Posted by @jdisk in the SBIX Essay Contest.

Paying It Forward

I will always look back at Superball as the moment when phriends became phamily. Really, it wasn't all that difficult. There were a ton of summer camp-like group bonding experiences: setting up tents, falling asleep to trey's "The Man Who Stepped into Yesterday" narration and getting use to each others' distinctive body odors. Moreover, the collective love blossomed when we witnessed one crew member cry during bathtub gin, another turn speechless upon hearing his first colonel forbin’s at his girlfriend's 30th show and, especially, when we all embraced in a re-calibrating group hug in the middle of the ball square jam during one hell of an amazing trip.

But, as 3.0'ers, we were seeking more than long lasting go-to’s during our first festival. We came to really feel like part of the community. I know your either on the bus or off it—but we wanted to be active participants; not just passive stow-aways. So we brought free treats to pass out knowing full well that you cant come to a party that’s been on going for a quarter century empty handed.

Our gift? American flag designed kaleidoscope glasses. Earlier in the summer, a member of our crew received a pair of glasses from a random stranger. It was one of the coolest things she had ever seen. Doing more than her share in paying it forward, she bought hundreds of the same glasses for the festival. We passed out nearly all of them, introducing ourselves in the process and meeting a bunch of amazingly friendly people. The best part was the euphoric reactions from everyone once they tired them out for the first time....and telling them they could have them. We had a 99.5% approval rating. Dancers grooving in the middle of shows, glow stick enthusiasts, little kids and their parents, old-crusty meth heads, and- a personal favorite of mine- people chilling around and waiting in line at the ferris wheel. Watching the ferris wheel at night in those glasses was like watching a CK5 laser expose glittered with rainbow crystals.

Us noobs figured out a valuable lesson this weekend. We can do our part by attending the shows and adding to the collective great vibes by having a ball. But to truly feel like part of the community, providing treats that enhance the experience of others is the way to go. To reiterate Trey’s thoughts in the Believer Mag interview: The music gets better when you get away from feeling that the experience is one of your own. It really is counterintuitive- but the direct path to the enlightened place is helping others get there. Then, once you stop applying your own judgment and f***ed-up perspective to the experience, you can just go out there and be crazy.... and craziness is like heaven.

Every one of the 97 songs were blissful. The 5K was a poor decision but enjoyable mostly because of all the spectators telling us how poor our decision was...and then offering us beer funnels. The patience and willingness of the band to explore was unparalleled for this tour and the beautiful surroundings were exceptionally spirit lifting. But the best part of the weekend was handing out those glasses with my crew and witnessing others doing similar acts of kindness to increase the utility of the community as a whole.

On this past 4th of july, it really did feel like we were all part of a more perfect union.

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