This is a post about being a Camp Councillor. About how I looked after children for 8 summers, and how it took me from aspiring author to real world author.

This isn’t a post telling you to go to camp. Nor is it a post saying how amazing kids are. They can be awesome, but some of them are dreadful.

I’m a proud, life long member of YMCA Camp Ernst. It changed my life and this is how…

How Camp Made Me An Aspiring Author

This summer is the first time in 9 years I won’t be going to Cincinnati and venturing to the amazing world of Camp Ernst. For those unaware, I’m from England, so a trip over to the States isn’t an easy decision.

I need a visa

I need money for the flight

I need to prepare my body for 3 months of Freedom Food

Yet I’ve spent 5 full summers (and 3 other summers volunteering for a week) working at a Summer Camp.

It’s here I realised how much I loved telling stories. One of my favourite activities was having the kids choose three words and watch me stumble through an improvised tale.

It’s also here I began writing my first book.

How I Went From Aspiring Author To Real Author

This was 7 years ago now, and I still haven’t finished (although I’m making large strides now). I fell in love for the first time and turned to writing. Today, whenever I feel down, I think of camp and start tapping away at my laptop

It’s 5,000 miles away, but it’s as if I can smell the freshly cut grass.

Camp brought out my creativity. It edged me towards marketing and turned me to writing. I have no idea where I’d be without camp, but I wouldn’t be sitting here writing this sentence. That I can be sure of.

This summer is the first time in 9 years I won’t venture into that wonderful world. Thinking about it brings a tear to my eye, but it’s always there. Camp is my spiritual home and never far away.

The Moral Of This Story

You might be wondering what this post is all about. You might be an aspiring author, an established one, or a simple dreamer. Whoever you are and whatever you want, you need to discover your purpose

That’s how you go from Aspiring Author to Real Author

That’s how you go from aspiring anything to real something

I always have somewhere to turn. You need to discover what your go to place is. Maybe it’s faith, or your family, or a dream that keeps pushing you along. I’m not here to say what it should be, because it’s personal to you.

Camp Ernst is what helped me discover so much. It gave me purpose and a group of people I adore. It’s my home away from home.

What makes you feel like this?

The Time Is Now

It’s time to get out of your comfort zone and try something new. Work with kids, volunteer, help build a house…

I first went to America, not to work with kids, but to travel and do something new. It was the kids, the people, and Camp that had me returning for 8 years, though. Once you find your purpose – your home away from home – the means of creativity is so much easier to find. It becomes your muse.

Share your own story below

Tell us what keeps you writing

What had you turn from Asirping Author to a real world one

Turndog Millionaire – @turndog_million

Ps. My friend Craig has written a book about Camp. Many of the stories are from friends of mine (including my own tale). You can download it for FREE HERE and is something that might help kick start your inspiration. Let me know if it does.