At the summer camp I work at, sailing is offered as an activity to do in the mornings and afternoons. We have some pretty experienced staff members who work with kids ranging from ages 8-16 and teach them the science of sailing. I attended camp as a camper every summer starting when I was 8 until I turned 16, and I only went sailing twice by choice during those weeks at camp. For some reason it never seemed fun to me. There are so many cleats and ropes and large, potentially dangerous parts on a boat that I was scared of getting hurt. So as a camper at camp, I avoided sailing if I could.
As a counselor however, it is not really up to me any more where I get to go and what I get to do. Counselors are expected, and rightfully so, to help out at any and every program area. So my first staff training week I went to the sailing clinic to learn the thing that I was least experienced in. At this point in my life I no longer had the same fear of sailing that I did when I was younger. I trusted the staff members who knew how to sail, and I trusted myself more too. The first lesson I remember learning (and have since forgot) is how to rig up a sunfish. A sunfish is like a mini-sailboat with a lot less ropes and dangerous-looking stuff. (That is not an exact definition by the way, it's just my own, lol.) After we learned how to do that, it was time to sail! So a fellow counselor and I went out on the lake and braved the waves. Long story short, I tipped the boat three times. The day was cold, windy and overcast, meaning that sailing conditions were not ideal for beginners and definitely not comfortable for beginners (or probably anyone) either. We didn't last long, and soon returned to shore in order to warm up.
So all in all, my experiences sailing before this summer have been not amazingly pleasant. However, this summer changed my views a bit. One day in particular had a major impact on my feelings not only on sailing, but on how to have fun.
My last week as a counselor this summer I was in a cabin with another co-counselor, a counselor in training (CIT) and approximately nine 8-9 year old girls. They were a hoot and a half at times, and... well, less awesome at times. But man oh man did those girls love trying new things and having fun. Sometimes it can be hard to get such young girls excited about things like sailing, because, like I thought when I was little, it can be scary. These girls, though? Nah. They loved every minute of it.
The CIT in our cabin was a skipper and could sail by herself, so she was the leader of our adventure. I like to think I was her sidekick. I helped her raise the sail and the jib, (although to be honest she did most of the work) while the girls settled down in the boat. Moving from the mooring out to the open lake was a bit of a struggle at first, as there was very little wind for our sails to catch. As we drifted closer and closer to the beach, I started to get nervous that perhaps we were going to hit the bottom and become beached. The girls in the boat were trying to tell our CIT that we were drifting towards the beach, as if she didn't already know, and to steer us away. Silly girls. Our CIT remained calm and in control though, and we slowly but surely made our way out to the middle of the lake. And although we had a rocky start, the campers were loving every single second of it.
Whenever we came about and turned around, they would get excited. They smiled the whole time, and told our CIT how great of a sailor she was. They would dip their fingers in the water and be thrilled. They would see the pirate flag on one of the sunfishes in the fleet and shriek in delight/fear (still not sure which, perhaps a mixture of both?) that there was a pirate ship on the lake. Everything we did was novel and exciting and fun for these girls. Even when we had to shoot the mooring, which required some assistance from a nearby paddle boarder, the girls were cheering our CIT on the entire time. Nothing could stand in the way of their fun! As a person who has experienced sailing few times before and not always enjoyed herself, seeing these girls have the best time ever on a less than perfect sailboat ride was eye-opening. I had the time of my life watching them have so much fun over little things that I had forgotten could be fun. The best part was, after we had successfully re-clipped to the mooring, all of the girls jumped in the water and swam around together, giggling and shrieking in joy.
Those 8 year old girls knew how to live life in that moment better than I did. And that was humbling.
I want to be more like those girls. I want to try to see opportunities for laughter and fun, as little as they may be. I want to not be afraid of new experiences. I want to be able to put my trust in others, even if it may not always seem like they know what they're doing. I think we all could learn a lesson or two from those campers about what it's really like to have fun and make the best of an experience.
