TLC Blog - Who Are We Without This? Who Are We With This?

When Liz Retzlaff, Angie Flake and Jordan Langer approached me near the beginning of my time as TLC Director (15 years and counting, how is that possible?) with the courageous demand to either address the inequities women on staff were facing or lose them, it shook me to my core. I thought I was. I wasn’t. I had been committed to changing the situation but at a glacial pace I thought more appropriate as a non-female in power. It wasn’t appropriate, it was just slow, and it was damaging the camp. Their voices brought about the tide that rolled in and brought TLC women staff members into a shared power that has given voice to so many other staff members and campers, given creativity and inspiration to all of us and, frankly, made us a much better camp.

Since then, we have actively expanded our initiatives to consciously seek out and include all, because we are a better camp for it. We now have staff from 12 different countries, every major world religion, a whole mish mash of races, members of the LGBTQ+ community, gender balance, rural and urban, folks who come from all backgrounds, all having a seat at the table.

So, who are we with this?

We are a richer – by far – community.

Who are we without this?

Poorer. By far.

And who am I without this?

Without these changes initiated by our staff, we looked like me. And, though I have a pretty high opinion of myself, looking in the mirror each morning and saying, “You handsome devil, you”, there is only so much “me” a place can take. And if we all look like “me” (or you, for that matter), the world shrinks to a less colorful, less creative, less loving, less open, less equitable, less productive, less trusting, less funny, less financially robust, less welcoming place.

And, frankly, less fun and less kind.

I have lived long enough, thankfully, to mostly not be afraid of our differences, but to celebrate them. Because of the staff and campers who have taught me that at TLC.

Who are we with this? A richer camp.

Who are we without this? Poorer.

And who am I without this? I’m an old, white dude looking into the mirror saying, “You handsome devil.” Which is still true, by the way, but so lacking in the richness life has given me at TLC by our staff flinging the gates wide open and saying, “You belong here. Come on in! You get to be yourself; you get to make your mark here, we all get to learn from each other’s perspectives, and we are glad of it.”

So, let me ask, who are you without this in your life?

Or maybe better, who are you with this? We have a long way to go. But in my (and TLC’s) experience it’s a better world when we all go together.