DUH! Help Yourself- There's a Great Plenty at Camp
There was a time when I would often pick up the latest self-help or business book from the airport kiosk when I was travelling. It kept me from napping on the plane or setting off on a path of endless doomscrolling as we traversed the friendly skies. The term “self-help”, I just learned, was coined in 1859 by a Scottish journalist (Who knew?) and the genre has spawned countless examples of prescriptions for success, and more than a few centa-millionaires and Ted Talk stars. Most promise that if a person can just master their inner resources- and use them to their best effect- ultimate success awaits. Maybe I stopped buying these books when I realized that I could master the hell out of my inner resources, but it was external circumstances that had the greatest impact on my trajectory. ( I hear the rebuttalals!)
The Shift or Not?
In his review of the latest entrants into the genre, journalist Gal Beckerman takes on two of the giants, Angela Duckworth and Adam Grant. In their new books, each of them seems to acknowledge the importance of outside events in the journey, yet, as Beckerman notes, both authors fall back on faulty assumptions that ALL these challenges can be manipulated by structure, habits, or arrangements that push us towards excellence. Their advice relies on a certainty of place and progress that makes most of us “regular Joes” feel inadequate or hopelessly off course. I’ve come to accept the fact that I won’t ever compete in the Olympics, or found a prosperous tech company! If I ever do arrive at ultimate success, I might not even know it.
Where Camp Fits In
In his book, Vibe: The Secrets of Strong Connections in a Lonely World, Grant describes an ideal where, “conversations pulse with energy. Thoughts soar. Trust grows. Time flies.” He goes on to site research that shows these conditions flourish when a person is in an “emotionally intense situation.” Did he just make a plug for summer camp? It would sure seem so to me. What is camp but a perfectly engineered emotionally intense situation! Not intense all the time- that would suck, but full, offering the full range of emotions all in a safe space for a child.
Duckworth, in her latest book, suggests that one can curate their situation to ensure it provides for the greatest “grittiness.” Has she heard about summer camp? One of my predecessors used to refer to a canoe trip as a “controlled hardship”. For sure, not all of it was (or is) controlled, but these adventures offer exposure to the full range of physical and emotional exercise. When I talk to former campers about their time here, more often than not they will cite the challenges posed on one of these trips as being formative. Having conquered a muddy portage in the middle of the Boundary Waters, other challenges pale in comparison.
They might not have phrased it that way in 1910 when Mishawaka was established, but I think “self help” was at the center of their mission. More than just mastery of one’s self, camps established the importance of the community, of deep friendships and trust when facing the unknown. We are the heirs of this thinking, and we protect it fiercely. One of the greatest benefits of realizing all this, for me, is now I nap without shame on most flights. Sometimes I even dream about Camp.
Thus ends my TED talk 🙂