Basecamp
More Than Some Leggings
What happens when you put 37 women in one house for the weekend? More laughter, alcohol and body altering activities than I was prepared for, but one thing is for sure; we left changed.
I’m not a mountain climber or a person that hikes on the regular, but I know when I stand at the base of a mountain I see the challenge that lies ahead. Collectively, we all can see it.
Choosing to spend a weekend in a house with 37 other women, from all over the Midwest, kind of felt like I was staring at a mountain in front of me. Terrified. Unsure. Full of doubt.
As women, one of the biggest challenges we face is getting along with other women. Every single one of us has a backstabbing, gossiping story of a female relationship that burnt us badly. Plus, let’s just face it, we can be downright cruel to one another, so choosing to spend an entire weekend can stir up a level anxiety in all of us. Add in the fact that the majority didn’t know each other and it could have been a recipe for disaster.
However, making the decision to show up is the first step up the mountain.
We all start with the awkward and somewhat fake introduction phase figuring out who knows who, how and why. It’s like utilizing a walking stick to get a feeling for the lay of the land. You feel a bit silly using it, but understanding that we gathered from all different paths, it’s important to know how we each add our own sparkle to the overall group.
The one thing that united us all…Zyia. A love for a company that gave all of us a community. We came for leggings, but stayed for something much greater. When it truly comes down to it, this is really what each and everyone of us is after, that community. A group of others with similar goals, down to support each other and be true cheerleaders not competitors.
When you are on a journey, you have to remember you never do it alone. So we all trudged into the weekend, together.
As you go up the mountain you will take different opportunities to look back at the base and wonder how you made it to where you are. It’s that feeling of a successful new Rep launch party, closing out your largest month to date and finally getting that girl to say, “yes.” Then you look ahead at the journey still yet to climb. It’s daunting and intimidating. This is when the community comes into play. It’s when you are at the point when your legs get a little tired and you hit that resistance. You force yourself to dig deep and make the choice to be resilient. You find people along the journey who have done it before, so they are prepared to give you a hand, a tip or a new contact.
They give you support, and so you are able to carry on.
Then the storm comes. The storm, as we have learned to know, can be some of life’s biggest distractions, setbacks or a mindset filled with unworthy doubt. But don’t worry because your community has got this. They remind you that you aren’t a cow, you are a bison and they are here to help you charge through that storm. With them the pain is a little easier to bear and the ability to get through the worst happens faster. You don’t get stuck, you persevere.
Soon you see that peak you have fought to reach. As you look back on all that you overcame, you see the impact you left, the community you have grown and the leader you have now become. It’s only when you reach the peak do you see the next climb because there is always another one, but now you are ready for it.
Basecamp was much more than a training weekend. It was a community building weekend, we climbed a mountain together. We drank, we laughed, we let loose. We participated in body altering activities. We lived. We grew. We thrived.
Now we face the next mountain ready to charge at it. Refreshed with a new vigor to be better than the day before.
