patted me on the shoulder, letting me take it in. It was one of those moments, the perfect answer, he knew it. It’s not often my entire philosophy on life is destroyed by a single sentence, I could feel my heart drop to the floor. In one sentence, he answered everything, everything I had been trying to figure out during that day, during that seminar, during my god-awful freestyle rap.

“You have an obligation to yourself to enjoy this one life. Whatever that means. Whether it be happiness, or meaning, or searching.” He became stern. “You are being disrespectful to this one life God has given you. Don’t you understand that? You talk of duty and respect and loyalty. When I see you, all I see is disrespect. And I mean that from a place of kindness and love. You are insulting every other person who lives, has lived and will live on this planet by not taking full advantage of this one life you have. Here ends another day, you have two eyes, two ears, two hands, and the entire playa. What have you done with it? Just another day. Another day gone. It’s not about you, it’s about all of this. Quit fucking being disrespectful to this one life you have been given.”

-Excerpt from Life In the Festivals, A Journey Into the Perpetual Hope Machine