The Magic of Summer Camp
Within one week of returning home to Salt Lake City from the Camino Francis I was packing my bags again for summer camp! You know the camps gotta be worth it when it causes me to be away from my human family and my fur babies!
And so once again I found myself on a plane headed towards Long Beach California. I wanted to visit my brother and sister-in-law David and Jackie and see their new home. We stayed a couple of days together and then David drove me up the mountain towards Big Bear Lake to Volunteer with Easterseals Camp hosted in a childhood camp location called Camp Oakes.
Founded 49 years ago, Easterseals Camp is proud to be the largest provider of recreation and camping services for children and adults with disabilities in the United States My history with Easterseals Camp consists of a couple named Brian and Sue Bost who brought the camp to Camp Oakes and slowly, overtime started changing the way I looked at summer camp forever!
There is a significant percentage of directors and camp counselors who fly in from out of state to participate in this sleepless week of caregiving and entertainment. Despite the inevitable exhaustion of this work, many of the staff members come back year after year, often for 20+ years and sometimes well into 40 years of service.
What brings these people together?
Could it be the miracle of creating a carnival environment or a magical mystery tour from a rustic camp environment? Or could it be the playful camaraderie between adult and camper, a feeling that seems to reside quietly in a past memory and which somehow gets released while up at camp?
It is and isn't’ the camp described in the movie meatballs starring Bill Murray! In other words, the crazy, frenetic, and seemingly impossible things that these ageless campers do during camp, with “compromised” bodies that may not work completely independently (and which often require assistance), remind both camper and staff member alike about the power of possibility, confidence, and accomplishment.
The only requirement in summer camps is to believe in the power of summer camps.
Only 10 hours from returning home to Salt lake city I set off on a mountain drive to teach yoga to 6-12 year olds at Camp Nah, Nah, Mah, University of Utah Burn Camp up in Millcreek Canyon, Utah.
I am dressed as Aunt Yogi, Yoda’s great aunt. She is 7000 years old and needs to take naps every 10 minutes. The theme is Star Wars, if you hadn’t caught on, and soon I am being educated by nine and 10 year olds about Star Wars history as I progress through my yoga lesson plan! Maintaining character as Aunt Yogi, I assure the campers in my affected, high-pitched voice that I would look into my family history to find out specifics about my Jedi training protocol.
My co-yoga instructor, Jill Clark, is a master yoga teacher! Trained in physical therapy and trauma informed Yoga, she guides us through routines that incorporate skill development while still keeping all the magic of camp.
Why is camp so magical?
Could it be because we are guided by our campers? Could it be that we are recapturing childhood imagination with the permission to expand it and play with it? All I know is that camp can provide healing opportunities that may take years if offered in other formats. This is not to say that a more formal approach should be discounted as to its effectiveness, but the magical camp opportunities should never be dismissed, especially in areas of camaraderie, community, acceptance, and joy.
I will continue my Jedi training delivery lesson plans through Tuesday. Soon I will be teaching again in a more formal fashion back at the Salt Lake Arts Academy. In the meantime, Great Aunt Yogi Will continue to guide our campers with assistance towards balance and harmony not just universally or cosmically but also in the worlds that reside within our bodies (no matter what they look like or how they function) and in the worlds that reside around our body and within our immediate environment.
Please join Jeannette and I in a unique opportunity called Riders and Writers. This is a three day retreat with extended hours allowing us the opportunity to horseback ride and Take part in guided writing exercises.
The September retreat is but a mere five weeks away and I look forward to spending some time with you
