At our campfire this past weekend Mary read several articles your girls wrote for Agalog, our camp magazine we revived last summer. Each week Agalog is focused on a different theme, and this most recent one was “Friendship”.

        The boisterous girls grew totally silent as Mary read their writings on the long friendships formed at Agawak, relationships often referred to as “like sisters.” Mary then spoke about the “power of expression”, and how moving these articles are, filled with words that spring and imagery that springs from the heart.

        What a joy it is to work with your daughters as their Agalog editor. They sit at picnic tables, surrounded by pine trees and the delicious scent of the woods. Creativity abounds in open spaces that open their minds for the pure expression we all witnessed at the campfire, a time each week when Agalog articles are read as the sun sets on Blue Lake.

        The best part about being a writer is that you can bring your feelings and imagination to vivid life, these important parts of you that others cannot see. This is the power of expression Mary talked about having watched the impact these camper stories had on their friends, their “sisters”.

        By writing your heart you are revealing yourself to others and at the same time you are opening your readers up to self-revelation.

        Words on paper are indeed powerful and inspirational. And there is something magical about writing in the woods that clearly enhances that power of language. My campers tell me they feel free, and it is apparent in their faces. Their pens move furiously across their lined pads of paper as they produce stories that come alive with colorful and visual language.

Witnessing their joy, I am hopeful we at Agawak are igniting a passion for writing that will last a lifetime.

        My own love of writing and the power of personal expression were sparked when I started writing for Agalog, at the age of eight, in 1963. Each of the ten seasons I returned as a camper then as a counselor, writing for Agalog was a highlight of the summer.

        Inspired by nature, strong friendships and the tranquility of our big sky and clear lake, the heart and mind do open to thoughts and words that seem to flow effortlessly. I tell the girls that writing is the best way to keep track of who you are, where you have been, and who you want to be.

        My hopes are that they will keep writing long after they leave Agawak, as a record and reminder of the people and places and feelings that may come and go in their lives but are forever immortalized on paper.

        Nestled in the woods, with shards of sun dancing around us, I know in the coming weeks your campers will continue to be inspired to write their hearts. And Mary will read their beautiful creations by the hush of the campfire, where the girls gather in a web of love, grateful for the opportunity to grow with each other at camp.

        And who knows? Many of the girls may end up like me, an Agawak camper who becomes a journalist and an author who can credit Agalog as launching her literary career.

By: Iris