Our first-ever friend camp in Taos, New Mexico is in the books, and since people always ask, "how was it," I figured I'd share it here.
Yesterday, as my friend Jean and I were riding back to the Albuquerque airport, she played the TikTok I made back in February about Friend Camp. Listening to what I promised then, I gave myself a little high-five.
The vibe was spot on.
Friend Camp is (kind of) a new concept for us.
And Jean flew in from Northern California to help me staff it. We had to work like fools to pull it off, but I knew the Firegirls would love her and they did.
Jean is one of my besties from Santa Cruz, Ca. We met in our early 20's when we were cocktail waitresses, but that's a story for another day. We're in our 50's now.
Old friends are the best.
At Friend Camp, I talk less, you talk more.
Snuggled into the couches in our big, cozy living room with the fireplace burning, I gave them some big questions to discuss with each other. Then l went to the kitchen to help unbury Jean, or set the dinner table.
I didn't think that would work as well as it did. They barely needed me. Good questions in a safe, warm space will do that.
This wasn't small talk either.
I'm a big believer in getting right down to the way things are. People are hungry for connection and real talk — even if they don't know how to get it.
So that's what we do. Even I was surprised how quickly a bunch of strangers were going deep and hugging it out.
But Friend Camp isn't just talk. It's play.
We also got out in the world and goofed around together.
The Rio Grande Gorge cuts right through the Taos Mesa. It's a huge canyon you don't see coming, with more than a thousand feet rim to river.
I knew of hippie dip down on the river, and asked the girls if they wanted to check it out. They were down.
To the uninitiated, a hippie dip is an undeveloped hotspring that people have cared for over the years, expanding the pools as the water level changes, shifting the rocks as needed.
I explained roughly where it was, and the gals had to clamber down to it. They did.
Taos is a special place.
It's full of artists and athletes, native folk and descendents of Spain, but it's pretty far off the beaten-path, which is why I chose it.
It's unlikely you'll just happen upon Taos. More unlikely you'll wind up in tiny, neighboring Arroyo Seco.
I told the gals I wanted to create a media bubble for the weekend — to let our nervous systems relax after weeks of bad news.
This picture is funny because I'd just reminded them of that when I clicked it. In their defense, they were sharing their hippie dip pix with each other and me.
Eva, the gal with the white bag, took the really stunning ones at the river.
Taos is a weird place (in the best way.)
Have you heard of an Earthship community before? Earthships are houses built with natural and recycled materials, with energy conservation in mind. They are designed to produce energy, water and food for their own use.
The largest and founding Earthship community is in Taos. We went there. It's wild and worth seeing.
Coffee's always on at six at Friend Camp
Then Barb, a longtime Firegirl and yogini, leads 7am yoga and meditation — mostly because she's doing it anyway. A few of our non-early birds decided to try that out, and liked it.
Firegirl Erin asked for some photographic evidence for her kids.
Spring storms dumped some fresh snow up on the peaks, so it was chilly at our house at 7am. Nonetheless there's Barb ready to teach yoga in her toboggan.
There's more I could tell you
and I probably will, but I'm coming to believe that deliberate cultivation and maintainance of friendship will solve a lot of our problems — locally and globally.
Friend Camp is proof positive that kindness, connection, and space-invading proximity works. We only had 72 hours together, but you'd never know it.
In this exotic, historic New Mexico mountain town, they came strangers and left friends.
Our Friend Camp Schedule has changed since I set it in January, and it looks like Europe is off the table for now. This newsletter is the best way to stay tuned for upcoming events.
Share it with a friend who may want to join you at the next Friend Camp.
Have a great week. I'm going back to my couch now.
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