Love Letter

Hi, Internet. It's me, your friend Kate. I know we haven't talked for a while, but if you're my actual friend and not just someone who creeps me on the internet, then you know that this is pretty typical for me.

1) I am not a very good communicator ever. I get pretty wrapped up in my own little self-centered Kate-world. (At least I admit it, right?)

2) I work at camp. So from Mid-May to August, I actually do live in my own little self-centered Kate-world called Lost Canyon.

It's true. Camp is it's own little solar system, revolving around meals and program events, and it is pretty easy to forget that the outside world even exists. Or to even really care that the outside world exists because this little world is just so freaking awesome.

And hard.

And life-giving.

And exhausting.

And really, really beautiful.

There is a lot going on at camp, always. It's 10 weeks of 100% craziness. Of running and working and investing in people. And it's my job to care for people: My little department who always need and deserve my encouragement and guidance. My Work Crew Boss who has no idea what's happening but who has huge responsibility in my department. My Work Crew Girls who came here with the expectation that they are going to grow and laugh and learn. My Laundry Summer Staff , college kids who are looking for anyone older than them to tell them it's OK to hope and dream and be scared about all of that. Campers who have never had someone care enough about them to clean their toilets for them every day and smile and say yes when they ask to have their laundry washed. A-Team who have prepped for months so that they can make their session amazing and life-changing. My Young Life Girls who will not be forgotten for months out of my life, who show up at my work because their lives are crazy and they know it's a safe place. My Young Life Leaders, more college kids with too much time to think, who need me to just call or text and stay connected.

Yeah, that's a long paragraph. And that's just the people in my immediate little world here. That doesn't include all the people I should care for because I love them a lot. You know, my family and my friends, people who take care of me all the time.

So, while this was going to be a funny post about how weird camp-world is, I'm instead going to turn it into a love letter to all those people. The ones who care for me enough that they let me be a jerk for months at a time. The ones who love that I love my job, my life, my career. The ones who take joy in the fact that they don't hear from me because it means that I'm busy and happy and spending my life on all these people around me.

Thank you for loving me that much. Thank you for taking me back in September without guilt-tripping me about my absence. Thank you for being there as a back-bone of support, always. Thank you for looking at me being far away as a chance to travel more to come visit. Thank you for not telling me I need to get a real job (even if you think it).

Thank you for being you. And letting me be me. I am one lucky girl.

Song of the Day: Stupid by Sarah McLachlan (Not sure about the medieval theme of this video but I have a never-ending love for some Sarah McLachlan and they just used this song on SYTYCD. So I've been listening to it kind of non-stop. Enjoy.)