Let him that would move the world, first move himself.—Socrates

Burning Man has its Ten Principles. Together they found the ethos of a modern social movement that synthesizes ideas from many different sources into a vision that endeavors to welcome, accommodate, challenge and inspire all comers.

But as participants, at our best moments there has always been an implicit Eleventh Principle at the wheel, and that is this: Radical self-awareness. It’s how we know how we embody the other ten in every moment—it’s how we understand how we do what we do. And how we do what we do is who we become, both separately and together. It is the practice through which the other principles thrive.

Here, community is everything. Everyone belongs. And as individuals who choose to meet on common ground without arriving in the vehicle of our preconceptions, every one of us is a leader. As leaders, we have taken on a duty to practice our best selves that lives around the clock. What’s the catch? Because we are human, this is something we can sometimes forget.

But remembering is much more fun. So this is a reminder.

Ever onward.