Camp News & Blog

Perfectly Imperfect

May 1st, 2026

Ain’t technology great? We can do so much with it. We can peer deep into space – all the way back to our universe’s beginning, in fact. You can see things so small that it’s hard to believe they exist. We can play Candy Crush, watch crazy cat videos and create believable AI pictures ‘til our hearts content for free!

(Wait… that last sentence sounds a lot like… me. Let’s move on.)

Seriously – the tech in our pockets and all around us is really incredible. It allows for so much good. And… and. It can really hold us back.

Worshipping… What?

One of the drawbacks of social media culture is the productization of ourselves. We set up stories – mostly through images and posts – that we want to people to ‘buy’ with their attention and, if we really think about, their approval.

We make decisions on vacations that focus on posts that will sway others to think of us a certain way rather than exploring what we are truly curious about and experiencing with our travel mates. We pose. We construct. Very little is actually what is going on but rather the story we want to tell not to ourselves but to others.

It leads us all closer and closer to the idea that the shot must be perfect, that the words must be perfect that we… must be perfect.

Y’all, that’s not us. And while some will argue that has been one among us who reached perfection in the human condition, the odds are really, really not great that you and I will get there.  

But yet, rather than worshiping Yaweh or Buddha or God or something larger and greater than ourselves, our collective behavior and choices scream that we are very close to worshipping… perfection in ourselves. And that, in the words of David Foster Wallace, will tear us up.

(Parents, it’s an incredible read and something I talk about – though not in so many words – around the campfire with our campers.)

Perfectly Imperfect

Just as important, the chase for personal perfection holds us back.

Here’s a list of statements we often say to ourselves in those quiet moment: “I’ll be happy when…”, “I’ll be worthy when…”, “I’ll be accepted when….”

Let me help you finish those. In this modern society, young (and not so young) people often complete the above statements with ‘I’m perfect’ or ‘it’s perfect.’

The ironic thing? Those who really are happy or feel worthy or are accepted aren’t even thinking about themselves. Instead, they accept their imperfections with grace and humor and humility. They think of others more than they think of themselves. The contribute to the greater good of their family, their classroom, their team, troop… or bunk.

As Shannon Alder has said, “There is no perfection, only beautiful versions of brokenness.” The pursuit of perfect is a great way to beat yourself up and stop you from actually flourishing and growing.

You want the good news about your imperfection? Everyone else is imperfect, too. And even better, your imperfections will line up perfectly with a lot of people. As C.S. Lewis has said,

Friendship … is born at the moment when one man says to another “What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . ..

You are perfectly imperfect. Rather than hiding these little foibles or eccentricities, recognize them, accept them and start contributing to the lives of those around you. You’ll get plenty of ‘likes’ that way. More than you can possibly imagine.

Have a great weekend, kiddos.

PS – How would I love you to answer those ‘when’ statements above? ‘…I decide to be so.’

Courage and it’s Helpful Cousins

April 17th, 2026

I love a good story. Books, podcast, movies – doesn’t matter. Thankfully, our youngest son, Luke, shares this joy with me.

We really enjoyed Project Hail Mary last weekend. It was my second viewing. (Yes, yes – I’m a total nerd.)

You would think the movie was all about adventure and the solution to a huge problem. And, on the surface, it is. But the movie – and the great book – is all about one of our core values:

Courage

Don’t worry – I’m not spoiling anything. And the movie isn’t even about ‘just’ courage. It’s actually about finding the reason to be courageous. It also shows off at least one of courage’s two close cousins.

In my first viewing, I heard a line originally attributed to Lao Tzu. The second time, I really listened to it. Basically, one of the heroes states:

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”

A mother will step between her child and an angry, threatening animal. A firefighter will enter a building to save those inside. These actions are not done just to be courageous. Rather, they are motivated by a higher purpose, love or calling. Courage happens because of the decisions made even before the situation.

But that’s not always enough. To truly live a life filled with courage, you need one of it’s great cousins:

A Champion

You also need to have someone(s) who spur you along, who believe in your abilities, even when you don’t yourself.  

In Dune, young Paul Atrides had his mother and father. He also had Duncan Idaho and Gurney Haleck. Fierce love. Preparation. Devotion to what he could become. (Though, in a touching moment, Paul’s father tells him the only thing he truly needs of him: to be his son.)

Yes, to fulfill find the heights of your courage, it’s incredibly helpful to have some champions, some people who believe in you more than you (currently) believe in yourself.

At camp, you’ve got a lot of champions – your counselors, your DH, your indefatigable Camp Mom Judy. (Look it up – it’s a good word and describes CMJ to a ‘T.’) Who else? Oh, yeah – me.

In Project Hail Mary, the ‘hero’ is introduced to a very strange ‘champion’ who not only believes in him but also shares the other cousin of courage with the hero:

Curiosity

Wait… what? Yes, curiosity is connected very clearly with courage. How? Think about it this way:

Every major invention or discovery required someone(s) to move against the grain, again the standard ideas. These were people who explored ideas, who pushed the boundaries of known thought and pushed our worlds past what we originally thought possible.

The not-too-ancients thought the earth was flat, that we were the center of the universe, that washing your hands before surgery was a bad idea, or the color of your skin or gender changed your value.

It took people of curiosity to question these perceived truths. They then practiced courage to chart new paths forward, those that opened everyone else’s eyes to the truth: the earth is (basically) round, we aren’t the center, hygiene is a good thing, all of us – ALL – are worthy of love and respect.

Camp is the Laboratory

You, my young friends, will need courage to do something new, to go past your self-set limits. It’ll be helpful to have champions. (You’ll have a lot.) It’ll also be helpful for you to be curious of the adventure ahead – who could you meet, what could you do?

There is no safer space to feel unsafe, to expand your comfort zone, to see that of which you are capable. Camp is the perfect place to practice courage and it’s cousins. Can’t wait to get started.

Trust in the Age of AI

April 11th, 2026

Ten days ago, I put an April Fools post out for everyone to enjoy. It was accompanied by an (incredibly) believable photo of an empty Sly Lake. While it looked great, there were a couple of tell-tale signs that pointed to it being a ‘fake.’

The first that comes to mind? All the green around the lake. I promise you – there is precious little ‘green’ at camp right now. The winter slumber is over… but Spring has certainly not ‘sprung’ yet.

It brings up a quesions: Why are we fooled? There are lots of reasons but a few that come to mind quickly….

We are all pretty distracted.

All you have to do is walk around with your eyes up to see the evidence. People will literally bump into you because they are walking around (or driving) while looking at their phones or listening to something in their ears or thinking about something, deeply and/or distractedly.

It reminds me of Master Yoda’s admonition of Luke when they first met: “…Never his mind on where he was. What he was doing!”

That describes us – as a society – right now. And, when our minds are distracted, we take the first clues of a message and believe it because it’s the easiest thing to do. It’s natural – our brains are literally built to make snap judgements, to find the easiest path.

This combo – our distractions and our brains – make it easy to be tricked.

We love a good story.

Let’s be honest – the picture of the empty lake and all the ‘fun things we found’ at the bottom… they combined to tell a pretty entertaining story. I don’t know about you – I really enjoy being entertained.

A good book. A good joke. A fun movie. These all give us something to talk about and a point of connection. I took my parents – who’ve been married for 54 years – to see Project Hail Mary last weekend. They loved it! We had so much fun in the theater and afterwards talking about it.

We like good stories. It makes us a little easier to trick.

You Trust Me.

Ok – this one is a little dicey but I’m going to go regardless. When parents and staff (and the few kids who read my blog or emails) review the work I put out into the world, they trust what I write.

Why? Because Kate, the team and I have spent more than 20 years backing up our words with actions that support what we’ve said. It’s also due to me normally writing about more thoughtful matters. (As Kate loves to point out… she’s the fun one.)

No one expects something that isn’t true from me or from us as a camp. And, you shouldn’t… except for April 1st. (By the way, there are a couple of examples that support this behavior. But this year’s was easily my best.)

Take Away

As the song says, ‘Slow down, you move too fast. You’ve got to make the moment last.’

It’s easy to do at camp – we don’t have our phones or tech or screens. We get to really be exactly where we are and truly with those around us.

And, when a story is really entertaining, take a minute and think, “Hmm… that’s really fun. But is it true?”

This is not to say something that is entertaining but not true is wrong. We humans have entertained (and taught) our friends and family around the campfire for tens of thousands of years through stories… which may or may not have been true.

In the end, a little bit of skepticism in this day of AI is a good thing to have in your worldview. If it’s on a screen – pic, video, zoom call, etc. – it can be doctored, made up or worse. When something matters, take the time to ask questions, especially in person.

As one of my mentors likes to say, there is no substitute for time spent together. We can’t wait to get everyone back to camp… and our (very) full Sly Lake.