Festival Euphoria: Balancing Ambition, Salesmanship and Sunday Names

As much as we’d like to capture the euphoric feelings of music festivals and never let them go, the reality is it’s much better to learn how to let them go, and to know they'll always be there whenever you decide to look back.

Whether you've experienced a festival or not, it remains clear that they have this mysterious ability to create an alternative reality that is both jubilant and enticing in nature. Instead of bringing this lifestyle back with you to earth, the key seems to remain in the middle ground between inhibition non-existence and inhibition overdrive.

While music festivals teach us about letting go and enjoying the show, they also teach us countless values that have the capability to benefit us in every day life. The first one you come across at all the decent festivals is this deep and non-judging sense of community. Your social status and monetary background don’t mean diddly to anyone at a festival. If you’re happy and you’re having a good time, this is the richest investment you can pass on to any one person.

Another aspect about festivals, which is in fact related to money and the real world is the salesmanship that goes on. Now you might say, “Oh that’s just a big word for all the drug dealers and peddlers out there trying to make a quick buck,” and I’m not going sit here and tell you that doesn’t exist, but that’s also not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the people who consciously create and deal their own personal goods to benefit themselves and others.

The amount of artwork, pins, posters, and jewelry I’ve come across sold by people who’ve hand made these commodities looking to make back the money that went into and then some is astounding. Many of these rogue vendors can’t afford the list price of the festival ticket and thus sell their goods in order to pay their own way.

Dedicating yourself to a craft and then using that craft to spread joy to others and back to yourself is an element of salesmanship that’s become widely forgotten in today’s world. The majority of businesses today aren’t concerned with how they reach their profits, but what their profits are. I’ve had the great fortune of working for businesses who’ve always put their customers first, and the nice thing about festivals is their ability to emit this truth when it comes to of the way transactions should occur within a conscious economy.

Another form of salesmanship at festivals that reflects dedication and hardwork is seen in the food vendors. These are the unsung heroes that help you get by when it’s 2 in the morning and your too far gone to search for that box of Triscuits, much less get the grill started up again. 

I remember waking up one morning to roam around for some breakfast and on my way walking through the campsite some random guy flagged me down from several tents away and said, “Hey, want an egg?!” I put my thumb in the air and the man proceeded to flip me the egg over his group of friends and a tent straight into my hands, which were the hands of God during that toss because I somehow cushioned the throw.

I continued walking and passed one of my camping buddies who told me this vendor on the corner had the best breakfast bowls out, six bucks for four eggs with cheese, bacon and potatoes. I ended up going to that place on a few different occasions, and this particular time I felt it was destiny to receive a five egg breakfast. 

When I arrived at Hembros Kitchen I presented the egg that had fallin’ from the sky to one of the cooks. He asked me if I wanted to sit on it, and after first feeling embarrassed, we both exchanged a hearty laughter and small talk ensued. That small talk turned into big talk, and next thing I knew I was getting invited to join him and his crew on road trip to Oklahoma for the Gentleman of the Road Tour (Mumford and Sons, Edward Sharpe, Alabama Shakes, etc.), which was only two weeks away.

After seriously considering that offer for three days, I came to the realization that I couldn’t just bail on work and loved ones for my own personal pleasure, a pleasure that no doubt would’ve involved a lot of hard work considering how much equipment and the amount of hours those food vendors worked each day (all day). When you’re a food vendor your unable to see a lot of the premier shows; you sacrifice them just so you’re able to grill out for the good of the people and the good of your wallet. With all the cooking equipment and gear it takes to set up a legit food stand, you need to be dedicated to your craft. 

Food vendors are just another festival component that can teach you how important it is to have ambition coupled with priorities. Without ambition, were just nomads wandering around with a false sense of hope. Once we lose sense of priorities, it then becomes easy to lose touch with reality. Although forgetting priorities can be extremely helpful to those of us who just need a break from work and want to enjoy the weekend, it can also be dangerous for those looking to fully embrace a lifestyle without rules or boundaries. 

At festivals it’s as if your given this ability to become whatever we want, while the core of your true self remains. Take for example Sunday names, a longstanding tradition at summer festivals where you're bestowed a different, alternative name. I’ve met Willow, Sunshine, Ernie Coombs and Earth Cloud to name just a few. The mysterious part is, you don’t even pick your Sunday name, it picks you. 

Like others, my Sunday name was given to me before I was even born, and currently it’s the name of this blog. The origin of my actual name goes back only a week or two before I was born. Originally, my parents agreed on the name Andrew, but after the company my dad worked for decided to instill a new business plan that incorporated the phrase "Just In Time" in a marketing push, they decided they liked the name Justin better. 

Sometimes these names have the ability to take on a life of their own and we choose to leave our old selves behind. This changed self can become home and a new life flourishes. For others, when the cash dries up and the music gets cut, a crash course in reality will tell you exactly who you are. You begin to find out just like nicknames, Sunday names are just different ways to express who we really are.

If there’s one final lesson festival hopping will teach you, it’s that life is all what you make it, and this ability to create the things that make you happiest is what living is all about. Sometimes we try to do to much, other times not enough, and sometimes it seems like the scale was tipped before we even had a chance to balance it. Maintaining an ambition to do better for ourselves and others will always help tip the scale in our favor, and even when it doesn’t seem likes it’s budging, sometimes all it needs is another push.