(40
Summers 40 Lessons Series)
John Maxwell says,
“You can’t have creativity if you don’t have a creative culture.”
I have had some
great mentors who cultivated a creativity that I never knew I had. Growing up,
I always thought that other folks were truly creative because they could draw,
paint, sing, dance, and any other talent that I never achieved. (Due to my own
mindset)
My mentors helped me
spark in ways that I never thought I was capable. It led to many times in my
career that I took risks in doing things that others never thought about. In a
previous BLOG about my friend Wally, I mentioned that he had vision and it is a gift he has in everything.
The analogy about one of the few geometry
formulas that I remember (V = (4 ⁄ 3) π r3 is the formula for the volume of a sphere) and looking at
everything from all different directions. This is how I think of creativity.
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| Reminders that have sat on my desk for decades. |
Perhaps it is the fact that in my not for
profit career working for many organizations that always struggled financially.
One of my coaches asked me why I was always drawn to underdog organizations. My
answer then is still my answer today. “It just seems like they (the struggling
organization) needs someone to care.”
From 2004 to 2009, I was at a camp that had many
different activities areas that drew kids. Things like an indoor skate park,
equestrian programs, ATVs, and paintball. All great activities that required a
high degree of leadership and dollars to support.
When our team decided to add activities that
would also be creative and perhaps appeal to other youth, we were limited and
hampered by cost. And we met the occasion with a creative mindset.
The activities had to be fun, creative, and relatively
cost free. Our arts and crafts area had a small amount of basket kits left over
from previous summers. This camp which was located on a Spring system in
Florida also had a great deal of afternoon activity centered around the year round
72 degree water temperature.
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| July days at Camp Indian Springs, Crawfordville Florida |
The afternoons in a Florida camp are brutal and
the water temperature was a great way to spend those long hot hours of the day.
Since there has always been a myth around camps and college courses about “underwater
basket weaving,” our team decided to make this an actual thing.
The basketry materials would soak overnight on
the shore of the spring and participants could sit and weave either with their
feet, legs or completely in the water. This was an expression of creativity
that allowed campers to take home something intricate that they themselves had created.
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| Sample photo of underwater basket weaving |
Our other spring centered activity relied on
the actual issue that Florida is well known for; alligators. In fact, this was
the only camp that I directed that the aquatics director’s job description
included an item that stated, “Daily: check spring for gators.”
I quickly learned that in Florida there are
people who are qualified by the State of Florida to remove alligators should
they become a problem. The Nuisance Alligator Hotline was in the rol-o-dex in the
camp office. (For those unfamiliar with a rol-o-dex, it’s what we used prior to
saving numbers on a cell phone.)
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| Sample of Rol-O-Dex |
After our first call to the “gator guy,” I
learned from him that not all alligators are predatory. He said that if you
have a “gator in your spring” just go down to the water and touch your toe on
the bank. If the gator turns towards you, it is deemed predatory and should be
removed. If it turns and swims away (over 90% did this); it is not considered a
nuisance.
Now, please know that I am not an expert in
alligators or their behaviors and should you have an actual issue with one of these
creatures, please do call the Nuisance Hotline at 866-392-4286.
Our team decided to take the “gator” myth to
the next level and allow campers to learn the basics of wrestling alligators.
This was also conducted as part of the afternoon periods in and around the refreshing
spring water. (I'll find the pictures of the activity later.)
We named our original alligator, “Stanley.” We
actually ended up with two that summer because of the abusive nature of the
activity. In the field leading up to the spring, rain water would often form
puddles the warmed up in the sun shine of the afternoon. A perfect spot to learn about alligator wrestling.
Stanley and the activity leader would meet
potential participants and go over the basics of wrestling maneuvers and
take downs. Campers would often line up for an attempt to wrestle Stanley. In
fact, most ended with successful take downs of the gator. It turned out to be a
popular afternoon activity that was close enough that the underwater basket
weavers would watch and cheer for as those young folks who would leg lock and scissor
hold their opponent, Stanley.
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| Luther Gulick YMCA Triangle |
Perhaps the best of the creativity was an activity area we
called, “Spirit, Mind, and Body. This curriculum promised parents, the
following, “Parents may observe an increase in self-confidence when
faced with unfamiliar or challenging activities whether done individually and/or
in a group. Growth in competence of one or more skills possessed or with new
skill acquired. Participants take initiative for positive performance may also
be noted.”
I thought this was as creative and inexpensive as a program
might get; requiring just the instructors time and abilities. Each was designed
with a basic daily formula of activity circles:
Activity Circle
Body Activity- Stretch/Aerobics
Mind
Activity- Isotopes
Team Building
Challenge
Spirit Activity- Talking to God
As many of you might know, this was a YMCA Camp
and the three sided triangle has existed for decades in the YMCA on how to best
lead one’s life and find one’s best self. Thanks to Luther Gulick, the three
sided symbolism was an expression of balance and harmony.
(In another amusing and creative note from Wally Wirick, he will sometimes go to a local YMCAs and asks for a tour. When they ask for his name, he says, "Luther Gulick)
The creativity of a two week participation in
this program for an hour and fifteen minutes each day was amazing and fun to
watch and listen to. There was music (Remember this was 2005- Superchick, Green
Day, Hannah Montana songs and camp songs); there were tests of mindfulness (How
Long is A Minute); Tae Bo introduction; and of course the YNC March chant
(Y-M-C-A-C-A-M-P--M-C-A-C-A-M-P- YCamp - YCamp – yea YCamp)
And like most things occurring in our camp, service was emphasized. Since the program
took place in and around the dining hall, many times the participants would be
involved in the preparation and delivery of snacks to the rest of the camp. It
brought about a great deal of collective and individual free thinking creativity
in our campers and in our staff team.
I read recently that "if students have ideas but never put them into practice, they are practicing imagination, not creativity." Just like Mauricia Shiroma writes in that Cambridege.org BLOG, I have wanted to create that incubator in the work we do at camps to challenge team members to find creative answers when things go in unexpected ways. To look at the sphere from all the different angles.
I started this BLOG with one of my friend John
Maxwell’s quotes about creativity. I have been so inspired by those moments and
I cannot take credit for how each of these examples evolved. I do know that it
was seeing that our lack of money was not a lack of ideas. Scarcity is such a
mind numbing mind set. I believe that we can achieve and grow in abundance by framing
things with that abundance mindset.
Our team wanted to do new and fun things for
our campers. We seldom said “No.” We embraced different things and we never
kept sacred cows for “how things were always done.” John Maxwell offers fivesteps to sparking creativity. I happened upon these similar mindsets over the
forty years of camp under the tutelage of so many amazing leaders that I have
had the privilege of serving along side.
Stanley pictured below with one of our Staff team (Megan K.) who was featured in a previous BLOG post.
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| Stanley the Alligator from our program activity. |
