Sex Geek Summer Camp is fun for Matie Fricker year 3 and going forward!
Matie: So, I want to show up my cowboy boots. I mean it’s okay if you can see them. Hi, my name is Matie. I own self-serve toys in Albuquerque, New Mexico where women owned and run education based sex shop and my website is http://selfservetoys.com/. I’m a second year camper and I love Sex Geek Summer Camp. I love it so much. This year I learned something totally different than I learned last year, so I think that’s pretty cool. Some coming to different events. Sometimes you know, you go to one place and then it’s just the same. And because of the diversity of experiences that campers bring to the table, every year I think will be exceptionally different and that is very powerful. And I think this year, what I really learned is that I’m not alone. I think there are a lot of hard conversations that we need to have as sex educators right now, about power and what things mean and how we move around this space in a way that is responsible. And this year I have spent a huge amount of time having those conversations with the people who I respect most and the people who are all feeling the same things in our own towns, in our communities and trying to figure out how to be good to ourselves and to the world. And so, that space has been really, really valuable for me. And just not feeling alone is I think something we are all reaching for, and Sex Geek Summer Camp gives me that. This year at camp, I have loved taking time for myself to connect with people and not feel guilty about it. I am on all the time. My job is really hard, I talk about sex all day long every day to people and most of the time, it’s very much like from me to the public or for me to people who I’m working to help. And like right now, I’m a mess like, I don’t have [inaudible 00:01:57], I just went swimming in the creek. I, you know, I’m worried about how I look on camera and I get to have space at camp where that is okay and I can just be fully and completely in my body and myself, and very few spaces in this world offer us those opportunities. So if you are on the fence about coming to camp, I think one makes sure it’s within the space you have, like, it’s an expensive thing to invest in. I work all year to be able to do it. But if you can, if you can make it work, the connections and the community and the space to be in a beautiful outdoor space with people who you share values with, is an incredible investment in your self-care and in your sense of self. And I know for a fact that I will be bringing a better me back home to Albuquerque and the connections that I make here will give me an interconnected web of people that I can lean on when I need help. So, I hope to see you next year. We can have s’mores and go skinny-dipping and change our lives together.