“first off, i’d like to thank ya’lls for an amazing week. serving as the slideshow coordinator and capturing all of your moments was really a rewarding experience for me, i hope you guys enjoyed what taflabs did.
now usually, i’m not really into the whole “write about my experiences” after TAF type thing. but in many ways, one small incident led me to write this.
to be honest, i was never really fond of the term “TAF love”. I don’t so much question the existence of TAF love, i just don’t understand why we rename what it essentially is, unconditional love. it is not as if unconditional love only occurs at TAF, it occurs in all places, it is just more prevalent here. in some ways, i sometimes get the feeling that TAF love is implying that it is superior to other forms of unconditional love, which really wouldn’t make sense since love is love. but in one spur of a moment, i realized that although TAF love IS unconditional love, what differentiates the two is the characteristics behind it.
When we reenter the communities we live in away from TAF, unconditional love still exists, whether it be from our family or friends. in situations like this, it is evident that the people around you care about you. similarly, at TAF, the people around you love you unconditionally, even if they have only known you for a very short period of time. the difference arises from the fact that at TAF, we are completely honest with one another. throughout small group times and speaker sessions, we often hear other campers mentioning how they are never this open with even their closest friends back home. If we are unable to be open with them, how can they be open with us? At TAF though, we meet people that we don’t even know all that much, and yet, we still spill our secrets because we know that the people around us love us no matter what. no judgment is held against us, we see each other as who we are, human beings. although this is not to say that such things don’t exist back at home, it’s just that it is much more difficult to find than at TAF. i’d like to think that the people at TAF are the ideal friends, despite our personal imperfections.
i guess that’s what makes TAF love unique is that it isnt just the love of comforting another person, but also the love of personally sharing the pain someone feels. the ability to relate to one another, where friends at home might not be able to, is essentially the defining factor of TAF love. Yes it is still unconditional love, but just a little bit different”
This was Andrew’s fifth year at TAF, and he was part of the Youth program as a coordinator.
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