(day 3)

First of all….there’s just no way to ever explain my feelings about last week. I wish there were words that wrapped up a whole bunch of different words like peace and comfort and love and fun and safe and fantastic and blissful and surprising and awesome…….I wish there were words that meant all of those words wrapped all together…ya know? I always wish…when I am feeling this way…that EVERY SINGLE PERSON I LOVE could be there to experience it too…..so just know that as we start sharing all of these photos….that is the big wish…that everyone could be here…..we wish that more than anything. We have lots of good news coming soon about all of that…..but for now…….thanks for sharing with us…we never used to share photos from camp because all of our camps were sold out years in advance…now that we are having camp at least once a month…there are spaces to actually sign up so it’s so nice to feel like we can share and that if it works out for you to come…you know you are always invited……we sure hope you will come.

Remember the pot of nasturtiums I showed you a few weeks ago…with the new blossom on top of the flowers…..WELL….last week…during camp….EVERY ONE Of the hundreds of flowers and plants on the ranch exploded with blossoms and color……..like they were partying right along with us……….

Isn’t that awesome? Wish you could see all of the flowers. They would love you…and the butterflies…and the birds and the trees…they would all love you…I just know it.

Well..like i keep saying…we have hundreds of photos of the ranch, and of camp…and of all things lovely, true and beautiful…….and we are preparing a short little movie of all of those so you really CAN be here with us in a way…..but for now…here’s some shots of days 3 & 4 of camp….

Well…..it was HOT….especially on Thursday……….so we decided to take a little field trip in the bus and take all of our brave girls to our favorite place for cold drinks……..SONIC….here’s Patrice showing her excitement while Kathy and I are looking for traffic to make sure we can all safely cross the road ;)


The bus is not painted yet….but it has been SO FUN to have it…it was surreal, hilarious and a blast to go on a little trip together like grade-schoolers……..and the perfect little break from all of the art makin’ and soul searchin’…..

Our mother, Myrna Jean, comes to every camp…aside from last October after she had her stroke…..she is all recovered and doing great. What you might not know about her is that she did all of the cool things that people do now before it was ever cool. We grew up on all organic food……we were doctored with natural remedies like garlic, aloe vera, colloidal silver and wheat germ…..she grew most of our food and made it all from scratch. She also taught us to use what we have to have a happy life………so all of my brothers and sisters are wildly creative, resourceful and happy with a simple life. She teaches everyone a camp a whole lot about having a happy life (as does my dad) and while we were all doing our art….she did her art…she carves absolutely beautiful walking sticks for everyone she loves…….sometime I will gather them all up and photograph them so you can see her beautiful work. She shared much wisdom, love and light at camp and everyone who has met her over the last 3 years loves her…..so I knew you all would love these photos of her….

We ate lunch under the tent out in the grove…..and that was fun…..it was all just so fun…so beautiful…..

 

We went for gorgeous walks by the river and saw beautiful things…mostly each other’s souls….

We found tons of heart rocks…..especially Caroline…..she couldn’t stop finding them…..

The sunsets and sunrises seemed to be showing off for us every single day…..

There were soulful, comforting messages EVERYWHERE….in the sky, in the flowers, in each other’s faces…even hidden in piles of rocks….

The food was made with so much love, beauty and artistry…..so much that you couldn’t help but taste it and feel it in every single bite…

(day 4)

Music is always a big part of camp….and without telling you some of our camp “secrets” that we always want to stay special for the campers……..I do want to tell you that the music is healing, beautiful, fun and awesome. Kathy sings like an angel and her songs are one of the millions of gifts that she so freely gives at camp……

Ahhhhhh….the relationships. I always wish that everyone could see what we see from this side……the way things are the day that everyone comes compared to the way things are just a few days later…..strangers are suddenly friends and sisters…..there are no titles or cliques or barriers……there is nothing to hold each other back from being safe, real and loved……it is the most beautiful thing to watch these deep relationships develop….and after 3 years we have seen the campers continue to love, take care of, look out for, protect and support each other….I think it might be my very favorite part of brave girls club….the way you all take care of each other….

signs of love were everywhere…….just everywhere….

Because the art barn is several times bigger than the art room we used to have….I actually had a spot to make art all week…….I worked on a big painting and I got to sit with some fantastic soul-sisters who I now consider friends……..there is something very special and wonderful and easy about sitting and making art together…..there is nothing like it in the whole world….

 

I will have so much more to say about this whole experience….this whole journey…….this whole miracle…..but I am gonna kinda beg you right now to stop for a second and think about what you REALLY REALLY REALLY want….because I want you to believe in it…….and work toward it…and fall in love with it like it is real already……..but most of all, believe in it so strongly that it is impossible for it to not come alive….

You might think it would be strange or odd or uncomfortable to have strangers in my home for the week….it absolutely was not. My home is safe and lovely and filled with love…….and having these precious souls here made it even more so……I can still feel their hearts…..my family has been touched by their amazingness…..their life force….I felt honored to have them here and can not wait to do it again. Today my daughter Madi said….”Mom, I wish we could have camp here EVERY week.” …..we all loved it!

Sharing this whole revolution…this whole movement…this whole way of life with every generation of our family is something that Kathy and I feel deeply grateful for every day…..that our daughters and our nieces and our granddaughters will learn so many lessons so young…before life can beat them up so much………this all is just the biggest blessing…

Here are the brave girls of June 2012…..they are special, unique, miraculous, adored and wonderful……they could be any one of YOU….we all love each other after a few days of being unplugged long enough to really look into each others eyes and SEE each other…..to sit quiet long enough to HEAR our own souls talking to us…….to be together long enough to realize that we really are all the same when it comes down to it….we all just want to be loved….we want to love….we want to be accepted as we are…we want to be safe…we want to make a difference…..we want permission to just BE……we don’t want to play games, or feel like we have something to prove…….we just want to have a happy life……we are just like you….we are all just like you…and me….we sooooo wish you could have been here with us…..we all talked a lot, and a lot of times about all of the other brave girls of the world…….they even wrote notes to all of you….for reals…

but first…we all made a commitment to let go of every single day that ever existed before today….but we didn’t just make a commitment to let it go…we decided to let it become something beautiful….we decided to let our past go and let it have a new life………so we each wrote it all down and planted a tree on top of it….and now even the old painful things can become something else…………and all together….we are nourishing a tree……

We had a beautiful party on the last night of camp….we spoke goodbyes to each other…we sang funny and sweet songs to each other………

and then we burned everything we are done holding on to in the fire…..

At midnight it was time to say goodbye………so everyone wrote a note to every other brave girl of the world…and we collaged it to the ceiling of the bus…someday there will be thousands of messages from brave girls worldwide plastering the ceiling of the bus……..but for now…it started with these beauties…………everyone looks kinda sad in this photo…because we were saying goodbye….and hoping that someday we would be together again…

Here’s some of the messages from your brave girl sisters worldwide…

What we hope is that someday YOU will be here to leave a message………..just know that you are not alone…..there’s a whole lot of other girls who are JUST LIKE YOU…who are rooting for you, believing in you….hoping for good and beautiful things for your life….hoping that you will be brave enough to take big and small steps toward your dreams.

Today the local brave girl staffers came over and we cleaned up. We put everything away….we swept and we polished the glass and we folded the tablecloths and we talked about all of our new friends…..we told stories and we laughed and we even cried a little thinking about the girls we just met and welcomed into our lives and hearts…..then my friends left and I went out to the bus…….and felt kinda sad when I saw all of the empty seats.

Just want you all to know we really do think about you. We root for you. We know life is hard and we know you are aching for better days….we know that you are doing what it takes and we know sometimes you think you are the only one.

We have done enough camps now to know for sure that there are SO MANY BEAUTIFUL SOULS out there…and that none of us every deserve to be treated with anything but kindness, love, acceptance and support………..thank you SO MUCH for being so good to each other…for being good to us. Thanks for riding the wild bus of fun adventures with us. We hope to see you very soon.

xoxo

p.s. my first tomato turned red today….I picked it and it was shaped like a heart. SIGNS OF LOVE EVERYWHERE. Life is so good. Seek it out…it is there.