I’ve written before about the benefit of retreats (and you can find a link to my guide for Quarterly At-Home Retreats in the Products section of Demandtheshimmer.com if you are interested). Those retreats are designed to take a day to really reflect on your life as a whole, and all the aspects of it that are meaningful to you, in a way that allows for regular temperature checking on your progress toward your goals. Camp Day is different.
Camp Day is perfect to declare when there is something you really have been meaning to tackle – particularly those things that might scare you a little bit. It’s all about moving the needle on one particular thing in your life that will really make a difference. It’s not about just taking a baby step (also an important strategy to get started on something) – it’s about a real leap forward.
Camp Day is not something I came up with, but I’ve really embraced it. There are Stats Camps for people in quantitative professions that need to learn new statistical techniques to stay current. There are weekend music camps to really devote time to practice. There are writer’s retreats. Camp Day is like that, but it is designed solely by YOU, and attended only by you, for your own purposes.
One key to Camp Day is the planning and the anticipation. First, of course, you have to choose the activity. I declared a Camp Day to get this website off started and to make Demandtheshimmer.com a reality for me and not just the vague fantasy it had been for longer than I care to admit. I had been toying with the idea for a year or two, but there seemed to be too many things I didn’t know or understand about the process of launching a website that were going to continue to keep it from happening unless I committed to a day devoted to nothing but learning how to do this, purchasing the domain, and getting started. I also declared a Camp Day on the day I learned how to use a sewing machine for the first time and ended up sewing a really cool pillow that is still featured in my bedroom many years later.
Once you pick a day and choose your camp project, start thinking of all the ancillary things about the day that will make it especially fun and tempting. Like a retreat, you need to be alone and undisturbed for this. Where will you go? Home or somewhere else that you love to be? Home can work, but only if you can really focus on only what you’re doing and not be tempted by the siren song of the laundry pile or Netflix. What will you wear? Something super comfy, or something that makes you feel on top of the world? I picked out a fun new t-shirt with something motivational that I thought of as my camp uniform. What kind of treats will you have throughout the day? These can be special food or drink treats, or fun break activities, or really any small things that make the day feel really special and not just like any other day.
I recommend having at least a rough agenda set and approximate times for activities planned out, though you should also anticipate some roadblocks and challenges. If you are working on something hard – and this should be something that challenges you in some way – these things are bound to happen. Flexibility is key.
Try to plan your Camp Day a little while out – a week or two at least – so you can really anticipate and look forward to it. Think about what tangible outcomes you’d love to see at the end, as well as how you want to feel when you crawl into bed at the end of Camp Day, pretty spent and exhausted in that really awesome satisfying way.
Happy Camping!