is it the food or the meal and the importance of ceremony

 At the end of camp last week we did a thankful circle and a lot of the boys said they were thankful for the food and I have a couple thoughts on that

1- food is a safe thing for boys to be thankful for. it's necessary for survival and no one can accuse them of being overly sentimental for liking it

2- teenage boys love food

3- I would argue that part of the reason the food was enjoyed was because the meals had ceremony to them. We started the meals by gathering outside the lodge and singing and recognizing things that had happened. We had a ritual for entering the lodge and a song we sang before everyone was seated. We let people serve themselves so they decided their plate and portions. We sat as cabins and everyone knew how the meals operated. All of the things surrounding the food made the food feel significant and good.

I present these other examples of ceremony as evidence:

1- In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, it seems odd that Cassius and Brutus are worried about Caesar's coronation because he already wields absolute power anyway. The argument I read in a footnote in college was that this is because of the importance of the ceremony. The formal announcement of Caesar's power and status makes all the difference.

2- Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. When the Peanuts kids decorate and scream-sing Hark the Herald Angels Sing, the true meaning of Christmas is revealed. It's not just a hollow act of consumerism that Charlie Brown is lamenting at the beginning of the movie, it's a true communion.

3- I forget what the third one was.

Ritual is a powerful thing.

what do I do for fun? start summer camps with my friends!

 

feeling incredibly blessed

 I'm about to go be director for a week-long sleepaway camp. This is something I've been working towards for at least 8 years and it's a culmination of building a lot of relationships and skills. I like to temper my expectations but I'm looking at the group and our plan and it really seems like it's going to be the highlight of my year and my camp career. 

my goals are to stay grateful, stay present, and soak it all in.

haven't kept up with camp updates but it's going really well

 I'm really excited for the sleepaway camp next week. I think it's going to be really great.

 

camp day 7

Today this kid asked me, "how many adventure weeks do I need to do to be in the friend group?"

I think he meant like, how much do I have to do to have "made it". Like be a known entity at camp. Be established. 

I said, "Heh. I don't know anything about that. I'm just a counselor."

camp photos

 

day 3

"In regular Newcomb you have to play with at least two people, so in Anti-Newcomb you play by yourself and throw to your imaginary friends and then you cry and drown the town in your lonely lonely tears."

-a kid explaining one of the rules of anti-newcomb

day 2

 The thing I'll remember about today was that it was a really great group of guys who were almost the exact same group I paddled with last year and to see how much they've grown and matured is really gratifying. They really showed respect and had fun too! Great day on the water.

camp day 1

 kayak smelled stinky

smelled like a dead mouse in there

had to fish it out of the hollow part of the kayak for the better part of an hour

ADVENTURE BABY!

do you think things have a set path and are bound to happen or are we all in a box that's being shaken around and making everything collide into everything else?

 stepped in a big ol poopy today so these thoughts are weighing on my mind

 "No. Andy. You can't hang random [crap] from the ceiling. We already have enough of that."

"Fine. Then I'll just throw it away."

"You can't throw that away, those are important wires. Where did it even come from?"

"Nobody cared about this until I recontextualized it! That's what artists do!"

-yesterday when I tried to put a bundle of old A/V wires on a random pipe in the ceiling, the same A/V wires that months ago I hung up on the wall and dubbed a 'festive wreath'