HOW RAVING HAS CHANGED MY LIFE
Raving has changed my life. I started 2018 in a very strange place. I moved to Los Angeles without a real plan and decided to see where the year took me. Before raving, I was someone who kept to myself and often was afraid to put myself, my ideas, and my thoughts out into the universe. That probably sounds strange to those of you who have only encountered me through this blog, because all I do here is talk about my thoughts, but I promise you before I started raving I would have never been as open as I am here. To understand the change, I have experienced from then to now I need to give you a little bit of background information. In 2017 I was assaulted by an Ex-Boyfriend. This attack undid years of work I had done to increase the positivity that I felt about my body and self-image. I went into 2018 hoping to find a place where I could feel comfortable enough to regain my confidence and feel comfortable in the skin that I am in. That place ended up being raving.
The very first rave I attended after moving to Southern California on my own and without any real friends in the city was Nocturnal Wonderland. I found out about the event after seeing flyers in one of my favorite clubs in the LA, “Exchange.” After discovering that one of my new acquaintances was also going to be going, I decided to bite the bullet and buy a one day GA pass to the final day of the festival. This was really where my journey as a raver and towards the happiness I have found began. I was instantly in love with the idea of raving. As I researched fashion, hair, makeup, and everything that went into finding the perfect rave outfit I found myself falling in love with the acceptance and body positivity that I saw. There was something initially shocking about seeing women who felt comfortable in nothing but panties and pasties, but after a while, the shock turned into admiration and aspiration.
The first rave outfit I bought was still pretty conservative by rave standards, but for me, it was a massive step towards being comfortable in my own skin. After Nocturnal I became obsessed with raving and very quickly started to form a passion for the fashion and the people that made up the community. At events, I attended from then on, even if I more than not would go by myself, I would leave with phone numbers and new people in my contacts. Many of them I would see at other festivals, some of them I would go on to become friends with. In 2017 I would have been paralyzed when it came to the idea of going to an event alone, let alone talking to strangers. However, after a few months, I was not only comfortable to rave alone but willing to talk to anyone who approached me.
Raving and the acceptance that I found in the rave community not only helped me to break out of my shell but also encouraged me to try and share knowledge and advice with the people around me. More than anything raving has made me a happier person. Like many victims of assault, I struggled with depression. It was often difficult for me to get out of bed and life often seemed like it wasn’t worth living, but raves have given me something to look forward to. Now instead of wallowing in depression, I can just focus on the next event I have coming up or remind myself that happiness not only can be found in my life but that it can always be found if I look for it.
Raves are all about acceptance and respecting others. Yeah, there will always be a few people who ruin your vibe for a split second at an event, but I have never attended something that hasn’t left me feeling like the best version of myself. Raving gave me my confidence back. Raving gave me my happiness again. Most importantly, raving gave me my life back. Before I found music festivals, I was rudderless and genuinely unsure if I would ever be able to be truly happy again. Now, when I’m not raving, I try to spread as much of the positivity that I have found at events with the other people in my life.
What has raving done for you?
