Carpe diem. Lauren and I recently moved onto camp for this summer and along with Eli (who is very much in the “terrible twos” now) have embraced this seasonal transition. Really, leaving our off season home and life to drive with cars packed to camp is more like a family tradition. Here we are, and we can’t wait for all of you to join us!
With the Old Lake and vibrant green trees outside of my office window it is time to announce our summer THEME: be bold. Let’s start with the more literal translation of being bold in the context of the Blue Star experience. We encourage our campers to stretch beyond their comfort zones in trying new activities, reaching out to a new cabin mate to begin a lifelong friendship, and standing up for what they believe. In addition to the word—bold—in and of itself, we are taking it a step further by turning “b.o.l.d.” into an acronym that represents our three core outcomes (which we have blogged about throughout this off season).
Build community.
Open our hearts (to do good and practice the philosophy of tikkun olam).
Learn to Discover our best selves.
In order to fulfill these core outcomes we all must take a leap of faith. It takes boldness to extend a hand to a cabin mate who is having a difficult time adjusting to cabin life. In so doing we might make a new friend or, at the least, share kindness with others. Along the way we are indeed building community. That’s bold.
It takes boldness to think beyond ourselves and consider the impact we have on our surroundings. Every individual impacts in some way on the other people with whom she or he interacts and impacts on our natural environment. This summer we will launch our Conservation Generation initiative in partnership with Gabi H2O and the American Camp Association as the pilot camp in a creative effort to positively change behavior around water conservation. Each camper will have opportunities through this project and myriad other venues to do good. That’s bold.
Lauren and I believe that it takes boldness to discover what makes us truly happy. The process of self-discovery can be illuminating and liberating, even if the change it inspires is subtle. We believe that what is most important about this process is that our campers find happiness. That is what becoming successful in life means to us. We think that’s bold.