A PEACEFUL MIND AND A PURPOSEFUL SPIRIT
BY ANNABEL WEIL
“Good Morning Ogichi!” I hear Liz’s voice crack over the two-way radio that sits next to me on the front deck of the Great Lodge. It’s 7:45, almost time for breakfast. As I listen to Liz’s dutiful weather report for the day, I watch the fiercely dedicated Polar Bear Club members dry off before coming into the Lodge. The sun is already blaring hot over the lake—it is going to be another beautiful day at Ogichi.
I learned early on the value of mornings at camp, and fell in love with them quickly. When you wake up at Ogichi, you wake up with a powerful purpose for the day: a community to serve, beauty to teach and curiosity to fulfill. Your day will be filled with questions you must answer like, “Is this poison ivy?” No, don’t worry. “Do you have any bug spray?” Yes, of course. “Do you see that giant horse chasing that teddy bear in the clouds?” Yes. Yes I do.
Many of us are taught from a young age that we should always spread positivity, but at Ogichi you get the rare opportunity to see the tangible effects of this practice. You learn the true power of being part of a community that you directly influence just by waking up in the morning. It’s a community that runs purely on collective passion, and the absolute willingness to make every day the best possible day it can be.
When you get the opportunity to be surrounded by that kind of energy, it is difficult not to let it rule your life when you are back home. You want to wake up every morning with the same kind of drive to experience beauty like you do at camp. You find yourself attempting to create communities that resemble camp, because you know that’s what truly fulfills you. The pull to experience beauty and truth becomes so strong that even when you wake up in the middle of January, you can feel it. You can recreate the feeling of mid-July, when you knew exactly what you were meant to do and were fueled by love.
The power of Ogichi is that it teaches people that you truly do influence the world with how you decide to wake up in the morning. When you become aware of this fact, and choose to spend your time teaching it to the next generation, you begin to get a glimpse into what it feels like to be changing the world.
I walk into the Great Lodge just in time for the morning blessing. It’s my favorite part of the day. The words fill every inch of the Lodge, along with the slanted rays of sunshine cascading over every table of girls. The words expand and fall over the whole camp. The whole lake. On every canoe and piece of art supplies in the Arts & Crafts Center.
I find a chair to stand behind and close my eyes for a moment. As we finish the blessing, I say with all the beauty, truth, fortitude and love I can muster: “In harmony with ourselves, our lives and all others, we live this day with a peaceful mind, a peaceful heart, and a peaceful spirit.”
This article was originally published in the Fall 2022 issue of Songs of the Paddle.