"Festivals aren't an escape from reality. They're a glance into what the world could be if we all loved one another."
Now that I've mentioned over the air that one of my main intentions here on Steemit is to talk about the EDM lifestyle and showcase the people who go to raves and music festivals, I figured today was as good a time as any to establish that particular blog. The Dancing Dreamers aims to discuss the Electronic Dance Music culture and highlight the people who go to these events. I will be sharing the experiences that I have when I go to these EDM festivals, and I will be talking to people about their dreams.
Why talk about this kind of stuff, you ask? The simplest answer is that I am passionate about the EDM lifestyle. But the more in-depth answer is that I got tired of getting weird looks or being looked down upon whenever people find out that I'm a raver. There is a common misconception in today's world that the people who go to raves and EDM festivals are nothing but a bunch of pill popping degenerates who go to these things to do drugs and forget about the rest of the world for a few hours.
The people I have met at these things, though, smash that stereotype and have helped me to see and understand for myself the deeper aspect to the EDM lifestyle. No, raves and festivals are not just some place to go forget about the world for a few hours. Does that happen? I wouldn't doubt that there are people who go to do just that. But it's not the only thing that happens.
Since I began attending these events again (I used to go hard at these things from like 2009-2014 or so), I've met people who are working on becoming doctors, engineers, lawyers, chemists, writers, singers, dancers, statesmen; the list goes on and on. I watched these people's eyes light up as they go into specific detail about why they want to get into the field they are pursuing. I listened to their voice as they got more passionate the more they told me their stories. I saw the beauty in their dreams, and I knew what I had to do. I had to tell their stories to the world so that people from outside the scene could see the human face of our beloved EDM culture. I had to talk about the kind of things that go on at festivals so that people could gain a better understanding of what it's really like.
Our culture stands on four main tenets: Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect, or PLUR:
Peace comes from knowing that you are free to be whoever you are and express your innermost true self without fear of being judged by others around you. It is the peace of mind one obtains when one lets down all of their walls and feels completely free to just be who they are instead of projecting the image of themselves that they think other people think they are like.
Love refers to the unconditional love that people express for each other. It is the love that we feel when we remember that we are all one human family, and that's the only thing that matters. It is looking in the eyes of someone who has a different skin color or comes from a different country, someone who believes in a different religion, someone whose political ideology doesn't match up with your own, someone who identifies with a different sexuality, and loving them anyway because you both understand that the important thing is that you're both human beings who still have so much to share with each other regardless of all your differences.
Unity stems from that love, and the understanding that we are all in this together. It is the bonds that we form with the people we meet and connect with, and the promise that we will have each other's backs and look out for each other's wellbeing. It is the communion we feel in each other's presence as we are out there on the dance floor raging together like nothing else in the world matters. It is the outstretched hand that freely offers you a stick of gum, a sip of water, or whatever else you might need at that moment. It is the random passerby who stops to ask you if you're ok when the fatigue seems to start setting in after dancing for hours.
Respect reminds us to be respectful not only of each other, but also of our environment and of the event. It is the heartfelt "Sorry!" one utters when accidentally bumping into someone while dancing. It is the genuine "No worries, you're fine!" that the bumped-into person responds with. It is the understanding that regardless of what someone is wearing (or not wearing, for that matter), harassment of any sort, regardless of how lighthearted it might seem, is never ok. It is the act of picking up after yourself and disposing of your garbage in the proper receptacles instead of just tossing things wherever they may fall. It is each and every one of us doing our part to not only have a good time ourselves, but to try to ensure that everyone involved, festival-goers, staff, and vendors alike, is having a good time right there with us.
A lot of people will try to tell you that "PLUR is dead!" But I promise you, your vibe attracts your tribe. If you just continue to radiate PLUR, you will see PLUR. Even when things start to fall apart and your plans begin to unravel, keep on feeling the love and try to focus on the bright side of things. The less you focus on the little negative upsets and the more you start to focus on radiating good vibes, the more PLUR you will start to see. It's everywhere at these events. Sometimes you just have to remember that we are all still human beings, thus imperfect, and not everyone will be on that same level as you, and that's ok. Don't let that ruin your PLUR vibes. Remember that if you think that PLUR is dying or is dead, then it falls on you to do your part to make sure that it doesn't die. You have to be the PLUR to see the PLUR.
I guess I've rambled on for long enough. Hopefully this was a nice little basic introduction to what I plan on writing about here. Keep an eye out for further posts on The Dancing Dreamers. Again, I plan to talk about my experiences at EDM music festivals and shows, as well as talk about certain philosophical and spiritual concepts that underlie the whole scene, and, arguably the most important aim of this blog, I plan to interview people and show the world the human faces and stories, the dreams, of the people who attend these events. You can call me naive, but I truly believe that raving can save the world. But I'll go into that in further detail in a future post. Until next time, fellow Dancing Dreamers.