Yesterday, we hit the 200 miles biked mark, as well as our first state crossing mark! a flat tire and antique gun store visit later, we arrived at carson city (the capitol of nevada) from south lake tahoe. and today, we taught for the first time at a local boys and girls club.
we arrived to the familar terrain of summer camp—hundreds of bustling kids in a stone exterior. i was reminded of the months i spent at sarah heinz house (which is also, funnily enough, affiliated with boys and girls club). i was also reminded of running my own camps almost five years ago at my highschool.
in the morning, we hosted workshops for alternating groups of kids 5-12. i did one on social networks, which was really just a fancy way of saying who makes you feel like you belong? and where? doing what? how does all these things connect, and what does this say about the ways we think about bringing people together? since the kids were younger, we didn’t quite get to the final part, but that was okay. it was lively and lovely, and we had a great time. there were many hugs and laughs, and i gave many piggyback rides, coming back home to brown shoe prints on the upper half of my faded blue denim jeans.
through this trip, something that i’ve been realizing is the tension between pureness, dangerously close to naivety, and experience, often tethered to hardnosed-ness. i think this is because we’ve spent much time with hosts, who are moreso on the older end, and now, kids, who are just beginning to step into themselves and their lives. during these periods, i’ve caught glimpses of how life can weather people, and this strife can leave a residue of hollowness and protection. maybe this is presumptuous, and i’ve fictionalized reality, but i think there is some truth in these observations. whereas with kids, people always say they’re so full of energy. but really, i think it’s that they’re so pure, so open and free, and maybe it’s because they haven’t had experiences to enforce any feedback or learning loop. and i guess i’ve realized that as i keep growing and aging, i want each experience to magnify my spirit, to maintain that same earnestness as the kids we’ve worked with, to approach life with the same grace as the hosts we’ve stayed with. it may be difficult—but i believe it is possible and worthwhile.
Sincerely,
Victoria