Communitas is social antistructure. It arises spontaneously in different groups and situations. It is the essential human and primeval bond. It occurs when people are having a liminal experience together. It is filled with social relations. There is no class distinction and everyone does everything together. You come to see that you depend on the people around you and that the other people around you are also depending on you. A place where people find communitas is the Appalachian Trail. You are all doing the same thing and reaching toward the same goal, which is hiking the trail. You are on the same level as all the other hikers.
I experienced communitas when I went to a camp. In the summer of ’08 I went to Boy’s State, which is a camp that is run by the American Legion. Everyone there was a rising senior in high school from Virginia; we were all selected by our teachers and by the American Legion. Only a couple of students where chosen from every high school. We were all assigned to live in random communities and no one knew each other. We all had some things in common like our age, the fact we all came from VA, and we were all at this camp together going through the same treatment together. Everyone was equal and we bonded together quickly because the camp was not that fun.
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