Writing from the Summer 2022 Writers Expedition with the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School
They say that every adventure starts with a step. A singular footfall, and you’re on your way, ready to take on the world. I disagree. I believe that an adventure begins with the decision to take one, and that this is not easy, but the single most difficult part of the entire journey.
As humans, we tend to stay in our comfort zones, only leaving them for brief glimpses of an Unknown. This Unknown, that has befriended fear and danced with risk, often alarms us. It is easy to run away from it, back to a land of routine and familiarity. Pretend that this brief glance of everything you’ve never learned is enough. The decision to start an adventure is to realize that it isn’t enough. Will never be enough.
It is to know how much you don’t know and realize you want to learn. That we have been told that we’ve learned everything we need to know, and yet we all still have so many questions. The decision to start an adventure is to know that you’ll never know the answers unless you find them yourself. It is the decision to do things, not because you’re good at them, but because they make you happy. It is the act of embracing all your imperfections, and realizing that success isn’t determined by how much you achieve but by how much you care.
The decision to start an adventure is to care. To care about yourself enough to break out of your comfort zone. To care about the world enough to want to see it. To care about questions, and answers, and joy, and love, and happiness. Your happiness.
An adventure doesn’t start with a step, but with a sprint, a jump, a leap into the Unknown. To embrace it as a friend, for that's what it is, what it always has been. Take that leap. Befriend fear, and dance with risk. Learn everything there is to know, and feel happy with yourself, not because you’re perfect, but because nothing is. Take that beautiful, loud, clumsy leap and begin your adventure. You won't regret it.
— Margo, Age 14
Nature.
The earth’s own chapter in the book of life.
An ancient text in a language too few still understand.
It is too long a volume for any one man to read but if you let her, Mother Nature will read it aloud.
I hear a page in her voice in the rustle of leaves, in the forlorn cry of a loon, in the splashing sound of lake meeting land in an embrace. In the chatter of squirrels and the cawing of crows, footnotes are added until the conclusion is reached as night and silence fall on the wild world, a lesson having been aptly given to anyone with the patience to
Listen.
— Daniel, Age 16
The heat stains the air
In itself a warming warning
Wisps and tendrils
Flaming fingers reaching
Reaching towards more
Towards where the smoke
Taunts it’s deal with the wind
It hisses in frustration,
It crackles in triumph
As it both grows and withers
Grows and withers
The fingers extend from the palm
Where the embers glow
As if inhabited by miniature puppeteers
Playing with fire
It’s a dangerous hand
Tempting and teasing
Beautifully burning
Not one to hold
But one to love all the same
— Margaret, Age 14
A jolly group
Shall travel far,
Through a land of trees,
And wishing stars.
With friends of feathers,
Scales,
And skin.
A helping hand,
A chuckle, a giggle,
A hand to swat
What makes us wiggle,
Or face the fears that lie within.
I shall write,
And I shall roam,
And make sure everyone
Feels at home,
And welcome my newfound kin.
— Bay, Age 15
Founded in 1964, Hurricane Island Outward Bound School is a non-profit educational organization that serves people of all ages and backgrounds through wilderness expeditions in Maine, Florida, the Bahamas, and Central and South America. As one of 11 independent Outward Bound Schools in the U.S., HIOBS represents one of the top educational brands in the nation focusing on character development, leadership, and service.
The Telling Room is a literary arts education nonprofit whose mission is to empower youth through writing and share their voices with the world. As a literary arts education organization focused on young writers ages 6 to 18, The Telling Room seeks to build confidence, strengthen literacy skills, and provide real audiences for its students. The Telling Room believes that the power of creative expression can change communities and prepare youth for success both now and in the future.