The best thing about weekends at camp is Sunday Camp Values. It may sound very 'hippie-dippie' to people who haven't experienced it, but it's basically a time where we can all chill out and reflect (and after a week of running around daft, it's exactly what you need). We have a little spot on camp called Sherwood Forrest where we all meet and sit for an hour or two while people have the opportunity to sing songs (usually accompanied by the ukelele or guitar) or read poems - very campeqsque.
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| My last Camp Values Journal Entry of 2017. My 2016 Cabin wrote a poem for me and Jas & it was the best feeling in the world. (me and hayley had spent 3 days apart) |
A lot of the poems read are the same each week, but none of us mind, because we love the buzz of inspiration we feel each and every time we hear them. Poems have such a stigma of being boring, but the ones we read are entirely the opposite. They are empowering, inspirational and promote self worth. Its amazing hearing someone put your feelings into words in a way you couldn't before.
My favourite poem thats often read is called The Dash. From the first moment I heard it, it struck a chord, and ever since I've been unable to get it out of my head (I literally typed this straight from memory). I hope it impacts you in every way it impacted me the first time I heard it.
The Dash
I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend,
He referred to the dates on the toombstone from beginning to end;
He noted that first came the date of birth, and spoke the following date with tears,
But he said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years.
For that dash represents all the time that they spent alive on earth,
and now only those who loved them know what that little line is worth.
For it matters not, how much we own; the cars, the house, the cash,
What matters is how we live, and love, and how we spend our dash.
So think about this long and hard,
are there things you'd like to change?
for you never know how much time is left that can still be rearranged.
If we could just slow down enough to consider what is true and real,
and always try to understand the way other people feel
and be less quick to anger, and show appreciation more,
and love the people in our lives like we've never loved before.
If we treat each other with respect and more often wear a smile;
remembering that this special dash might only last a while.
So when your eulogy is being read with your life actions to rehash -
Would you be proud of the things they say of how you spent your dash?
