Who's Up Watching Their Boulder Roll Down Again

Mantra.

Girl Scouts

Green Bay Girl Scouts and counselors on woodland trail at Lost Lake Organization Camp, Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest

Wisconsin

1952.

(via Mike Lynch Cartoons: Girl Scouts of America Activity Booklet: “It’s Fun To Design” by Kathleen B. Kelly)

Don’t mind me. Just cleaning your dash

I miss summer camp… I can’t wait for summer… I miss my buddies from summer camp… summer will come… I will rise again… to go to summer camp…

I can’t wait for camp foodjsgdusbd

Source details and larger version.

900 favorite vintage postcards, mostly weird.

Camp Names:

So you’re spending the Summer at Camp, and your Camp uses “camp names”… Whether you’re a new CIT or a counselor, using a camp name can be hard to adjust to (even if you’ve been waiting for this moment for years)!

You need to learn to respond to a new name, write it on papers, and introduce yourself as such. The secret to (quickly) learning to identify with and respond to a new camp name?

Refer to yourself in the 3rd person!

Yep, it’s weird! And yes, it’s awkward! But it truly works like a charm. Narrate what you’re doing, answer questions in the 3rd person- use your name in 3rd person references liberally and then some.

“Sunshine is feeling great about high ropes!”

“Casper is going to go to clean up in here and then Casper will head to lunch.”

“Snappy is headed to the lodge!”

Help your new coworkers to get comfortable with their names: use their camp names liberally as well! Even if they are a returning staff member, using their name can help them get back into their camp persona (more on this later).

“Rhythm is good! How is Acorn today?”

“Meadow is going to the lake with Sketch, does Atlas want to join?”

“Has Comet seen Ponyo yet?”

This helps everyone to get into the flow of camp, and can speed up the adjustment process- don’t let camp culture shock get the best of you, embrace the weird new culture around you! But of course, speak up when you feel the new (or return!) counselor scaries set in. Whether it’s your first summer or seventh, the start of summer anxiety can get to you- talk to your fellow counselors and admin staff, and know you will do amazing things this Summer!

I love Girl Scout Camp because young girls are quite random; at Camp they really let loose and it leads to moments like this from a 7 ish year old:

*world’s most concerning gasp* “I’ve done the unthinkable!!”

Reader, she had simply threaded a pony bead onto a piece of elastic cord- the gasp caused my heart to skip a beat…

things i learned working at a summer camp:

-you're gonna be ugly and not everyone's going to like you and that doesn't mean you aren't good and loveable and important.

-protective parents are the scariest and most dangerous creatures on this planet

-your beliefs will be questioned a lot in life and that doesn't necessarily mean they're wrong, but you have to be open to it. you cannot follow your beliefs without accepting that you're a human in a subjective world. sometimes you're going to be wrong and that doesn't make you a bad person.

-so many things can be solved with a hot meal and a full night's sleep

-friendships are going to be inconvenient. that is the nature of friendship. but you are going to do things for your friends because you love them, not because it's convenient, and vice versa. and it won't be a burden because you and others choose to carry that.

-literally just give yourself two minutes to breathe and think about a problem without outside influence. step into a broom closet and block your ears. sometimes you're panicking because you're overwhelmed by outside stimuli added to a situation, not because the situation is too overwhelming to handle.

-sometimes you've gotta be alone with yourself. you're feeling overwhelmed and stressed and like you're going to snap at anything that breathes? take a solo trip to the grocery store and buy a mango and eat it with your hands alone in your car. think about your favorite tv show. plan your future apartment on pinterest. just only talk to yourself for an hour or two.

-sometimes self care is a face mask but a lot of times it's washing your water bottle and your favorite pair of pants and filling your gas tank. i feel a whole lot better after washing my water bottle than i do a bubble bath.

-i'm so sorry to tell you this but exercise and vegetables will legitimately make you feel better if you've been depressed a while. i still get mad about it but it works.

go forth and be sane friends