Power Of Words

Camp Everytown isn’t a regular camp. Camp Everytown is a world by itself. A world that brings together teenagers and makes them sensitive to issues like racism, sexism, homophobia, disabilities, depression. These are issues that continue to exist in our society and continue to victimize its members. These are issues that contribute to suicides and suffering. 

The objective of Camp Everytown is to break the shackles of prejudices and make the youth  sensitive and better human beings.

I came back from Camp Everytown yesterday and was moved by the experience of it.  I always saw myself as an open-minded individual. But through the journey of the camp I came to a realization that I am harsh and judgmental towards others. Subconsciously/unintentionally I have upset people. And I guess that’s how it is for most of us; we hurt people without even realizing it

In Camp Everytown there were over 80 students. It was pretty exciting for me to meet so many people from different nationalities, sexual orientation, abilities and race. It was an eye-opener for me to be in a place like this, with people so different from me.

The golden rule of the camp was to NOT hangout with people you already know and to get out of your comfort zone and interact with others. Our phones were taken away from us too, which pretty much compelled us to socialize. The more I did it, the more I enjoyed. It was crazy to know that even though I came from a different country, spoke with a different accent, had a different upbringing and came from a very conservative society, I still had so much in common with the other students. Underneath, the color of the skin and everything else, we are all just human beings wanting to be accepted. That’s what Camp Everytown was about.

It was about being okay with the fact that there are homosexual human beings.

It was about being okay with the fact that there are disabled human beings.

It was about being okay with the fact that there are human beings who are different from us.

But in the end what unites us is our need to feel loved and accepted. And everyone should be loved, accepted and respected.

In the Camp we had activates that touched upon the emotionally heavy sujects. People shared their experiences about dealing divorced parents, being bullied in school for being gay, being sexually assaulted, being suicidal, being addicted to drugs, being addicted to cutting themselves. People had gone through so much.

I was grateful, but that wasn’t it. I felt like it was my duty to make or at least try and make someone’s life better. It is impossible to look into tear-filled eyes and not do anything about it. Just a hug can change the way a person feels. We should all have it engrained in our system to nice to people. Smile at them, ask them how they are, and tell them they look pretty.

People HAVE gone through so much that WE don’t even know.

The camp made me realize that we all our very powerful. We have the power of words to affect people. Our words can make a person feel loved but it can also make her/him feel hated.

Next time before you decide to pass on a rude comment or send in hate to anyone, think twice because you will be taking away a part of his/her happiness even if it’s just for a second.

After 4 days of the camp, we were all a family. We became a lot more empathetic and considerate about other’s feelings.  I really didn’t want to go back home because I was having such a great time bonding with these precious people.

I felt like a better person.

I also wrote this post to apologize to people I have hurt, both intentionally and unintentionally. Seeing you in pain wouldn’t make me happy. From this moment on, I am going to try and be a better version of myself.

I hope the readers of this blog post can take away a message from this. It costs nothing to be nice. Do humanity a favor a remove certain words off your dictionary. Because words are power and they can hurt.