You know that you've been working at camp too long when...

You know that you’ve been working at Camp for too long when: You’re watching The Grey, and all you can think is: “that guy can start a fire in the middle of Alaska, during a blizzard with a Zippo…. But I can barely crank out a 1 match fire?”


You Know you've been working at Camp for too long when: Your watching the Hunger games and all you can think of is how amazing a hunger games theme week would be at camp!!

You know you’ve been working at camp for too long when: You are ready to eat spaghetti and you notice that you are all out of forks… You eye ball any utensil close by including a ladle, ice cream scoop, spatula and whisk… Thinking: “eh, I’ve eaten the same meal with worse,” before grabbing a spoon.

You know that you've been working at camp for too long when you can sing a song on command about any animal and just about anything.
 

You know you’ve been working at camp for too long when: You watch Camp Rock and you don’t worry about what song the Jo Bros are singing… but how nice their life jackets are and how you would never sit and paddle in a canoe while facing each other…

You know that you’ve been working at camp for too long when:

You notice when Marshmallows go on Sale

You know you’ve been working at camp

for too long when:

you watch The Grey, and all you can

think about is

“How the Heck did that guy not get

Hypothermia?? But It’s May, in

Wisconsin and I feel my nose freezing

off?”

 

You Know you've been working at camp for too long when: When you finish your meal at a restaraunt, you stack, scrape and sort your silver ware for the waitress.

You Know you've been working at camp for too long when: You leave Wal-mart, (because that's one of the only places you go on your time off) and you look for the big white van to take you home.

Happy People do things different..

Happy People just plain do things differently..

Hello all! Hope you are doing well and not to stressed out about the upcoming camp season… your fine! Seriously… your first step was taking the extra second to read our latest blog post J

In all my travels I have read and heard a lot of different things with how happy people live or how to make yourself happy.  I’ve searched far and wide and this list is the best top 15 tips that I have run into: 15 powerful things happy people do differently.

(http://www.purposefairy.com/4899/15-powerful-things-happy-people-do-differently/)

Okay, okay… I found it on Pinterest!! But you probably knew that already....

Anyway.....I once attended a training where I was told…. “Be Here, To Be Here!”  and of course the normal questions arose. What do you mean be here? I am here!  I'm sitting right in front of you....But are you really?? What have you thought about today? Are you taking in everything that is going on around you?? How many times did you lose track of what I was saying because you were talking to your best friend about the plans for this weekend? You know what I’m talking about ;)

This made me really think and From that day forth I made the commitment that camp was no longer a hobby for me or just a summer job, but something that I was going to show up to, with zeal and passion like I’ve never had before.  That I was not just gonna be “there” but be here… in the moment and take everything in. That I was gonna give each day my all, that camp would have every part of me:  "5. MEANING vs. AMBITION. They do the things they do because of the meaning it brings into their lives and because they get a sense of purpose by doing so. They understand that “Doing what you love is the cornerstone of having abundance in your life” like Wayne Dyer puts it, and they care more about living a life full of meaning rather than, what in our modern society we would call, living a successful life.

The irony here is that most of the time they get both, success and meaning, just because they choose to focus on doing the things they love the most and they always pursue their heart desires. They are not motivated by money; they want to make a difference in the lives of those around them and in the world."(http://www.purposefairy.com/4899/15-powerful-things-happy-people-do-differently/)

Well as it turns out, “Be here, to Be here” is also on the list of 15 powerful things happy people do differently:  "13. PRESENCE/ ENGAGEMENT vs. DISENGAGEMENT. They know how to live in the present moment, appreciating what they have and where they are, while still having big dreams about the future."(http://www.purposefairy.com/4899/15-powerful-things-happy-people-do-differently/)

“When you are present, you can allow the mind to be as it is without getting entangled in it. The mind in itself is a wonderful tool. Dysfunction sets in when you seek your self in it and mistake it for who you are.” Eckhart Tolle

Who knew? This whole time I’ve been one step closer to my life’s ultimate goal of being happy??

I love this concept for a possible theme for staff training… not the obvious hula skirts and pirate costume theme but a more abstract idea that we can continue to talk about the entire week. Maybe a Chapel theme or a Scout's own. Words of wisdom would also be a nice tie in.

Mostly because not only do I want my staff to be happy, but in reading this list I felt a majority of these items are qualities that I want in the ideal staff member, that if we can inspire them to be happier, we would get the quality staff our campers deserve. J

Here’s some more examples straight from the list:

Rule #1:

“LOVE vs. FEAR. Well, I can tell you for sure that those people who are really happy, FEAR less and LOVE a lot more. They see each moment, each challenge, each person as an opportunity to discover more about themselves and the world around them.” (http://www.purposefairy.com/4899/15-powerful-things-happy-people-do-differently/)

WOW, what camp director doesn’t want a staff that can take each problem that arises and turn it into a simple step in to discovering who they really are as a person??  That each issue that arises will be viewed as a milestone? I want in! Where do I get them?  So we are creating young, inspire, role models… BINGO!!

Rule #6:

“ PRAISING vs. CRITICIZING. Happy people would probably agree with Carl’s Jung theory on resistance: “What you resist not only persists, but will grow in size”. They don’t criticize the absence of the behavior they want to reinforce, but rather, every time the behavior is present, even if it’s not that often, they know that by praising the person and the behavior, they will actually reinforce the positive behavior.” (http://www.purposefairy.com/4899/15-powerful-things-happy-people-do-differently/)

(Information about Mr. Carl Jung: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Jung)

Okay, believe it or not…. Campers are not always going to “behave” I know, I know…. It’s hard to believe that these munchkins are not the angelic creatures their parents believe them to be.

This skill, Praising rather than criticizing is Something that we all need to work on, talking to each other and encouraging the behaviors that we would like to see or that we are happy with, a common first year staff issue. Realizing that it is not always about what the camper is doing wrong, but how the camper is trying to do things right.  This skill takes a little more effort; it’s easy to see how the person is continuously not turning in their paperwork all the time.  But when they do it and you give them a hundred grand bar with a note that says “that’s a million!” The staff member can’t help but remember something about it.  Staff motivations can help you have an amazing summer.. that blog is later to come :)

This brings me to one of my all time favorite staff training concepts: Becoming a SPARKLE healer vs. a SPARKLE stealer. That's right, you heard me... SPARKLE.....You may notice by now that at camp  you sometimes have bad days, Hey…. We all can’t be amazing 365 days a year.
And as a result, the whole community is impacted. 

 If you notice that someone is having a particularly bad day, that their camp SPARKLE may be running a little low,  think about how you can make their day better. It's that simple....At camp it’s everyone’s bad day when one of us is a little off. Trying to help each other can make not only your co-workers day better, but in the end it might just make your day better too. A very easy concept that when practiced, can change the entire environment at any camp.

Teaching staff that “camp time” already goes fast enough, that slowing down and considering each angle before proceeding... Processing all the information can not only make them happier, it makes camp alot more fun!

Overall, Happy staff = Happy Campers, and that is why we are all here after all.

Please share your thoughts, we’d love to hear what you think J

MAKE SURE YOU....Check out the list for yourself: http://www.purposefairy.com/4899/15-powerful-things-happy-people-do-differently/

The very first post...

Hello!

I suppose that I should say Welcome! Thanks for being here… Tell you a little bit of what to expect.

CAMP! At least we hope to deliver that idea and so much more. Slam and I have been working together for some time now and through discussions and “meetings” with Applebee’s mozzarella sticks, crappy camp food and BW2’s boneless parmesan garlic wings and Mucho Margaritas. We began to find camp.

Now you may ask… Camp? I know where is… What are they talking about?

This is a very complex situation and simple all at the same time….. Because camp is so many things…..To so many people…” it’s where I found myself” one might say… while another may tell you a story about Archery or Swimming in a lake for the first time, or hiking up the biggest hill and seeing the sunset over the lake… and we plan on telling you stories like that too….and so much more, as well as share ideas, and insights into evening programs, games, songs, true facts and tidbits…. Some days we will tell tales of past pranks, snakes, bugs, adventures and craziness that is our chosen field of professionalism. Sometimes we won’t make sense I’m sure, but when we do I hope we paint you the picture of a place, a feeling, a dream, a hope, an attitude and maybe, just maybe, you will start to see what we mean when I say the word Camp…

We are very excited to launch our little blog and see what happens… Out here in the clear blue air

Starting all this made me think that I needed to start from the beginning….the very beginning… When I dad turned to me and said…. “What do you think about going to summer camp?” He held a glossy booklet out to me with a smiling girl on the cover wearing a t-shirt that read “CAMP LAKAMAGA”

Hmm, I had never thought much about that before, sure I had heard of other girls going and knew what he was talking about. “Sure?”  I said… not quite knowing exactly what I was getting myself into.  I paged through the brochure and looked at the pictures a bit, read the descriptions some, and felt that I was ready.

 I was a Girl Scout and my best friend Kristen Schmidt’s mom was our leader, we met every other Sunday at Christ the King church in New Brighton, MN….. and one day in April after our meeting my dad pulled our big golden Dodge truck up to Kristen’s mom’s car rolled down the window and said “How bout we get these girls together and sign them up for camp?” at least that’s how I remember it…. In real life my Dad is quite eloquent and I can’t imagine him sounding quite so hokey…. But for the building of the drama you can imagine what you would like here J

The next couple of weeks Kristen and I talked and giggled about the exciting things our program guide promised:  Campfires with friends, arts and crafts, singing, and sleeping in a platform tent. We paged through the booklets and stared in awe at girls that were shooting arrows and swimming with bright orange life jackets…. Soon enough we were packing our things up… mine in a giant duffle bag bigger than me with my mosquito netting brand new in its plastic casing and my sleeping bag bundled and ready to go……we ventured the long winding dirt road to camp.

My dad and I walked into my tent and picked my bunk next to Kristen.  I unrolled my bed and broke open my mosquito netting and tied the little ties to the proper stick height. (A very intense process) and I turned to my dad and it was time to go…. TIME TO GO???  What??  I burst into tears…. “Don’t leave!!” I wasn’t ready…  What if I forgot something?  What if I need you?

And this when my dad gave me the best gift he could have ever given me… as hard as it was… he gave me a hug,  told me it was time to go and he was gone….

And that’s how it all started, I was officially a camper… my program: “outdoor antics” was a general program, we had a little taste of everything that Lakamaga had to offer, I was introduced to this amazing place, to this crazy way of life that I adore… Sure I was lost and scared and didn’t quite know what I was doing or who the heck these crazy people who were that were in charge of me for the week. I chose a camp name… no not BABE as many of you know me but Honey Bee. (Melissa means honey in greek I was told??) I embraced the idea that we had an alter ego (something that I will talk about again at a later date.)

I learned things: I got in a huge fight with my best friend, I never went to camp with a “buddy” after that summer.  I grew as person, I became an individual, I learned to cook over an open campfire, I swam in a lake, I slept in a canvas tent.   I WAS HOOKED!!

And I hope that you are too, in this blog we will chronicle our times at camps that we have worked at…. The good, the bad and the ugly, I hope that we give you a little insight into this wonderful crazy world that we call camp…..