Full Throttle

Colorful souls begin to flood the streets. You can hear rattling of kandies and excited shrieks. It’s as if you find yourself at the entrance of a vortex, where you neatly tuck away all your sorrows, all your troubles…all that anchors you to the materialistic world.

Boom. You are home. The bass is flooding through your veins as you soak up all the energy, sounds, smells, and feels around you. All feels right in the world. I went to my first Insomniac event in 2023 with my boyfriend who could not believe that I still had not gone to one of their events! (He has been raving for YEARS and I think he loves reliving those first rave moments through my eyes.) He bought us tickets for COUNTDOWN in San Bernardino and it was like nothing I had experienced before.

Seeing all the amazing and creative outfits, people being nothing but themselves, music booming everywhere, aliens roaming the venue…Just wow. On Day 1, Fisher’s set at the Mothership quite literally lifted me off my feet. No seriously. Emotionally I was at a high I had never experienced before, and I remember feeling like I was hovering over the ground—and I was. The crowd was so packed and so hypnotized by the music, that I would hover over and over again. With my boyfriend right behind me, I knew I was safe to just let it be. And my “can get claustrophobic self” just disappeared. I let go.

So many artists that weekend that blew my mind! Zingara, an artist my best friend introduced me to, transported me to another realm. I was right at the rails as aliens walked by and the crowd swayed back and forth as heads were banging. I found a nest in my pashmina where I could enjoy the crowd but also be in my bubble. My safe space some might call it. Seven Lions brought tears to my eyes and strangers became friends in the Ferris wheel line. Different music genre lovers dancing to the same heartbeat. Trinkets exchanged and love spread so far. My healing journey had already begun and after that weekend, it went into full throttle.