Well, Journeys Theatre Camp 2011 has officially come to its close. To say that it was an incredible experience would be an understatement. Day after day I sit back and watch the campers make new friends, grow, challenge themselves, work their butts off, struggle, succeed, laugh, cry, but sometimes I think it is all too easy for me to lose sight of the friendships that I have made, the challenges I have overcome, and the laughter and tears that escape from my heart during the hours spent in that theater. We set out each summer with the mission to change kids' lives, and we do, which is made obvious by the things that the kids themselves want to share with the world about camp. Personal growth, though, has this funny way of manifesting itself while you are focusing on helping other people grow. Michael Daehn would say that by trying to make other people into big circles, we help make ourselves into bigger circles.... or something like that.
You know how at the end of fairy tales, everybody lives happily ever after because their dream has come true, and that's apparently all they need to be happy? That's a big fat lie. Seeing your dreams come true is sort of addicting. It's like once you know that it is in your power to make your own dreams come true, then you just make your dream a little bigger. Sure, as the dream gets bigger, so do the obstacles, but along the way you find more and more people to help build the pyramid up taller to boost you over. Or at least that is certainly how it felt this summer. Every time I started to think that maybe I was in over my head, there was someone there with guidance or counsel or a new, fresh energy to keep on lifting me up. I have been blessed with some truly incredible friends and mentors and family members. Most of the time, I still try to do too much of the work by myself, but it is an immeasurable comfort to know that the work I will give to other people, I know they will get it done.
I have always been a dreamer. I have always had these big ideas about how I was going to change the world, but no one really believed in them until the dream that would become JTC was born during lunchtime one day at Musical Theatre Camp. Since Journeys first began to form in my brain, I have had people in my life who have believed in my dream, and many of them have taken it into their heart and made it their dream, too. Personally, I think that makes me one of the luckiest people on the planet. We are changing lives. We are making a difference in this world.
The last three weeks were by no means easy. My staff and I had to face so many challenges, both of the personal nature and those related to camp. The amazing thing was, though, that we all knew who needed that quiet time up in the staff room the most though, and we would pick up the extra slack and cover for whomever was in need of a bit of a mental break. We learned so much about ourselves and each other and of course about running this business. Every year it will continue to get better and better as we learn more. We definitely are no where near working as a well-oiled machine, but are beginning to figure out which pieces we want in the machine, so that's a start.
Though it's really lonely here tonight without anyone sleeping in my floor and no boyfriend to text or call to tell me goodnight, I still feel at peace for the most part. Maybe after I get some sleep the reality that camp and my relationship are both over and that summer will be ending soon and that in three weeks I am moving into my own apartment will all hit me, but tonight I am exhausted to the point of peacefulness. I can live with that.
Kind of like the strike after a show. So bittersweet. Yet after each show, and each year, the friendships we make bring us each closer to making dreams the reality they are supposed to be. I thought for years about teaching theatre tech to students. Your dream helped create my reality. Thank you and congratulations on a successful year.
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