Max’s Musings: Ani DiFranco

Why do people go camping?

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Ani DiFranco, folk singer and founder of Righteous Babe Records, is returning to Seattle, February 1, 2025, to the Moore Theater. In the spirit of her visit, I wanted to select a poem from her poetry collection Verses, published in 2007, which tackles “the tough issues at hand” while “her personal-is-political viewpoint is more relevant than ever”. The collection looks at the importance of art and poetry and how they can be powerful tools in rhetoric when entering political spheres.

Of all the poems, I found myself relating to DiFranco’s poem “Camping”. In it, DiFranco paints the act of camping as a spiritual, transcendent, and individualized experience due to its ability to offer a haven for sprouting true authenticity.  

Camping

i love myself when i am camping

because i can walk across a river

on a log

like i am strutting down a runway

i love myself when i am camping

because i can take a dull knife

to a bag of suffering vegetables

and with one flame make a meal

that ain’t half bad

i love myself when i am camping

because i can find a way

where there is no trail

because i’m not afraid of spiders

or mud up to my knees

or mice or bees

and because

there are

no mirrors

I do not think you have to physically go camping to understand its worth or to find merit in it. Although the poem appears to be about camping on the surface, the physical act of camping serves as a symbol for a safe space for marginalized voices.

The repetition of “i love myself when i am camping” which appears three times throughout the poem implies that the speaker is not happy with themselves during other moments in their life, which is relatable. The necessary search for self-love and self-acceptance is a necessary journey all people share.

Figurative trails are constantly carved out for people by society. When outside the constraints of society, an individual is free to move forward and progress, stay and enjoy the metaphorical scenery, or revisit the unique components that inspire them. Sometimes, it’s necessary to carve out their trails even if they are the only one who travels them. Maybe others will choose to follow suit. When one goes to a place “where there is no trail” sent in front of them, opportunities are limitless.

Camping is the center of natural threats and fears, which is to be expected. Fear dissipates when you expect something. When one is prepared, like any good camper is, to get down and dirty, they are “not afraid” of what is to come. The speaker’s confidence rises as they unpack their fears, sift through their triggers, and know how to conquer them. The speaker enlightens the reader to do the same.

With “no mirrors” to remind one of their flaws and no eyes watching them to pass judgments, a safe place allows authenticity in more ways than one. Although it is important to own one’s flaws, sometimes a person needs an escape that is theirs. They hold the power to choose who they introduce and bring into that part of their world if at all.

Side of Moore Theatre, where Ani DiFranco will perform on February 1, 2025 / The Evergreen Echo

Although I haven’t yet gone camping since I moved to the Pacific Northwest, I anticipate my future experiences with it and how it brings me further inspiration and unlocking understandings of myself.

A safe space doesn’t ask or require an individual to be at their best, rather only that you’re present, aware, and bring forth your creations “that ain’t half bad”. Perfection is not required when improving yourself.

I find “Camping” surrounded by the importance of self-acceptance with self-image. After struggling with my body and queerness for so long, I still find ways to better myself daily from my own external and internal struggles.

In one’s safe space, there is freedom of expression for “strutting down the runway” or to “make a meal that ain’t half bad”. One can experiment with their own crafts whether they pay off in the long run or not. It could be a hobby, a place, or something in between. For the speaker, it’s camping. For myself, it has always been writing and poetry, especially in the comfort of a quaint coffee shop, which I am forever grateful for.

What is your safe space? Your forever escape?