#acamp2014

[peve-7]

Os bininos kkkkk #Acamp2014 (em Hebrom)

[worldwithoutbirds]

Photos of us being epic at A-camp 5.0

[pics by Allison and Marilee]

[autostraddlecamp]

House Flags by the great Rory Midhani!

[worldwithoutbirds]

Words in the Fire - Patrick Watson & Simon Angell

[glavinder]

When I say "I love A-Camp", know that those words will never mean what I need them to.

I went to camp last October with a huge chip on my shoulder. I was super depressed because of various life things that included graduating from school, moving back home because I didn't know what I was doing with my life, going through an emotionally exhausting/emotionally abusive break up, having all my friends move away, living in what seemed like a cultural/hetero vacuum, etc. You get the point. It was not a good time. I met great people and felt better than I had in a while at October camp, but it just wasn't the best situation for me to meet people and make friends. My ex was there. I had a panic attack on the mountain. Despite all of the amazing things that were going on, I was really overtaken by formidable forces of my emotions and my brain chemistry. This A-camp 5.0 was different in all of the best ways. In the 6 months between camps, I'd gotten my serotonin levels figured out, had time to figure out my own needs, started actually CONTRIBUTING to Autostraddle in Saturday Morning Comics, learned to not feel selfish when I truly need something... And yeah, I went though another break up very, very close to camp--but it was the most mature, clean, healthy break up (and relationship, for that matter) I've ever experienced. Was I sad about it? Yeah. But it made sense and because of that and because there was nothing negative to really pin it on, I didn't feel weighed down by questions like "what could I have done differently?" or "what went wrong?" And A-Camp 5.0 was exactly what I needed to really become myself again. I had the best, most supportive, most ridiculous cabin mates. I never found myself wishing any of them were different in any way. All of our oddly-shaped personalities just fit. The Outsiders were my in-group. It didn't matter how fucking weird we were being, as far as I was concerned we were the cool cabin. We were the cabin no one could touch. We were our own gang, but instead of engaging in violence, we engaged in planking and ballsports and dancing and hashtags and denim and color war pranks. We even had matching jean jackets with a bunch of patches. We always ended up hanging out with each other, even when we tried to split up at events. We had feelings talks. We made a zine... And really, this group is what I needed out of camp. I totally needed the queer space and the Autostraddle community, but it was the absolute feeling of connection and community and validation within the Outsiders cabin that really made camp for me. Camp has a reputation of being a place with a lot of hook-ups and making out and shit... And it's totally true. But I didn't go there for that, I didn't do any of that. I went there for me and that's who I found there--a happy, energetic, open-armed, loving version of myself that I thought was buried too deep under cynicism to ever truly access again. That is the most important thing I could ever have: a self that loves my self. And A-Camp gave that back to me and also gave me a bizarre little cabin family. I love my weird Outsiders, I love weird myself.  I couldn't ask for any more.

[jessiegw]

I heart these guys. #outsidersforlife #nailedit #autostraddlecamp #acamp2014 #wewoncamp #myyearofhappy (at Camp Mountain Chai)