A young woman who I work with at my summer camp told me earlier this summer that she desperately wanted to find a way to have a meaningful impact in the world. It was a curious thing to share to a group early on in our time together. We were just getting started building our team and our community, but I know she felt it deeply. We all want to leave a mark in one way or another. Whether we are starting out in adulthood or transitioning out of the workplace, many of us ponder where and how we will be able to make a difference. What is it that we have done that will live on in the hearts and minds of our friends and family and community?
If ever there was a way to leave a lasting legacy, it is through creative work (think Shakespeare or Hal Prince) or through music. The soundtracks of our lives give context and harbor memories for us over the years.
I was lucky enough to spend several days this week with a man who has become a legend at our summer camp in VT. His name is Biff Fink and he has penned a collection of the most beloved songs that we sing. A career educator and musician, he lives in Nashville now and continues to write songs. If you are a camp person you probably remember the boisterous singing that happens at camp. And with luck, you also remember the reflective songs that help us slow down and appreciate our world and our loved ones. This man has written songs of each kind.
This week he turned his pen and his heart to a small little play based on the children's book, "What Do You Do With a Chance". I have no doubt that he worked on the script and the song that goes with it for some time before arriving to share it with us. He certainly made it look easy. We had about 20 little girls come and work with us to create our show. We created simple costumes and made some fun wands with streamers. We rehearsed the text that our actors would say and the movement that our dancers would do. We had girls playing simple instruments as accompaniment. We called them the Jinglettes. And then we learned the new song.
I was lucky to hear the song before he taught it to the girls and it was a moment I will never forget. He had sent me the music and an MP3 of the accompaniment so I was able to read along as I listened to the music. And I knew at that moment that I was listening to a song that would live on at our camp- probably for generations. I am a fourth-generation camp person. My grandmother and mother went to this camp and so have both of my children, along with a large extended family. I now have a granddaughter who I hope, one day will be lucky enough to don her own green shorts and white shirt. And I am fairly certain that when she does, she will sing this beautiful song. Here's a taste.
Aloha in the Hills
Another sun is rising in the sky.
Another breeze is blowing down the lake
Can't you hear the call of all that longs to be
In every single, sacred breath you take?
Whatever makes an ordinary day
Turn fresh and new and beautiful to see?
Well, it's not the things that we're so certain of
But chances that we take that make us free
Aloha in the hills, Aloha in the skies
Aloha in our hearts, Aloha in our eyes
And when at close of day
That ol' moon begins to rise
We'll bless this very day
(we'll bless this very day)
We'll bless this day
With thanks that we're alive.
Of course, these are the lyrics which need the music to accompany them for full effect. But back to the question of our impact. How lucky would we all be to know that something we had done had wriggled its way into the psyche of other people? Our words, our deeds, even the smallest gestures might do that. It could be something we have built or created, a recipe that we shared, a nickname that we invented, a trip that we took together. (Think RV trip across the country with two girlfriends and a dog- "Ten Legs and a Tail"- see blog entries). Maybe it's a question that we ask someone at just the right time to help them start seeing things in a new way. Maybe it's a funny joke that we told. Maybe it's a tree or garden that we planted that we know will be there for years to come. There are countless moments in our lives, both large and small, that will be remembered and yes, even cherished by others.
I for one, am awed by people like my friend Biff Fink, who have written a collection of beautiful songs that will stay with me for life. What is the impact that you hope to leave?
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