Here's my weekend, like I promised...
YouthCons rock! All my apprehensions were for nil, because I was:
1.) not excluded, in fact, I was totally included,
2.) not surrounded by a whole bunch of touchy-feely perverts,
3.) able to participate in everything to the max, despite getting only 1 hour of sleep Saturday morning, and 2 hours Sunday morning,
4.) able to escape “fuffing” (a newcomer or “con-virgin” initiation rite where one has sticky foodstuffs rubbed on one’s stomach and a raspberry blown on it),
5.) not weirded out by the over-religious or –new age worship services (they were actually really cool).
The welcoming atmosphere was pretty apparent from the moment we walked in the door, and remained present throughout the entire Con. There was no harassing, verbal or physical, which is pretty amazing, considering that there were 100+ kids there. There was jibing and wrestling (of sorts), but it was only done because everyone had complete trust in each other; nobody really meant it or took it seriously. And I, for one, did my best to be deserving of that trust.
I met so many individuals this weekend that it’s difficult to wrap my mind around them all. A few of them: Jamie, who has cool hair, cool hats, is a cool guy, and the best Wink partner ever; Megan, who really knows how to “swing”; Kat, who was a free radical with me when people got “groupish” the first day; Charlie, who delivered a ten minute rant in a British accent about rebelling against television; Steve, my fellow evil genius, and so many more… If I could tell you about them all, I would. Needless to say, I felt truly among peers: certifiably insane smart people to whom religion is open to interpretation.
The Con was touchy-feely, yes, but not in a perverted way like I assumed. There were many people just going around and randomly picking people out to hug, people using other people as pillows, people wrestling, and, of course, very early Saturday morning, there was Wink.
Wink is the greatest game I have ever played. The basic setup is like this: There are two circles of people, an inner circle and an outer circle. Each person in the inner circle is paired with someone in the outer circle, except the Winker. The winker sits by him/herself, either in the middle of the circle (if there’s a lot of people, there wasn’t in our game) or on the edge (in which case the two pairs on each side of the Winker are disqualified from play). When the game starts, the Winker points at people in the inner circle. Those people then have to crawl across the circle to try and kiss the Winker (cheek kisses only), and their partner does anything possible to stop them from doing it. Whoever kisses the Winker gets to be the Winker’s partner in the next round, and whoever had been their partner has to be the winker. Everybody who got pointed at, but didn’t kiss the Winker, changes places with their partner.
Sounds dumb, right? Wrong! It is the wildest, wackiest game ever. We played it from 1:00 to 4:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, and the adrenalin rush was so big, it didn’t feel like it at all. I so totally rocked at that game. I only sat out one round, and there was not a partner that could stop me from getting to the Winker until Jamie. However, I now have a massive case of rug burn, and I ache from head to toe. Meh, it was a small price to pay…
Saturday morning I fell asleep to, and woke up to, people arguing about philosophy. I believe they were arguing about universal truth. I thought I actually understood some of it, but when I re-examined my thoughts later, I found they made no sense. Oh, well… maybe I just have to be really, really tired to understand philosophy…
Despite my extremely short “re-energizing period,” I was very much able to enjoy myself the next day. I now have a really ghetto-looking belt made out of duct tape, and know how to play “Mafia” (don’t ask) and “Silent Football” (really don’t ask. I couldn’t explain it to you if I tried). Saturday night was the wildest coffeehouse I have ever attended. I was going to sign up to sing, but decided to scope out the audience instead. Maybe next time… In any case, it was hilarious. Wacky skits out the ears… And next time, I’m definitely singing.
Since it was, after all, a youth group thing, we did have Worship. Except it wasn’t really worship per se, because it was more self-centered than god-centered. Friday night, our Worship involved writing something we wanted to leave behind on a slip of paper and burning it. Then, we shared things that we would like to bring into our lives, and to make it happen, we focused our energy by chanting and weaving in and out of a human spiral. It was extremely mind-bending. Saturday night, we meditated and took a “walk” though an imaginary forest to better ourselves, seek guidance, see our true selves, and find what really makes us happy. It was an enlightening – and somewhat saddening – experience for me. Then we had a “hug train” (or something like that), in which everyone at the Con gave everyone else tow hugs. 240 hugs is a lot of hugs, even for me. But I needed every single one.
I also learned something, Saturday night/Sunday morning. Do not let someone else use you as a pillow, and then fall asleep. They will, somehow, someway, usurp your sleeping bag. Luckily, I had a blanket. So I spent the night sleeping under the water fountain (again, don’t ask, I couldn’t tell you why).
But, all in all, it was a wonderful experience. I made so many new friends, and now share a genuine connection with every single one in this group of people. Ah, why am I even trying to explain? I can’t put that stuff to the right words, really. All I know is, I went, expecting – I don’t know what, really – and I did not come away wanting. I felt at home, among friends, and for the first time in a long time in a long time I felt, you know… Happy…
I have definitely got to go back.
