The bunny ear method is the easiest for a kid to understand. "The bunny runs around the tree," I say, helping with the undone laces, "and next, he sees a dog and jumps in the hole." There you have it, a perfect bow.
In the past couple of weeks I have tied a lot of shoelaces, so much so it has become an almost comforting routine. Maybe it's the thought of teaching someone something new, or maybe it's just the feeling of being needed, but something about it feels special.
I think a lot of the time we associate wisdom with age and even more so knowledge. However, I have come to feel that the more I know about the world the less I understand. I think true wisdom, the power to inspire, comes from a place of purity, a purity that is often lost as our souls are chipped away by the realities of life.
Everything I hope to learn, everything I strive to be, can be best taught by the world's youth. An opportunity to spend my every day with dozens of these individuals has shown me this. Summer camp has come to feel so much more like a blessing than a job, filling my heart to its capacity.
So to my campers, I say this: The endless laughs, love, and fulfillment I have gained from being surrounded by you has truly kept me sane. I still feel like a kid 95% of the time, though my life and age suggest differently. You have reminded me every day that I still am, that I always can be young at heart. Thank you for dancing without thinking twice. Thank you for singing when you don't know the words. Thank you for the spark in your eyes and the light in your heart that has yet to be dimmed.
Photo By: Tori Carroll
It has been the littlest moments from this summer, that has brought me the most peace. Dodgeball feels like the most important thing in the world when you're young and in the middle of a game; yet so many times I've seen Michael pass a ball to a younger camper instead of using it himself because he knows they wouldn't be able to get out of jail on their own. I watched Brody give up the last of his tickets so Jake could get the prize he wanted instead. The lack of hesitation associated with sacrifice is a trait that shows more maturity than I have seen from those quadruple your age. Giving without receiving, being kind to be kind; in a lot of ways, I have never witnessed anything more beautiful. Too innocent to have been poisoned by the toxicity of reality, too young to be jaded by the ways that life can hurt, I hope I can carry this kind of energy with me forever.
Someday you won't need me to tie your shoes, but it's still a lesson that you will keep with you forever. What you have taught me, however, is something much greater. You have taught me to live in the now, to act out of love, and to always stay in accordance to my truest self. I feel lighter every second we spend together. You have made me fall back in love with a world I have come to resent and I will wish upon every star that you grow to reach the potential I know you possess. True wisdom exemplified by the most naive minds, I can't wait to watch you change the world.
