[THIS IS A STARTER DOCUMENT! Nothing here is set in stone, and this has been posted as a way of beginning the discussion of what a PG Adult Camp might look like.]
[PG] Adult Camp
?????, 2014
What is a [PG]?
Are you an insatiable learner?
Do you wonder why there is so much injustice in the world?
Do you sometimes wonder if you are the same species as everyone else?
That perhaps you are on the wrong planet?
Do you seem to have sensitivities that others lack?
Do you think of yourself as sapiosexual?
PG Adult Camp is a gathering in a rustic setting, designed to be as affordable and flexible as possible, in which a full range of topics that concern exceptionally and profoundly gifted adults can be explored, including career/work/vocation, recreation, relationships, personal growth, and more, as well as providing a social context that is otherwise rarely available to them.
Imagine a gathering where the exceptional is the norm.
Discover new and more effective ways to interact with the world around you.
Step into your own power to build a rich and satisfying life .
Finding your tribe
[PG Adult] Camp isn’t quite like anything else.
AT [PG]AC, we will explore our own potential, learn skills to help create a sustainable society, and build connections with others that last all year long! We explore topics from a perspective rarely found elsewhere, and live, work, learn and play together for 5 days or more.
PG Adult Camp takes place at Abrams Creek Center, a deep forest campground with a delightful stream alongside, about 2.5 hours west of Washington DC and 2.5 hours southeast of Pittsburgh. Tent sites are included, and there’s a motel, lodge and cabins, too, so private rooms, shared rooms, and dorm-style accommodations are available as well at additional cost.
And PGAC is affordable! Costs can be as low as $295 for weekend, or $395 for the entire 5-day event, including all meals! If you can’t afford even that, please talk to us anyway—limited scholarship and work-trade arrangements are available.
What is Unique About {PG] Adult Camp?
Diversity is Assumed; Intensity is the norm
No one here is neurotypical. It has been found that people of exceptional talent differ as much from each other as they do from the norm, and PGAC welcomes and affirms those differences. Mainstream society often sends the message that different is defective; we know that different is just different, and we honor and delight in those differences. We also understand that potential and performance have little to do with each other, and that what matters most is being with others who also see colors brighter, feel touches more intensely, experience scents as encompassing, and perceive things that many people think impossible. Pearl Buck described it this way:
“Human creatures born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive.
To them...
a touch is a blow,
a sound is a noise,
a misfortune is a tragedy,
a joy is an ecstasy,
a friend is a lover,
a lover is a god,
and failure is death.
“Add to these cruelly delicate organisms the overpowering necessity to create, create, create - - - so that without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, their very breath is cut off from them. They must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency, they are not really alive unless they are creating."
No Pat Answers
We've found that no single human technology or practice can encompass the human experience; our goal is to build a *context* in which insights drawn from many sources are common knowledge, *available* but not imposed. We invite new perspectives, learning from each others as well as from invited presenters. The result is that our participants have a huge pool of technologies and practices to draw from. Each person is fully "at choice" in any of our events, and each person is free to use the insights and practices that work best for them.
We Gather for an Extended Period of Time
Some of us have been to events that *at last* felt like “home planet”. But these visits are usually all too brief; it is difficult to take the connections and insights we discover there and incorporate them into our daily lives. Camp is 5 days long so that there is time for real connections to be made, and real interactions to flow from these connections.
Both Plenary and Tracked Workshops
The entire group (except those who choose to sit out) will share certain workshops that help create the sense of community and give us common ground for the rest of what we do. These shared experiences build the context for ongoing relationships and add to the common tool-sets available to all campers. Those who choose to go to a workshop will have new skills and experiences shared with most of the other campers, building the context for ongoing relationships and adding to the common context available to all campers. Certain other topics may be critical for some people, but not relevant to many others; these will also be offered as determined bythe interest and needs of the people present.
Group Practices Supporting Transparency and Understanding
Most of these are created and facilitated by campers. We have morning whole group check-ins, afternoon comunity circles, and one on one support if you need it. And of course, everything is optional-- you are fully "at choice" about your attendance and/or participation in any activity or workshop.
Goals
Making new connections. Gaining relationship skills and personal empowerment techniques. Building a tribe that stays with us all year long. Many participants can wind up connected with other participants on an ongoing basis, through e-lists, frequent gatherings, personal relationships, and joint projects. New insights into the social and personal dynamics on the job can lead to a more satisfying and rewarding worklife.