This blog post was written by Caretaker while at Winter Camp. 

A lot has happened here in the past few quarter moons. I originally wanted to write about my relationship with fire, but after the first few lines, I realized it is more fitting to write about the recent events and changes that have happened here at Winter Camp.

About a moon ago, an emergency in Shining Dragonfly’s family required her to leave our camp here in the forest and fly home.  Right now, we don’t know when or if she will come back to us during our time here.

Saying “goodbye” to Shining Dragonfly

A quarter moon ago, the Guides and Seekers agreed that it would be best for the health of Shkode’e (which means Heart of Fire. She was formerly Yellow Pond Lily) if she spent part of the white season at Nadmadiwining (Ojibwe for Support Camp), where the School’s main campus is located.  She had lost too much weight and has been struggling to regain it, which greatly impacted her ability to generate sufficient inner heat to stay warm in the colder temperatures. For now, Shkode’e comes to camp with the Guides and supports us from Nadmadiwining while she works to regain her strength.

This means that instead of 5 persons, there are only 3 of us left around the fire here in the woods. When you live in such a small clan and so close together like we do, the loss of a clan-mate changes the dynamics of the clan quite strongly. Often I have the feeling there is something missing. There are special energies that are just not here anymore, like losing a leg or an arm. This situation is showing me that life is change, and every change brings the opportunity to learn something new. Or I can spend the next suns sitting under a tree and being victimized by this. Life will go on anyway. It is in my hands to change the situation and empower myself.

Caretaker

What I am realizing is that I really need to use the time that I have with the people next to me to give them and me the chance to get to really know each other. In the past, I often judged people by my first impression of them and distinguished them as either interesting or uninteresting. I think that I missed out on getting to know a lot of worthy humans, which I now regret. I hope I can change this pattern and give myself the opportunity to see the true value of every human and situation. 

Stay tuned for more posts from Winter Camp.