My experience of Con, therefore, is really not like other people's. Most of the time, from the moment I arrive, until clean-up, I'm pretty much on the go. I get to bed at 3 in the morning, I'm up again at 7, and in-between, my brain is still whirring with things I need to do. I rarely sit for longer than a meal, and I do not get to have the deep meaningful conversations that others do, because I don't get to hang out that long.
I am a kick-ass administrator. The upside of this is that I help Con run much more smoothly - and consistently more smoothly - than it used to in the past. The downside is that I am so good at thinking of the next step and the next task and the next chore that I have little peace.
It also means that I hold the space and help the details, but it really depends on the youth for the inspiration and good juju that makes Con magical. Con is magical, it is always magical. But it is also true that there is some percentage of youth who come to Con and who don't have the best time of it. Either they don't feel connected, or they see behaviors they don't like, or they feel uncomfortable with the culture. The audience is teenagers, largely; they are pretty amazing people, but they do make mistakes, and some of them don't respect the atmosphere as much as they should. It's always a see-saw back and forth between adults supporting Con and their fears that Con is not a healthy place for youth.
A year ago, a lot of changes were pushed through in a hurry and with little participation from the youth, especially the leadership. This August with the YES team, they got very hot under the collar about those changes, and pushed for change. In doing so, they prepared to make the culture something better than it has been. Their involvement was also new: they took on the culture role that previously was another challenge of an already-overworked con planning staff. There's only so many hats you can wear.
The result was a mind-blowing Con. The culture was fantastic. It was healthy. The making out was at a minimum. The community took care of itself; it faced hard choices and made hard decisions. It was radically inclusive, spiritually contagious. Normally I can look at Con and say, "this was good, this needs work...". This time around - all of it was really strong. The Spirit Corps does need some tweaks, but we tried something new and that's to be expected. All of the normal elements were really incredible.
I still ran around a lot, and still didn't get to sit down much. But it was very different. On Saturday night - at the talent show - I saw how strong the community was. I was tired: for the first time ever, I hadn't taken a nap on Saturday afternoon. I went off to bed, at 9:30. Admittedly, this was derailed by realizing that the mug books needed to be finished, so I actually got to bed at 11, but that's still a far cry from 3 a.m. And I could sleep. Other would take care of what was needed.
It was also true that I was awakened at 12:15 to deal with a situation, but even that showed that the community was working... instead of ignoring problems, youth were dealing with them. Two of my fellow sponsors also went to sleep early, confident in how everything was going.
Most gratifying, perhaps, has been the reaction of the adults who were there. They went home feeling healthy and happy about their experience and the time they spent with the youth. They felt included. They felt like Con is a good and great thing. One of our ministers actually said that it was the truest expression of UU values she had ever seen. YESSSSSSS!
Me? I feel wrapped in the cocoon. I see the benefit of staying in place for this period of time. These youth haven't known Con without me, and they see me as an ally. I see their gifts and the really active leadership of this particular group, and I'm honored that I can help. I don't get a chance to sit down because people continue to ask me questions and look for my help. The best part of this Con is that I felt like the community overall knew what to do and that other youth and other adults were going to reinforce the same answers I would give. The community and I shared a vision, and it was working, really, really well.
1 comment:
This brings tears to my eyes, I am so happy when I hear how awesome this con was. I missed you all!
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