Camp Runoia – finding your tribe


Have you found your tribe?

At our workshop last week we were invited to find a group with only random volunteers standing up as the group leaders.  The task was to be accomplished without speaking and with no other direction other than ‘find your tribe.’  There was no knowledge of what we were to accomplish in the found group or how long we were committing ourselves to those that we chose.  Reluctantly people moved to join a group, glancing around to see where others were going and apprehensively acknowledging those that came to join them.  It felt strange to make a choice with little information and based mostly on an impression of the volunteer group leader.

Finding your tribe has become a buzz of the current blog and social media world, sometimes is happens organically and sometimes you have to put effort into finding your people.

Our first task in our new group was sharing why we had chosen to belong there.  Answers ranged from the simple and thoughtless ‘it was near to my seat’ to more complex stories about previous connections, commonalities and a feeling that it would be a good place which had swayed their decision making.

In our lives we have many groups that we belong to, some through choice others through situation.  We all seek a place to belong, for like-minded people who we can share experiences with and who we can feel our best selves among.  Being a member of a group of people in which we feel like our true selves and are loved and accepted as we are is a comforting place where we can relax and engage without hesitation. We naturally have a desire for unity in the communities in which we live, work and play.

Runoia girls have a ready made tribe.
We are glad that these women found their tribe back in 1907 and founded Camp Runoia.

Camp Runoia provides campers and staff with the opportunity to have a ready-made tribe of people who come from a variety of places to be the Runoia summer family. The  group forms and reforms with new members joining and old ones moving on.  We remain connected by our commonalities and often bound by our differences.  We enjoy the belonging for the moment of time that is the summer season and sometimes keep the bonds through the years.  We regroup again the next summer.  Having a place and a group of people to be a part of is empowering and reassuring.

We can’t wait to be back on the shores of Great Pond with our Runoia 2018 tribe!  If your daughter is still looking for a place to belong this summer you can sign up here.

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