Last Thursday and Friday three of my girl friends and I went "glamping" at the Dunes Edge camp ground in Provincetown, MA. Yes, we had our tents and blankets for sleeping but we also hung our prayer flags, threw down a table cloth dance floor (and used it), hung up some moo moo dresses just because the fabric was cool and brought some fun cups, candles and food to round out the fun. It was a magical camp site. That is what "glamping" is.
On Friday morning after a brief rain shower we ventured in to the down town area for some lunch, shopping and gallery hopping. I had never been to Provincetown before so was really looking forward to it. Every time I mentioned or heard about the place people would say how it was heavily populated by gays and lesbians. Being gay was accepted there so they could freely hold hands or kiss without being judged by others. Sometimes there were gay parades or performances on the street that were very entertaining as well. Sounded like a place of full self expression. I love fully expressed people. They are interesting and you know where you stand with them. It feels very honest or something. I think that is why the gals I was with are my friends.
What does full self expression mean? It means to love fully, to wear what you want, to put your creativity to work where ever and when ever you can and by all means to have a great time with what ever you do. It means to speak up, ask for what you need and to laugh, dance and play like ya just don't care who is watching. We felt our campsite was a great start to our own self expression.
My friend Kelly, who has always loved a good costume, either for dancing or just for the heck of it, was really going for it that day. She loves Goldie Hawn, especially in the movie "Private Benjamin," so in staying with the outdoors camping theme decided to dress a bit like her. She started with her rainbow leg warmers (just because she had them), her short shorts and rain boots and then found a great army helmet, peace sticker for the front and a t-shirt that read "Kiss me, I'm a wee bit Irish." It was a crazy mixed up outfit but she wore it well and put some great attitude behind it. Fully expressed.
What was so fun though was even though this outfit might get sneers and jeers from our local towns people, Kelly got looks but ones of "hey, cool hat," or "great socks." Her uniqueness was embraced. This is what I came to LOVE about Provincetown and will always remember. Everyone seemed to embrace what ever it was you were expressing.
We were all so grateful to be there on the day the supreme court passed the gay marriage law. I felt honored to share in this wonderful and hopeful news from our government. Thus far we citizens have been allowed to bear arms (something that kills people) but not marry who we wanted legally (something that shows love towards each other.) The passing of this law seemed like a no brainer to me. Gays and lesbians all around the world have already committed to each other as if legally married so why not add in the final piece and make it legally recognized by our government. I think everyone wants on some level to be accepted in the ways that they express themselves. We are all unique humans but have a need to fit in sometimes and feel accepted. I would feel horrible if someone told me that loving my man Jim was wrong; that it was against what God wanted. How can any kind of loving of another be wrong?
Our self expression carried on as we found a place called the Dockslip. It held a Tea Party from 4:00 to 7:00 PM every day which included cocktails on the outside deck and disco type dancing under the roof top dance floor. We were in. Great hours for us fifty plus year olds. We were some of the first people to arrive at the Tea Party so we hung out on the waterfront patio with our beverages while others began to stroll in. There were some men in bikinis and cowboy hats who loved having photos with everyone, a mixed bag of other men and women and two great gals who were there together and couldn't figure out what was up with us. "Lesbian, straight?" they asked after about a half hour of laughing and chatting. "All straight." we said. "Friends for many years." They accepted us and continued to chat and then we all headed to the dance floor.
The floor was already packed so we just jumped in with our new friends and started with our greatest dance moves. What struck me was that here was such a mix of gay, lesbian, straight and who knows what else but no one cared either way. We were just a bunch of humans having fun on a dance floor celebrating love with full self expression. Our arms were in the air and our smiles were big. It was freeing, fun, made us laugh like crazy and we felt welcome, accepted and embraced by all the other crazies who were there.
Thank you Provincetown for a wonderful weeks end and for embracing us four straight women in to your town of gays and lesbians. Not once did we feel out of place. Your full self expression around love, outfits and parties was heart warming and I hope that we can come back soon to feel that happy town feeling again. To all you readers, be fully self expressed and accept others who are too. It is freedom, it is joy and it is your right as long as you are not hurting anyone else in the mean time. What could be wrong with that?
PHOTO CREDIT: Kelly Clemens