The (Un)Surprising Route to the Best Life Possible

Occasionally, we come across an article that resonates so thoroughly with the team, it is something we refer to for days and weeks beyond our initial reading. David Brooks Opinion piece of March 28th, “A Surprising Route to the Best Life Possible”is one of those rare reads (or listens…also available via the link). As we finished up a successful meeting about the alignment of our personal and organizational values we recognized, individually and collectively, the article reminded us there is always more work to be done, more ways to be curious, and more opportunities to build our own strengths, skills and competencies at Sanborn Western Camps.

This definitely holds true for each and every one of our campers because, at camp, we do hard things and the hard things we do at camp are life changing. Brooks writes, “People commit to great projects, they endure hard challenges, because they are entranced, enchanted. Some notion or activity has grabbed them, set its hooks inside them, aroused some possibility, fired the imagination.”

Climbing a mountain. Saddling a horse. Backpacking 34 miles in a week. Making a friend. Belaying on the high ropes course. Flying down a single track on a mountain bike. Climbing to the fourth story of our new treehouse…every day at camp provides campers with opportunities to find “life-altering enchantment” and to experience the “moment of ignition, something outside touching something deep inside, the opening up of new personal possibilities.”

And some of it is pretty hard and challenging. We like to call it “Type 2” fun…but hunkering down in a thunderstorm in an Aspen grove in the pouring rain (oh, now hail) isn’t everyone’s favorite moment…yet.

That moment may not inspire your camper to become a meteorologist, nor will climbing Mount Sherman make them yearn to conquer Everest, but they will gain something even more powerful: curiosity and wonder. Quality education teaches students how to ignite and focus their curiosity. There was a time when the bottom of our letterhead read, “Education, at best, is ecstatic” and ecstatic education occurs at camp. Brooks believes that “effectively curious people have cognitive enthusiasm (they like to explore mysteries and think about new things), cognitive confidence (they are brave enough to tackle hard problems) and cognitive complexity (they don’t settle for simple stereotypes).”

Wow.

Staring at the entirety of the Milky Way, snuggled in your sleeping bag, considering the immensity of the universe. Waking up at 2am to climb a 14,000 mountain…a feat that, apparently, only 0.01% of the population will ever accomplish. Making a new friend from a different state, with a different set of beliefs, and a different lived experience than you. Cognitive enthusiasm. Cognitive confidence. Cognitive complexity. They get it all and so much more.

It is humbling to think about the possible power and impact of this experience–and it is also a siren call to action to preserve this experience for generations to come. So keep sending your kids to camp–they are already on the right path to find their own surprisingly curious and unique route “to the best life possible.” And our work is never done….woot!