Last summer was the best summer of my entire life. I danced in the rain, wrestled in the mud, built dams in a creek and blanket forts, slept under the stars, ran barefoot in the grass, and watched the sun fall across the horizon each night. I was outside and unplugged most of my day. I met some lifelong friends and most importantly I found a part of myself reawakened.

The chaos of the world can sometimes feel so permanent and ominous and rather distracting. I was very grateful to be disconnected from that, mostly social media. The chaos at camp is much different. It is fleeting and I find myself with a smile on my face each night when I fall asleep. If I am posting to Instagram during camp it’s to post a picture of the sunset, or a gif of the flowing creek, or a picture of the blanket fort I built with my cabin.

The love I have for camp is intensified by the nature that encompasses the grounds. I’m so grateful to get to live in the woods out in the country with a calm creek that can grow monstrous after a storm. What is most remarkable is watching the kids who have never been in a forest or gone hiking, experience it for the first time.

Being a camp counselor is hard work. It’s not a babysitting job. The closest it comes to is parenting; but there’s only one parent, there are nine kids living with you, and they change from week to week. As parenting is rewarding, so is being a camp counselor. When I see the campers on the last day of the week as sad as ever, I too feel the foreboding heartache of knowing I’ll have to go home eventually. But in that sadness is joy. Every day I get to look forward to seeing the people I have grown to love, who were once just strangers.

I learned a lot while at camp. It taught me to not care so much about what’s on the internet, it taught me to enjoy life as it's happening right in front of you. There is something magical about the camp atmosphere. I don’t know if it’s the people or if it’s the free outdoors, but that magic allowed me and everyone at camp to find the truest and craziest parts of ourselves. This is the most unrestricted I’ve ever felt in my life.

I hope that for all you out there who are spontaneous, full of adventure, free spirited, love nature, or wish to preserve it, consider leaving everything behind for a bit and immerse yourself in the woods. It’ll change you more than you think.