The boundaries of this dimension do not exist within Electric Forest. Reality in the Forest is where the imaginable bridges with the unimaginable, and anything in between. It is a space to be anything but what you believed your identity was in the outside world. The sonic-loving creatures around you will make sure that you are everything but inside the conditioned mind.
It wasn’t the music for me – at all actually. That was a first. I enjoyed the sets I stumbled upon, notably The String Cheese Incident and Rusko B2B Dirt Monkey, but it was the most glazed over component of the weekend. I intuitively dug into a fantastical perspective that only ever comes out in times of nostalgia and play, which in the real world, doesn’t happen often. But this weekend gave me no other option but to see through the lens of Alice’s first moments in Wonderland. I saw through the lens of the latest Midnight Gospel episode, talking to tree people, officers who fined me for laughing too hard, and professional bubble blowers.
I didn’t intend to have the enlightening experience I had in the 48 hours of being there. I mean, I was there for work, field research. But I think the greatest success story was that I got all of the information I needed, simply by feeling the mycelia pull between me, the Festisia team, and the festival lovers around me.
I learned so many sensational insights and lessons. I understood the secrets held between the pines, and the joys of giving and receiving treats and hugs and jokes and fantasies.
*Stumbled across a beautiful creature in the Forest*
Egos didn’t exist at Electric Forest. They couldn’t possibly. I would rarely see or hear comments around me that shined a glimpse of cynicism or fear, but every time it would be interrupted by a magical fairy with a gift, or a “Happy Forest”, and everything was better. My dear friend Lina shared some great examples in her story.
The collective ego seemed to dissipate. I’m grateful to recognize from life’s work when my ego decides to override my awareness, and being in the Forest was a shared experience of absorption and curiosity.
Festivals should be a space for the egoless, and the Forest is a trailblazer for mere love and quirkiness. What shines through the trees is what is reflected through the energy of the people. This place opened up my eyes and heart, my ears, and hands and greater spirit. I wish it didn’t necessarily open my mouth, as I properly inhaled pounds of dust. But, that’s where surrender takes place. I thought I couldn’t love festivals more than I already do, but each one is a new awakening, flowing into the greater divine festival-loving consciousness.
– Rachel