Welcome To The 2nd Annual Camp AweGust!

Day 1: Opening Day is right this way 👉🏻

Welcome Campers (& Visitors), 

You’ve arrived! (If you’re not sure how you got here or what Camp AweGust is, head to this link for an introduction)

Boy, is it a beautiful day to kick off Camp! The sun is shining. The bees are buzzing. The flowers are exploding. The air feels electric with anticipation and possibility.

Even though getting here didn’t require a long drive in a hot car, sticking to the seats and trying to avoid your little sibling’s sticky fingers, we’re still going to ease into things.

Week 1 is all about getting the lay of the land and settling in so we’re set up for the best month possible. Below you’ll find a quick orientation paired with a few warm-up activities to help us get into the Camp spirit, get clear about what experience we want to have, and get to know each other.

Next Thursday, your first official Camp Itinerary will be delivered to your doors (and inboxes) and each Thursday after that.

image captured by the singular lens of Emmanuelle Yang

This weekend I went to a magic show and I swear I spent the whole time slack jawed, mouth gaping open, in pure awe. The things this guy could do with cards were impossible…they were impossible!

And yet. There was a camera zoomed in on his hands the whole time. Two people sat on stage with him to keep him honest (and probably because they paid extra). Every card trick began with a brand new deck that was opened right there on stage.

Sure, I know there is card tracking and counting and memorizing and that could explain some of the magic. But there were tricks where he didn’t even touch the cards, some where he didn’t even look at the cards the volunteers had chosen!

Me and 100 other humans, packed tightly into a dark room on Hollywood Boulevard, forgot all about our soggy fries and our watered down drinks and pretty much everything we thought we knew about the constraints of reality and spent two dazzling hours in suspended disbelief.

All except one guy. A heckler. Although it wasn’t that he was challenging the magic. He actually seemed into it. Just too drunk and belligerent to censor his inarticulate enthusiasm and the volume of his voice. His inside thoughts kept popping out as outside thoughts and none of us, the performer included, were interested in his constant commentary. Every time his slurred voice spoke up, he broke the spell a little bit. No amount of pointed glares or embarrassed friends shushing him, not even the magician himself calling him out, could get him to take the hint and shut up, so instead the rest of us had to split our attention– half trying to ignore this bozo and half focusing on the magic at hand.

It reminded me of being in grade school and learning about some superhuman feat or some natural phenomenon that didn’t seem real, but was. The whole class would be hushed, I would lean in, sharing in that soaring feeling where possibility expands the walls of the room and the inside of your brain. I would feel connected to my classmates, thinking, “Wow, none of us knew this and now we’re all knowing this together. We’re all part of this now.” The collective knowing it making it more profound and more real.

And then some loudmouth would crack a joke, poking it like a balloon, and the rest of the class would laugh as the moment deflated. It was like they were almost relieved, so quick to abandon this state of captivation, the vulnerability of thinking something was cool when someone else’s discomfort called it silly. Easier to find camaraderie in a cheap joke than a greater understanding.

My stomach would sink. Maybe I would even laugh along, still trying to be a part of something. But the spell was broken. Maybe it was pretty silly. Maybe I had gotten caught up in the moment. Maybe it wasn’t that special after all.

Unless you’re a performer or you have some very immature co-workers who mouth off during presentations, you probably don’t encounter outside heckling very often. But, inside heckling, that’s a different story. Our inner critics tend to fill that role quite effectively, causing us to question ourselves, convincing us that what we think is cool is stupid, taking us out of the moment and robbing us of joy.

As we kick off camp, stepping into this shared space of excitement and enchantment and possibility, I wish I could enforce a No Inner Critics policy, but chances are they’ve already slipped into our suitcases. So, let me offer this instead: an Ignore The Inner Critic Invitation.

It’s going to have things to say- probably things like: this is silly, you look stupid, who cares, it’s not that big of a deal, you’re taking this way too seriously, you don’t have time for this, it doesn’t matter. And maybe we can’t get it to shut up. But we can take away its megaphone. We can practice focusing all of our attention on the magic at hand.

Because there is something special here if you want it. It will come with some guards down vulnerability, it will open us up to each other, it will bring you back to old parts of yourself, it will introduce you to new parts. It could be transformative. If you let it. And I really hope you do.

I’ll be right there with you.

P.S. If you’re in the mood for some mind-blowing magic, grab some popcorn and check out the magic shows playing in our outdoor amphitheater!

On the bulletin board below, you’ll find our Camp Values and Camp Reminders. I know we have a lot of rule-followers joining us (🙋🏻‍♀️), so I’ve made a 'No Rules’ policy. That said, I know we rule-followers tend to feel more comfortable with guidance, so use these instead, as gentle directives.

Before you make your way to your cabins, I’ve put together a simple Three Step Sur-THRIVE-al Guide with corresponding activities and actions that will help ensure you find what you need and get the most out of your time here at Camp AweGust:

1. Plan to be flexible

This is one of our Camp Reminders for a reason. When you’re a grown up, the secret to finding time for fun is making time. And the best way to do that is to plan ahead.

• Take a few minutes to think about your real life schedule and pick some times and days you want to dedicate to Camp. Start small and see if there are existing routines or plans you can piggy-back onto. Remember, it doesn’t have to be large chunks of time. Look for little pockets if that’s what’s available.

• Add Camp to your calendar, like a date with a friend, so it’s easier to remember and harder to double book.

• If your schedule is looking full and you don’t want to take time away from friends or family, invite them to join you!  

2. Know what you’re looking for, so you can find it

I believe that knowing what you want to get out of an experience is the best way to make sure you do. But, this week we’re not just going to think about it, we’re going communicate our vision with a long-loved creative exercise: The Mood Board!

I use mood boards for pretty much everything– to design brands, communicate interior design concepts to clients, envision my year ahead, attempt to curate the ongoing iterations of my personal style. It is the perfect way to pick up with visual storytelling where words leave off. Like a shortcut, an easily recognized message from our eyes to our brains.

I also have a tendency to fall down pinterest rabbit holes, which usually leaves me in a state of overwhelm with half-finished mood boards. So, I’ve developed a fast and focused approach that preserves the fun and gets it done.

Grab something delicious to drink and let’s get in the mood (board)!

1. Set a timer for 5 minutes. Brain dump what you’d like for this month– words, phrases, activities, adjectives. Think of how you’d like to spend your time, how you want the days to feel, places you want to go. Don’t be afraid to lean into the aspirational!

   • If you’re having trouble getting started, are there any brands or people you follow whose lifestyle always inspires you?

   • Maybe summer hasn’t felt at all the way you want…what would be the opposite?

   • Think about the words we use here at Camp: joy, discovery, surprise, delight, magic, curiosity…did any of those feel like a spark?

2. Now you’ve got a set of search directions. Set a timer for 15 minutes. Start a pinterest board or a digital folder and start searching for these key words. Play around with phrases and combinations of adjectives until the algorithm starts getting the vibe. Save any images that fit the bill (you’'ll narrow it down later). Maybe you have real life pictures on your phone- add those too!

3. Set a timer for 5 minutes and sort through what you’ve found. Choose your favorites (6-10 images make for a nice, concise grid) so that both the individual pictures and the overall visual captures the spirit you’re going for and gives you a sparkly feeling when you look at it.

4. Save this mood board anywhere you can reference easily. (Hot tip: take a screenshot and save it to your phone’s lock screen, so you can see it all the time)

5. Use this link to share your mood board, or even just your search words, to our rotating Wall of Creativity (ok, it’s technically a Substack Notes feed, but Wall of Creativity has a nicer ring to it) Don’t worry- I’ve already gone first!

3. Meet and greet (and good luck)

I like to think of the comments section as the campfire of this digital place, a cozy gathering stop where we can casually connect across time and space and experience. So, before you head off, grab some marshmallows and head down to the comments to say hello and introduce yourself.

In the spirit of ease and eliminating the always awkward “I don’t know what to say” part, feel free to copy/ paste this fill-in-the-blank introduction:

Hello Fellow Campers!
My name is ______ . I’m from ______, but right now I wish I was in ______. 90% of the pictures on my phone are of ______. If you like listening to _____, we’re going to get along just fine.

BONUS: Get your special Camp AweGust good luck fortune!
Just add these after your introduction:
Pick a color: ❤️ 💙 💛 💚
Pick a number: 1-4
Pick a number: 5-8

Make sure to use the ❤️ as a wave or a high five to your fellow campers as you pass through.

I’ll meet you down there!

jason ladanye

An actual magician may be able to turn back time so you can just come to his show with me, but I’ll have to settle for the next best thing– sending you to his instagram, which is full of his spectacular card magic and also his signature snarky attitude. Start with this one, where he finds all four 9’s in a brand new deck of cards blindfolded! And then just follow the feed from there…

derek delgaudio

In & Of Itself was a special presentation at last year’s camp and is making its return for very good reason: it.is.incredible. Derek’s one man show explores and challenges the illusions of identity with beautiful storytelling, stunning magic, and interactive experiments with the audience that will wrap you into a collective experience so powerful it will make you feel seen and it might just make you cry. Stream it for free on Hulu