Week Three: A Metaphor For Life
Claudia harvesting tomatoes on the farm.
How is this fire a metaphor for your life? This is the question our instructor, Tori, asked myself and 5 other gappers after building and tending to our own fires. As someone who had never slept in a tent or been on a hike more than just a casual stroll before Glen Brook, I assumed making a fire would be a difficult task, reserved for highly experienced hands. However, after listening to simple and clear instructions, taking my time in gathering and assembling materials, and putting a lit match to my kindling, I realized the process was quite intuitive for me. I sort of just knew when to add more fuel or blow air into the fire as if I had been making fires my whole life.
I always think everything will be way harder than it actually is. That was my response to Tori’s question. Before coming to Glen Brook, I had the same thoughts about, that I would completely fail. I catastrophized I would be horrible at everything to the point of me having to leave the program. My experience has been the exact opposite of my admittedly harsh expectations. Trusting my own abilities is a trait I am developing every day here, and it has allowed me to grow even when things are challenging. That includes trusting in myself to cook a delicious meal for 14 people, keeping myself on schedule, or summiting Mount Monadnock. Yet, I’ve succeeded at each of these tasks and more that clearly range in levels of difficulty. I continue to surprise myself in my capabilities.
Stavroula has success with the pot pie!
Something that is second nature for one person may be completely foreign to another. Every person at Glen Brook has an array of unique knowledge and experiences. They are so willing to share their knowledge. One person may help in the kitchen because they have vast kitchen experience or one person may teach you how to set up a tent. Even if it is a small skill like teaching how to make friendship bracelets, someone here would gladly help you with patience. Everyone has to reach outside of their comfort zone in one way or another and when things do get difficult the gappers will support each other.
No one will leave Glen Brook not having learned something and not having shared something. And learning something isn’t always a tangible skill, perhaps it is becoming more understanding and empathetic of everyone’s individual situation because you can never really know what goes on in someone else’s head. Speaking from experience, the more I try new things, knowing the people here want to see me succeed, the less scary the new things seem. Maybe soon my first reaction won’t be the exception of my own failure.
-Claudia, Gap 2023
Feeling capable tying down a canoe, in preparation for our trip this week.