Camp Winnarainbow Experience

This summer while at the camp I go to every year, I had a cool experience. I wrote about it some time in the first month of school.

 

The sea of young bright faces are silent, watching the man standing before them. All is still as the man speaks. “You are all beautiful. Each and every one of y’all is beautiful. If you ever look in the mirror and you don’t look beautiful, walk away because that mirror is lyin’ to you.”

At most times in their life, these young faces would never believe him. However, tonight is different. Tonight, they had danced without fear of judgement. They look around.

Each face is free of prejudice and fear, love radiates off of each spirit, and everyone is truly beautiful. In each mind, they think the same thing, “If all these people here are beautiful tonight, then so am I.”

Beauty is about the heart, a beautiful heart is a beautiful mind. A beautiful mind is a beautiful soul. In each pair of shining eyes there is love, there is beauty. 

A quotation from my summer assignment

My summer so far has been all work. I work at Zero Meridian as usual, I worked at a youth sailing camp at the yacht club. I worked as a camp counselor at camp winnarainbow. 

Also I have summer assignments. Mostly they are pretty boring. However, I have to write 10 quotations from the book “Black Boy” by Richard Wright. I really like it. Here is one quotation that has an issue that has effected me personally. I also included my response.

 

“I know that not race alone, not color alone, but the daily values that give meaning to life stood between me and those white girls with whom I worked. Their constant outward-looking, their mania for radios, cars, and a thousand other trinkets made them dream and fix their eyes upon the trash of life, made it impossible for them to learn a language which could have taught them to speak of what was in their or others’ hearts. The words of their souls were the syllables of popular songs.” (page 273 full version)

In the minds of some, there is not much more to life than the man made things that commercials and T.V.s sell. Their fixation of the media and consumer products drive their whole personality. Others do not forget that life brings them so much more. In this quotation, Richard describes the feeling of being in the presence of the former, while he, the latter finds himself lost to the conversation. When someone who is in touch with their heart, mind, and senses is in the presence of someone driven by urban life, it is if the two speak different languages, even as both speak with one vocabulary. 

Richard feels this with the white girls because they have lived with hopes and dreams in urban life, and none having to do with intimacy, personal morals, or environment. Richard speaks of how he is surrounded by those who speak the same way as him, but the meaning behind their words mean nothing to him.  

 

 

My point in this quotation is that I have experienced this firsthand, being in the company of those who can go no deeper than “the syllables of popular songs.” I can’t talk to them. We can communicate, but we are unable to truly talk to one and other.

Mexico

Currently, I am in Mexico! Soaking up the sun! Swimming! Shopping in Puerto Vallarta! I am having a lot of fun even though I didn’t want to go in the first place. 

I wasn’t excited because I just got out of school, and flying on a plane and doing all the airport crapola was not something that immediately comes to mind as “fun”. But now that I am here it is not so bad, I am having fun.

One thing I have noticed is that when Americans say something in Spanish, and are able to say thank you, please, your welcome, etc, they are always so proud. When a Mexican says something in English, they always seem very proud. Kinda cool that way.

Anyways life is not so bad I guess.  

Camp, A Job, and School

heyy wow its been a long time.

Anyway, since i last wrote a lot has happened. I went to camp winnarainbow as a teen countsler. It was hekka fun. I had eleven year old girls in my tipi, (yes I said tipi) and I had a wonderful time.

I also just got a job, I work at a farm, at the concession stand, and it’s hekka cool!

School will be starting soon. I have my schedule, and my PE clothes. I am very excited.

Late at night in Jacksonville, FL.

Well, im sitting at the dining room table of my aunt and uncle’s house. I haven’t written in a while, so…

Hi.

Yeah.

Well, I don’t have much planned, it’s been a long time since I have written with nothing planned. That might be why my blog has gotten so boring. I haven’t written many free writes either. Planning everything out is not always best I guess. I guess that sometimes it’s a good thing NOT to plan something, anywhere in life. You can plan to take your date out to Sushi, then you plan out exactly what root to take and reserve seats, then you pick them up and the two of you go, and it turns out that they HATE bumpy roads, and the root you chose is bumpy, and then you find out that they are allergic to seafood.

So, the worst date of your life, wouldn’t it have been better to just choose a random root and be like, “What you hungry for?”

Whats funny about that example is I love bumpy roads and I love Sushi, haha.

I wonder what would happen if the government didn’t plan every move they were gonna make against Iraq. Maybe they would catch more mistakes. Maybe they would think, hey, not everyone in Iraq hated the US.

Although by now, they probably all do.

Heck, sometimes even I hate our country.

I hate our country because we are some of the biggest polluters and consumers in the world, and we have a crappy government.

But then I think about how free we really are here, how we have the Bill of Rights, and how we can go from homeless in San Francisco to filthy rich in Beverly Hills. This is when I love my country.

Me and my country, we kinda have a love/hate relationship.

Whats really funny is how I have been working on this post for like, 20 minutes and its not even going to be that big.

Well, to all my readers I love you!

Except you.

Camping, Free Writes

Well I just got back from camping, it was really fun and we had a great campsite. I did a lot of free writing there, so there will be better posts soon!

Camping

Well, I am about to go on a 7 hour drive up to Reddding for a camping trip for 8 days! Bye!

Arizona, Grandmothers

Well currently I am in Arizona hangin’ out with my grandmother. (I call her Grammer) I have three grandmothers. One I call Grandma, one I call Granny, one I call Grammer. My Dad made the names up when I was a baby. He went and asked each grandmother what they wanted to be called.

Anyway today with Grammer, I am going shopping on this funky little street. Then to this place, (I forgot already what it’s called) with all sorts of beautiful colors. Then we are going to the zoo.

Tomorrow, we are going to have tea somewhere.

Love Ya All!!!!!!!

HAPPY EASTER!!!!!!

So for Easter I got up, ate a big chocolate bunny, then hid eggs with mom and dad (Kathryn is in AZ). Then laid around my room. So, thats my easter! HAPPY EASTER ALL YOU CHRISTIAN FOLKS! (im not chritian I just celebrate christian holidays)

Spring Break

Well Spring Break starts day after tomorrow! Yay!

I’m Going to Tuscan (Arizona) for part of it. YAY!