Power of Place

The importance of summer camp

“Camp is the solvent of morality. It neutralizes moral indignation, sponsors playfulness”

~Susan Sontang

There is nothing that brings back a flood of memories quite like a place. Even just a glimpse of a place where you spent your time immediately brings you back, whether you’ve been away for days or decades.

However, when you’re there it feels like the least important part of that experience is the backdrop. The place that is most important for me is my summer camp. The moment where I realized how much it meant to me was at the very end. Closing counsel had come to an end and I had said my tear-filled goodbyes to the friends I had made over the summer.

We all shuffled on the gravel paths to the parking lot. I took my time leaving. At the top of the hill overlooking the camp I turned around. I gazed over the stage that I had gathered at for so many years. I saw the trees that I knew since I was 7, I remembered it all. The weight of leaving hit me hard. It would be a long ten months before I got to come back. I couldn’t stay for much longer, my mom was probably waiting for me. It felt unnatural leaving. I felt like I had weights tied to my feet as I lugged my body towards my car.

I realized camp will always be important to me, not just because of the fun I had there, but the memories associated with every aspect of it. Even if no one was there, I would still love being at there. It brings me back to time I often forget, with the busyness of school and everything else. Camp is a place that changes me into a me that can just relax. No matter what’s on my mind, I have a place I can always remember and look back on with joy.

The ability to invoke emotions and memories is what makes a place powerful.