09/09/2026
Every letter, email, card, note, and flower sent to the clinic to honor Ponchi was laid to rest at Burning Man’s temple (Temple of the Moon) on Sunday night. Shaped like the Mojave desert’s Queen of the Night cactus flower, temple burned at 8pm. Surrounded by friends and playa family, we collectively grieved everything we had lost this year. This place is a safe container for authentic self-expression, and temple is what always brings me back into the dust. Thank you - again - to everyone who held me up this month.
P.S. People kept apologizing to me for how awful the weather was this year - our camp flooded from rain and there were biting white outs almost nightly. I wanted this. I specifically wanted to feel as physically uncomfortable as I felt spiritually, mentally and emotionally. It helped me move through some of this grief. We also chose to burn completely sober, which was a large point of conversation with our campmates. It doesn’t feel appropriate to numb out or disassociate and still honor Ponchi’s memory, though I completely understand why humans often do when they’re in pain. Returning to playa was very last minute, unplanned and NOT a celebration. There are deep lessons here in how I want to return to clinic & be a better ally for patients moving through their grief.
