Passionately Becoming True to Ourselves at Summer Camp

The following post comes from Phoebe, and it’s really something. Phoebe’s passion for our loving community shines through here in a way that’s different from many of the posts we’ve put up this year, and we thought it’d be really valuable to share with you. Enjoy!

Phoebe’s Take on Odyssey Teen Camp

“Odyssey Teen Camp is fantasy football, but a little less “jockey.” I don’t know much about sports, but I am vaguely familiar with fantasy football. I believe that this is what Odyssey Teen Camp is. It’s a collective of these superhumans coming together to create this amazing and forceful atmosphere. All these people across America, some from lame suburbia to the complexities of New York City and even across the globe, all come together, and together we create a team of humans that’s unlike anything you’ll ever experience.

If you come from a small town like me, at best, you might find 2 to 3 people in your hometown that are the kind of amazing people you might find at Odyssey Teen Camp. However, at camp, it’s a population of 200 spectacular humans, bringing something different to the table. We are all so different but all have the same goal in mind, and we just produce this amazing flowing energy of creativity, self-authenticity and unapologetic self-expression. I think that is what makes the environment so special.

You come into camp, no one knows your backstory, social standing in your high school, or even your last name. I think the anonymity that presents itself towards the campers is what allows us to so passionately become true to ourselves and for lot of cases, for the first time in our lives. It’s the first time we have this place of just complete radical self-acceptance and once we enter the woods and strip ourselves from the outside world, and judgments, and even cell phones, this new mindset just enters so naturally.

For 11 months of the year, we are all so inclined to harbor these true emotions or ideas but at Odyssey Teen Camp you are released of any hesitations and have so many crazy opportunities to learn, whether it’s a funky new skill or something about yourself. One of the most gratifying experiences at Odyssey Teen Camp is just taking a step back and looking at the community.

You can look into the field and see such a broad spectrum of different people coexisting so freely. The energy and lovingness this space creates are just so satisfying. A lot of times, on the subject of leaving camp, the word “reality” often shows up in the conversation, as if this little bubble of utopia is just this synchronized dream a couple of hundred teenagers are experiencing at the same time. What we do and experience at Odyssey Teen Camp is completely real and valid. We made this amazing inclusive environment of just pure joy and simpleness just because we decided to, and that is truly spectacular.”

Won’t you join us?

Phoebe’s palpable passion is such a fantastic example of the type of young person that makes our teen camp such a special place to be. By gathering a group of like-minded teens together, we really are able to break down the barriers that define us and open ourselves up to something larger.

Are you ready to come and be a super-human with us? Are you ready to leave behind the person you might be being for someone else and dig deeper into who you really are? Better yet, actually, get to BE that person free of judgment?

If so, we’d love to see you this summer. We have a Virtual Open House almost every month where you can come meet teen camp staff and campers.

Find out about Odyssey Teen Camp

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