I'm at camp, more specifically, a childhood oncology camp. Please don't murmur the standard "how sad" comment because we're not. We are here together celebrating our sameness, our bonds with each other. Cancer is our equalizer and our inspiration. Camp is our reminder that we can be afraid and still be happy and that we can face anything together. At camp we have permission to be totally who we are, and it's all good.

 

Right now I'm contemplating the elements challenge course - the one with the big tall poles, ropes and the rock wall to climb. Several years ago I only made it halfway up that big wall. My "failure" has been bugging me ever since. I want to go up that wall! After all, during the years I've been at camp, I've seen blind children climb that wall like it was nothing. I've watched kids gently coax fearful friends into trying and cheering them on while they climb, to the top or not. The courage of trying, or sometimes saying "I can't" is what matters. I believe that there is as much power in trying as in doing. So why am I afraid to try? I realize I am just afraid of getting uncomfortable, of looking silly, of not making it up the wall at all, of letting down people who believe in me.