I believe in campfires. I believe in the way the wood provides a foundation for something magnificent to flare—in the passion, warmth and intensity of the flame-weaving in itself to form light. But also the way campfires have a way of bringing people together. Only a campfire can allow friends to hunch over, holding sticks with melting marshmallows on the ends, laughing and singing.
My first memorable experience with a campfire was at Camp Foster, a week long, sleepaway summer camp in Okoboji, Iowa. The camp is filled with towering pine trees, pesky mosquitoes and energetic kids. At the center of the campground are 10 thick logs arranged in a circle around a fire pit. Each evening, all of the tired but enthusiastic campers convene here to sing songs, tell stories and wind down before bed. Kids ages 6 to 16 from cities all around the Midwest with all different backgrounds, experiences and traditions gathered around this single campfire.
I know of nothing else that has this sort of power—the power to throw all of these different people into one moment and see where it takes them. At campfire, there was no agenda like the previous hours of the day. If you wanted to talk, you could. If you had a song you wanted to sing, everyone would be thrilled to learn it, sing it and probably get it stuck in their heads the entire week. Campfire was the time to relieve stress, comfort others and let the warmth of the fire wrap itself around you and your new friends.
During the last campfire of my final week at Camp Foster, I began to see the experience as something more. Camp had provided us with the foundation to improve ourselves as people. We each had grown to become magnificent young adults. The personalities of my camper friends and I intertwined to form light. Each camper had grown exponentially as a person throughout this time. We each held passion, warmth, and intensity in our souls knowing this would bring us toward successful futures. Camp Foster gave me an opportunity to become a better person, but campfires gave me the opportunity to mesh and intertwine with other campers and together, form light.
