March 2024 SOLC–Day 3
A huge thank you to Two Writing Teachers for all that they do to create an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write, learn, share and grow.
http://www.twowritingteachers.org
I was never brave enough to go away to summer camp. Sleep overs were the toughest challenge I could manage, and I didn’t have a great track record with those either. Mom or Dad often had to come pick me up in the middle of the night when my imaginings got the worst of me. I still remember the horrible feeling of wanting to stay but being desperate to get home.
This is why it’s so surprising that when describing the start of the challenge this month, I’ve said to my husband multiple times and with great enthusiasm, “It feels like a camp reunion! Like it’s the first day of summer camp!” I guess I’m glorifying what I imagine summer camp to be, but I’ve read the books, heard the tales (I’m looking at you, humbleswede!) . As I dove into slices on Friday and yesterday, it felt like the best sort of camp reunion.
Everywhere I looked there were familiar faces. Oh, look, it’s H! OMG, A is here again this year! I’m jumping up and down. M! J! D! Hi! Hi! Hi! I’m waving wildly, afraid of missing someone and I sort of want to fall into a pile of squealing middle-school hugs–and I’m not even a hugger! And then I stumble upon someone I hadn’t even remembered that I’d been missing until I saw them. Oh my gosh, it’s K!!! You know how that goes? Finally, there’s the thrill of the new “campers.” So many fresh faces and perspectives to meet and each one adding to the fun and festivities!
To make things even better (I know, can you believe it! It gets even better!), this year two of my colleagues are slicing, too! One is a veteran, but the other is new to the Sliceoverse. I want her to like it here as much as I do! I keep having to restrain myself from introducing her to everyone, telling her where to go, who to meet, giving tips, etc. I want to keep asking, “Do you like it? Do you?” I know that she’ll figure it all out on her own and be the richer for doing so. I’m just so glad to be slicing alongside both of them.
This is only the third day of the challenge, and I’m sure there will be some deer-in-the-headlight moments and times I wonder why I signed up again (not really, but kind of…), but for now I’m just reveling in being back at “camp” with my friends/colleagues, reuniting with return “campers” and meeting new ones, too! Welcome and welcome back everyone! Happy Writing!
We’re going to have the best time!!!
Nix the comfort zone 
Love the enthusiasm in this post! I feel the same way! So glad you’re back again this year. 🙂
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It’s so much fun to reconnect! The one fly in the ointment is that I can’t read and comment on everyone’s posts. I hate that!
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What a great way to describe this feeling! Back to seeing all of your friends, everyone’s cheering, excited for a new start, and thrilled to be away from home. Maybe the change of routine is what we’re looking for!
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So glad we’re at camp together! 😉
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Molly, what a great analogy for the Challenge this year! Another writer wrote (yesterday, I think?) of it feeling like a “retreat.” Your childhood fear over spending the night away from home reminds me of my oldest son – my husband and I had to go get him from sleepovers in the middle of the night, too. But your camp analogy hinges perfectly on the phrase “I was never brave enough”– for it takes great courage to sign up for thirty-one days of writing, and more so to keep putting the stuff your your heart out there for others to see. I really thought I didn’t have the energy for slicing this year…but the minute I signed up, the very second, I feel a wave of strength. And it has been the best time, so far! You’ve captured the experience so well.
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I’m so glad you did sign up! Your writing is always an inspiration to me, and I hope you saw me waving madly in greeting 😉
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Wow, Molly, you are a great spokesperson for slicing! I hadn’t given it a thought and you almost nearly talked me into it, haha! I’m looking forward to enjoying your fun vicariously xo
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Maybe it’s the magic of this being (I think) my tenth year. You can always stop by on Tuesdays, Tabatha 🙂 Like day camp instead of sleep-away camp!
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I love your enthusiasm. I must admit I began with quiet apathy this year, pretty sure I had nothing to really say; however, I am so glad to be back today. You are right in the feeling of re-connecting with old “friends” and catching up with their lives and hopes and dreams.
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I’m so glad you’re enjoying the experience now. I’m not sure why it resonated so strongly with me this year, but I’m going with it!
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Couldn’t agree more! Jess and I texted this morning about someone who is missing. Your analogy to summer camp is spot on! I feel like I get to reconnect with, get to know again, all the returning slicers AND I get to ‘meet’ new people. We sure are blessed to have this place to build relationships and make connections — all without having to endure hot summer nights, bug bites, and longing to go home! Thanks for sharing, Molly!
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It is nice that this is a bug-free zone!
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I love this! But I am feeling like that snarky teenager who is placed in that precarious CIT role: not quite an adult in charge, but definitely too old for midnight shenanigans and goofy skits around the fire. Now I’ve got another metaphor to explore….Thank you!!
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I look forward to seeing how you explore that metaphor!
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Yes! Camp is a really good analogue (is that the right word?) for this returning each year. Where we see the same people, but they’ve had an intervening year of life, so there’s the reconnecting, remembering, and the updating. Maybe my love of camp is part of why I love this March ritual…and by the way, I don’t remember any hugging, no matter how happy I was to see my friends. Maybe that’s the Swedish kicking in.
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I laughed at your comment about the Swedish reserve around hugging! lol I have no ethnic excuse, but have never been much of a hugger either.
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That is the best comparison. Nicely done! I also relate to the no sleepover camp or sadly even sleepovers. I like to be in my own bed, and I like all my family under the same roof I often say. I am also not a hugger, but I am becoming one, and I actually wrote about that today!
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I’m a homebody, too, though I also love to travel. I do enjoy nesting! I’ll try to swing by to check out your slice (I’m so far behind on reading and commenting!)
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Slicing like summer camp – very creative. I love your energetic voice. It is contagious! Thank you!
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Perfect description of how I feel about this month. I’m nervous to go and then – hi! hi! hi! Tell me who your new writing colleague is. I want to meet her! Maybe we’ll be friends? Maybe we can be bunkmates? After all, I already like the people she writes with. 🙂
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Oh, you’ll love Sara! Go check out https://cazeria.blogspot.com/!
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You’ve made a great analogy, but the voice in this slice! OMG, I can hear you! The repeated Do you? That was the perfect repetition to relay the enthusiasm and the emotion and the hope! Loved it! I sometimes think about it as a coffee shop, but the summer camp analogy captures the excitement of the first few days.
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I really was just so excited by being back “together” again. Riding that wave as long as I can! lol
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This is so warm and charming and inviting. And you can bug me all you want with tips! (Like, how do you do this during the school week? Holy god.) I’m really riding the energy of this to bring some fresh energy into my daily life. Gotta crawl out of cave mode.
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School weeks are definitely tough. Report card week is tougher. Take a deep breath, lower your expectations, get inspiration from everyone else, and just do it! Here’s to crawling out of the cave!
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Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back! I agree with you. I want others I know to LOVE this experience just as much as I do. It’s like showing someone my favorite movie, or bringing them to a restaurant I adore.
I’m with the other commenters. I loved the analogy you made to summer camp, and I’ll be thinking on that for a long while…from my spot in the arts and crafts tent =)
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Ha! I love that you’re in the Arts and Crafts tent. Now I have to consider where I’d be…but wait! I never went to camp! lol I need a little more background knowledge.
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When I did the Writing Project institute long ago, we used the camp metaphor for our daily newsletter. It works! Seeing familiar “faces” in words and ideas makes me have that feeling, too.
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It really is so much fun to “see” everyone again and meet new slicers, too! This community is just the best!
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I love your enthusiasm and felt mine growing too, as I read your story. :)
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