Letter From The Editor
Lotus Magazine, Issue 20, March 1999
© Ariel Meadow Stallings

    This issue marks the three-year anniversary of Lotus Magazine.  Everyone knows that raveyears are accelerated…we’ve all watched someone age a lifetime in a few short months of hard partying.  We estimate that a raveyear is about the equivalent of a dogyear.  So, 3 years old means we’re now 21 in raveyears!  This actually makes sense if you consider that this is issue #20…we’ve aged about a year per issue.  Anyway, now that we’ve reached the ripe old age of 21 (much too old to be raving, as any self-respecting candy kid will tell you) it’s time to ask ourselves that terrifying question: Why are we still doing this?

    Well, there are the easy answers:  Ray hasn’t taken enough photos of Q-Burns yet.  Sergio is looking for that advertiser who wants to pick up the cost of printing 30,000 copies of the magazine, but only wants a quarter-page ad in return.  Jerry is still searching for heaven deep inside his Macintosh.  Chrissie is waiting for the day when she’s completely mute from too many hours of making the magic happen on the phone.  And Ariel?  Ariel hasn’t seduced nearly enough impressionable young boys.

    Besides all these easy answers, there are the more substantial ones.  We still haven’t published the article about the sudden mass extinction of animals in this century.  We still haven’t figured out how to perfectly describe the most amazing song you’ve ever heard, or the most amazing party you’ve ever been to.  (Who was it who said writing about music is like dancing about architecture?  We sympathize.)  We still haven’t written the articles about why all ravers should do yoga and learn sign language, or printed the Lotus Guide to National Parks.  We still haven’t figured out how to get the magazine to all the people who call us wanting one -- any suggestions?

    With this issue we’re celebrating three years of exploration, wonderment and delicious confusion.  Not the kind of confusion that makes you feel helpless and overwhelmed, but the kind that keeps your eyebrows raised, your mind open and your opinions flexible like a water weenie, or the insides of a lava lamp.  We’re still confused about how underground culture and paying the bills fit together.  We can’t figure out if doing drugs and being enlightened are complimentary or contradictory. How can thinking all week go and dancing all weekend and together so well?  We’re confused as to how so many of our peers can become embittered and pissed off after experiencing the magic that is united dance energy.  We still haven’t figured out how to appropriately say Thank You to all the people who have helped us these past 3 years.

    So, why are we still doing this?  We invite our readers to ask themselves as well: Why are YOU still doing this?  It’s important for every member of our community to consider this periodically.  It doesn’t have to be scary, although sometimes it can be, when you go to a shitty party and look around at a bunch of doinked out strangers and sort-of-friends, feeling ripped off for $25 and thinking “What did I ever see in this?”  But these jolting moments can be just what we need to keep in touch with the motives, keeping us awake and aware.  Are you still partying with a purpose, consciously celebrating and appreciating the amazement?  Do you still feel the amazement?  Are your eyes truly open to your world and your own self-development, or are your pupils just dilated?  Step carefully, chose wisely and think hard.

    We’re still publishing Lotus because not only are there so many unanswered questions, there are so many un-asked questions. What is the impact of the communication revolution on media and art?  Why doesn’t technology create more time in our lives?  How can we all benefit from taking time away from others and focusing on ourselves?  How can we help others see and understand their full potential?  Why can’t everyone understand that while ravers are the dancers of today, they’re the movers and shakers of tomorrow?

    There’s lots more questions where those came from.  And we still want to know the answers.  Is that why you’re still here, too?

HAPPINESS AND HEALTH TO YOU ON WHATEVER PATH YOU CHOOSE.