This summer I participated in the Camper-Counselor tennis tournament for the first time. I entered the match perhaps a bit too confident, as despite my partner’s best efforts to carry us, we were methodically eliminated in the first round.
In an effort to better prepare for next year I made a point to catch some of the US Open. It’s impressive to watch these pros match power, accuracy, and wits, serving at 110 miles per hour with only a tiny margin of error. I was especially struck by each player’s ritual before serving. They would hold several balls in their hand, roll them around, and then drop one or two for the ball runners to hastily retrieve. I couldn’t help but wonder what they were looking for. Are there imperfections to be found in the ball? Are they superstitious about the writing or the number that appears? Is it just routine and there is no actual rhyme or reason to it?
It made me think about my own quirky routines and what purposes they serve. I realized I had a very particular routine before every meal. I would walk up to the Grove shortly after the 15 minute bugle as I love this time for chatting with folks as they also gather. I would wait through the 5 minute calls until the second of the three “soupy” bugles and then go over to the steps to the Dining Room. I would hold the door open for stragglers to hustle in, and always share a greeting or a bit of humor, like “I hope you will give us a good rating on Yelp.”
Once I determined there had been sufficient time following the last bugle I would enter myself and proceed towards the center of the room. I would stand right behind Hannah and Jessie and adjacent to Hans and Eva. We would all make eye contact with Franny a few tables away, and after a thumbs up, she would start us off on our blessing. There was very little variation of this for eight weeks. No matter what else was going on I could find comfort in this regular pattern. Routines like these at camp provide a needed structure and rhythm within our Freedom of Choice framework.
When I share our unique Brown Ledge philosophy with other camp directors, prospective families, and friends the initial image so many people form is one of chaos and anarchy. For those of us that have experienced it, though, it is quite the opposite. Overly rigid schedules create an absence of agency and self-determination. They take away creativity and independent thought.
The Brown Ledge system instead creates organic rhythms to each day that are stress free. Campers and counselors fall into routines they are comfortable with. There are specific moments in the schedule each day; like meal times, rest hour, and counselor time, that provide the necessary consistency to appropriately guide the community. However, the freedom to choose entirely how one spends their activity and evening time, a total of eight hours each day, is the true magic of our program. This is not a la carte choice, this is full fledged freedom to choose exactly where and how you spend your time.
Our community has watched campers thrive in this environment for 99 summers and I am so excited to be there for our 100th!
Brooks Johnson
