I am so fortunate to have been a part of many welcoming communities in my life. From the Friends Club which made my high school years bearable to the sorority that was my home away from home in college, the Girl Scout camp that gave me a radically different perspective on life when I worked there after college, the AOII consultant group affectionately termed “The Nine” with whom I traveled across North America for a year, the larger fraternity/sorority community that I have been an intimate part of for more than 20 years now, the cancer community that no one wants to be a part of, but when you get initiated into the club, you are so thankful for, and the River Geeks, fellow river guides who open their homes and break bread with me on a regular basis, and with whom I spend time paddling on...
Going back for the 35 year reunion of the Girl Scout camp I attended as a kid and worked at for three years after college reminded me of how much that job embraced play in all its myriad forms. We sang before meals, after meals, during meals, while washing the dishes (about washing the dishes) and made games out of so many of the tasks that had to get done everyday. When we weren’t doing that, we were sailing, windsurfing, paddling canoes and kayaks, swimming, playing games in the field, hiking, climbing on cargo nets, challenging ourselves on the ropes course, spelunking, rock climbing, riding on the pontoon boat, or playing rainy day games (mostly involving singing – again). For special occasions, we had all-camps, themed fun days in which all the units at camp came together in a carniv...