Edit. Edit. Edit.

Editing is my weakness.

When writing papers for English or Newspaper class in High School, I would always try to skip the editing step. You see, writing the actual paper is no big deal, but then I want to be done with it. Case closed, it is good enough.

But "good enough" is neither. It is not good, and it's definitely lacking in effort.

I think the reason I dislike editing is because it forces me to acknowledge a failure or a lack within myself. It is more fun to rest and assume everything is fine.

Isn't it funny though, how editing the performance of others is so easy? We see the flaws in others naturally, but it takes more effort to see the flaws within oneself.

And now this brings me to Dry Gulch; this place has an insane culture or re-evaluation.

I would not even call this place the same camp I worked at in 2009 because of all the changes that have taken place. This year in particular there have been a lot more of them. I am still adjusting to some, but I am in awe of how much has been altered to make the camp experience just that much better.

The full time staff of Dry Gulch, along with Church on the Move, continue to edit because editing brings improvement.

I think it is fair to say that sometimes editing brings some pain. It can be hard to adjust, and sometimes we might miss the way things were. But in the long run, many changes prove to be worth the pain.

For example: The snack choices for the kiddos this year have moved to healthy selections such has goldfish, raisins, apple slices, and so on. There has been some pain in this change, because many of the kids miss getting their candy bar and coke each day. However, it saves them from crashing from their sugar high, and it also saves a lot of time because there are fewer options for the campers to choose from each day.

As well, some changes made here have added immediate benefits with a relatively short amount of pain.

One: The life jacket shack at the cove has moved to the bottom of the hill so the campers no longer have to haul the life jackets up to put them away. All the staff has to do was endure the pain of physically moving the shack. Why did I never think to do that?

Two: Instead of throwing wet clothes over the porch wood to dry, we now have individual hooks for each camper. Installation is the only pain. And DG now looks more like a resort and less like an actual campground. Awesome.

These are just a few of the so many changes. Not to mention the massive changes in scheduling and the added day of camp.

As I noted all of this change during orientation last week, I realized I should do some editing with how I do my job. Nothing major, but just some tweaks.
I think I've been doing a good job, just as I think Dry Gulch was just fine the way it was last year. But there is still room for improvement. There always is.

I just need to look for it, instead of avoiding it.

And beyond counseling, it probably wouldn't hurt to edit my day to day living when I go back home. There are improvements to be made there, too. (Especially when it comes to being on time for that rotten 8 a.m. class)

So this session I am going to try some new changes, and if they don't work, I'll just change it again.

Wish me luck!

(P.S My reflection over session one will come soon...maybe tomorrow even.)