Author Archives: Jeff Carter

There’s a word you’re likely to hear when people describe their camp experience, a word I’ve heard from teenage campers, staff members and adult camp alumni alike. It’s “magical.” When trying to convey how special camp is to them, how extraordinary it feels to simply be at camp, they’ll talk about the “magic of camp” or that “camp magic.”

Yes, camp life is marvelous. It’s awesome, amazing, fantastic. It’s so much better than the “mundane world,” with everything having a little something extra, some power or spirit. That’s why camp friends are your closest, camp sunsets more beautiful, muffins more delicious, being silly more hilarious, and feelings of belonging more genuine. Camp life reveals a magical quality in even the simplest things, enlivening our days wonderfully.

But how does it do that? The sunsets, muffins, and the excitement of a rafting trip are probably pretty similar to what can be found elsewhere. There’s probably nothing material that would make camp life distinctly better than non-camp examples.

So what makes it magical? If there’s something profoundly different about camp life that fills it with amazing people, flashes of beauty, moments of wonder, and surprising feelings of deep happiness, then how?

Here’s an idea.

I believe camp provides the conditions where we can notice what’s been there all along. In other words, the magic is already here; we just don’t see it in our ordinary daily lives. Camp doesn’t have a special power to create magic. Rather, it inspires us simply to become more aware of subtle qualities always available in the world around us.

Rockbrook proves that everyone is a potential friend. It shows us how the briefest encounter with the natural world is wonder-full. Here, conversations are driven by curiosity rather than criticism. Camp days are filled by doing things in the real world, exercising all our senses. Here, what might seem ordinary or routine comes alive with new details, chances to learn and create.

That’s the power of camp, how it’s magical. It encourages a “receptive awareness” that reveals the magical quality of things. By lifting kindness up as its highest ideal, it helps us be generous and see beyond ourselves. By giving us a break from the fast-paced demands of work and school, camp helps us slow down and notice the beautiful details in most things. By being a tech-free environment, it liberates us from a worldview limited to algorithms and sensationalism. By encouraging silliness and play, camp teaches us how to be comfortable with who we are. By establishing a truly supportive community, it draws us closer to the people around us. In the outside world, each of these might require a deliberate choice, but they are built right into our camp life… making it yes, magical.

So let’s celebrate the power of camp to tune our awareness, and perhaps reveal the magic in things long after the summer ends.

It’s easy these days to sense that something special is happening at camp. Now as the session has “matured” a bit, it’s even more apparent. By “matured” I mean there’s a greater sense of ease in the air, a feeling of relaxing into the rhythms of camp life, a normalizing of sorts. The girls have made more friends, opened up to the new experiences offered in the activities, and become more comfortable in our rustic outdoor environment. They’ve begun to feel included, treated with kindness and respect, brought closer by a community spirit that’s enthusiastic and supportive. As they become more familiar with camp, their confidence has grown tremendously. They’ve adopted a “camp mindset” of sorts, a way of being colored by all these wonderful qualities.

This maturing, however, takes some time. When they first arrive at camp, girls are generally more hesitant. They’re usually a little nervous about their place in the group and how they’ll do away from home. Even for seasoned campers, there’s a different mindset that takes a few days to fade.

I wonder if we can attribute this to school. Perhaps these campers are arriving with a “school mindset,” a way of thinking, or a collection of assumptions that’s clashing with what camp represents. As you know, for many kids, school can be a grind, something that requires careful steps, regular effort with competitive undertones, and often includes guarded engagement out of a fear of peer judgment. It requires a great deal of individual work, pressures to perform, and evaluations. While there may be certain legitimate educational goals this mindset serves (though that’s debatable), it’s also a burden.

With school occupying so much of their lives, it’s no wonder girls arrive at camp a little out of sorts. They’re being trained to approach the world in ways that don’t apply at camp. In a way, this is the project of camp— to unwind some of the habits and assumptions taught in school, to encourage a more genuine, playful and joyful approach. Camp is here as a form of relief.

We might be running around camp painted in colors searching for counselors. We might be dressed as Greek gods and goddesses. We might be sleeping in the forest in hammocks, or just floating in the lake in a tube. In all these activities and more— throughout our days— we’re building a “camp mindset,” a way of authentic connection, a freedom to explore, and a lightness everyone finds refreshing.

When you pick up your camper at the end of the session, I bet you’ll notice this change. In addition to the memories of camp being fun, and the many friendships they’ve made, my hope is that your girls will return home carrying their camp mindset with them. And while the pressures of school will inevitably creep back in, I hope they can move through the world with more camp confidence, camp values, and Rockbrook spirit.