Being Yourself and Other Magical Lessons We Should Take Away From Electric Forest 2014

As we sift through and collect all of our memories of the weekend passed, one conclusion is certain: Electric Forest was a life-changing experience and gave us hope that we could live in a better world.

The culture and community created within this event is one to be cherished like the incredibly rare find it is. Within the 35,000 attendees of this sold-out festival, I saw more beauty and love than I have ever witnessed in my life. It was a place where strangers took care of each other, being barefoot was the norm, and getting lost wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Of all the things you took away from the forest (lots of dirt, wet clothes, and a million unused water bottles) we hope you also take with you the five lessons below:

Your soul looks good on you (when you wear it on the outside).

Individuality is a beautiful thing. It doesn’t matter what your hair looks like, if you have make-up on or the clothes you wear upon your back. The only thing that should matter is what your soul looks like and your ability to show it to the world. When you let your soul shine, there is nothing brighter nor more beautiful in the entire world. When you let that beacon of light peek out even just a little bit, you will draw like-minded people towards you.

Did you ever wish that the people of Electric Forest inhabited the real world? I have a secret for you:  these amazing people do exist in the real world, and will only appear when you reveal your true self. Remember that extraordinary people often hide out in normal clothing, afraid to be rejected by those who don’t understand. But if you show them your soul, they’ll be much more willing to bare all for you.

Giving is the pathway to receiving.

Something that dawned on me this weekend was the harmony and synchrony in which the Universe works, and it seems like it’s on fast forward in the Forest because everyone is so in-tune. If everyone could figure out how to set this into motion outside of the Forest, the world would be a much better place.

Find yourself wanting something? Whether it’s money, a better job, or just some piece of mind, the first step is to ask for it. Make it #1 on your agenda and start making moves to head in that direction. However, simply asking for something is not enough to make it happen and I think this is where a lot of people miss the mark. You must be the catalyst to set the change into motion.

Everything is about balance; in order to receive something you must first make room by giving something away. Not sure what to give? Keep your eyes and your heart open, and it will point you in the right direction.

I can’t tell you how many stories I overheard that went something like this, “Throughout Electric Forest all I wanted to find was [insert person/place/thing] and one day I don’t know why but I was standing and something told me to look in a certain direction or talk to this certain person and there it was, I found it.” It’s this kind of magic that can be found anywhere once you know where to look and have set the universe into motion.

Extraordinary things can happen in ordinary places.

One of the best parts of Electric Forest is the incredible venue, Sherwood Forest, that is transformed into a playground wonder-land. That’s part of the reason EF is what it is, because the experience in the actual forest can by-far trump the musical experience. It’s filled with actors and festival-goers alike that put on a character and become apart of the forest experience. At any given time or in any fleeting moment, something magical was happening.

I’m sure everyone that went to Electric Forest had some unexplainable magical moments that seemed strangely ordinary. To further illustrate, I’ll share a few of my favorite moments that gave me the sense that I was truly experiencing something magical.

– Upon stumbling onto a hidden stage in the forest, we found a DJ throwing down some of the dirtiest trap music accompanied by a troupe of gnomes twerkin’ and getting buck wild with branches and wooden staffs. Hands down one of the most ridiculous scenes I had ever encountered. Also, every time I went back over there to try and re-experience (or at least try to better explain) the madness I had witnessed, neither DJ nor twerkin’ gnomes were anywhere to be found.

– Another instance I found to be pretty silly was in the Forest stage where my friends and I were able to casually sit down at a table and chairs right in the middle of a groovin’ crowd during a deep house set. Although we couldn’t see much, something felt extra special about being able to sit down and relax while everyone around us was letting their energy out.

Now of course, Electric Forest is built to be an interactive playground, and during the drive home I was convinced that I would never get to experience things that were seemingly opposite yet fit so well together in the real world. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the magic continued to follow us. Stopping on the way home, we met some amazing people that noticed us because of our bracelets and wanted to talk to us. Or when we finally arrived home (after a 20 hour drive) and went to grab some food, we found trance music blaring from the speakers of the restaurant. The lesson from this: magic is everywhere if you know how to look for it.

We create the world we want to live in.

One of the most valuable currencies in the Forest was time. Spending time building something or making a memory with someone was worth more than any sum of money. Every minute spent building something was not time wasted, but moments invested in developing an experience. Everything left, written on, drawn, and found became apart of the world we built together. It was incredible to walk around each day and see how different people came through and left their mark on the forest.

This is important and should always be observed: each action you take to beautify our world may have positive implications beyond your wildest imagination. Maybe it will brighten someone’s day or maybe it will inspire someone to expand on your idea and create something even more beautiful.

However, there are two sides to this card. When we trash or neglect our world, it will greatly impact our quality of life. The amount of trash left over after foresters left for camp was sometimes unbearable, and not the way we should care for a place that gave us so much. You reap what you sow. If you litter, vandalize or steal, your world will be filled with clutter and destruction. You create the reality you live in and your life will eventually mirror your environment. So make sure your outside life matches that beautiful soul on the inside.

Human connection is a powerful thing.

Whether it was yelling “Carl?” just to know someone else was listening or giving a huge hug to a random stranger; one of the most important lessons learned in the forest is that we are all together. The connection we found in the forest is not to soon be forgotten. Society teaches us not to trust our fellow human and that screwing someone else over is the only way to get ahead, but this is not the truth.

The next time you’re feeling alone, try to think about all the amazing encounters you experienced (or even witnessed) between strangers and friends alike. In fact, I remember telling someone n the forest, “it’s funny, you can hardly tell who are friends and who are strangers here.”

Even just a shared look and a smile from across the room, can ignite the spark. Human connection is the nourishment for the soul, and we can always stay satiated if we keep our heart open to let others in.

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A huge thank you to Insomniac and Madison House Presents for putting on such an incredible event. We hope everyone had as magical a time as we did in the forest! We’ll certainly be counting down the days until next EF.

#HappyForest

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