Truth be told I never went to summer camp, or camp in general so there is an air of mystique when I think about camp. That is why I thought it would be a great idea to go to summer camp this year! I believe that summer camp is not a place or destination it is a state of mind. In my last blog, I wrote “…it is our attitude towards the little things and how we chose to seek out or tune out simple pleasures.” In keeping with this theme and the #adultingbadges that we’ve been working towards all summer let me explain.

For me summer camp is about staying up late, chatting with new friends, and trying things that I might not like. Of course, this could all be achieved by taking an adventure far away, meeting new people in a hostel, and ziplining through the jungle. We could also look at it differently, you could connect with a new person that lives in your city via Facebook, for example, meeting up with them after dinner and chatting away at a café you always wanted to try. Expanding on that and trying something new… I recently tried Pilates for the first time, something that I thought I would not like, and was pleasantly surprised that I did. This is a very simple example of how we can create our version of summer camp, available at any budget anywhere in the world.

Over the last three months we have been working towards the four #adultingbadges:

  1. Clear mind
  2. Patience
  3. Relaxation
  4. Summer camp

The purposeful flow of these #adultingbadges allowed us carefully build onto each one. Finding different ways to create our individual calm allowed us to take the first steps towards clearing our minds. With a clear mind (or at least less murky) we created space for patience. Patience not only with ourselves but also with those around us. With patience comes relaxation, that we were previously unable to tap into. As we continued to clear our minds, expanding our patience and deepening our relaxation so we could take a trip to summer camp, whichever way we wanted. 

Realizing that summer camp is a state of mind was a huge ah-ha moment for me, it was no longer an elusive desire, I can proudly say I’ve been to summer camp and it was awesome!