Hey! I’m Ben or Nessy as I’m living into (my second name is Harness – go figure).
I’m going to tell you about the things I love as here at Camp I feel like I am so excited to share my passions with y’all and create so memorable experiences together.
I love photography and figure it’s a good way to introduce myself! I’m really eager to become part of the community as this is my first time living in the states and working/being at a camp!
I love my family – Mummy Hilary, Poppa Nige and Sister Snail (Abi) and new brother Johnny or J-man (her beautiful fiance). And lastly but by no means leastly I love my childhood sweetheart and partner in mischief Ruthie, Rufio or Rufus…(but don’t call her that :P).
I love my to wiggly-waggly doggy brothers Maynard and Barlen. There was also Elliot and he was the most gentle of these fellas but left this mortal coil some time ago now: he was my guardian for the years you are likely experiencing now – what a dude! Maynard is my best friend and his portable spirit lives in my teddy bear Spugsy who has been all over the world with me.
I love my funny hair – it’s all my own and I’ve been growing it for 8/9 years now – I always say I had to commit to something (hair just so happened to be what I chose).
I love home which is England but sometimes I feel like love travel more – I’ve been excited about living ever since I started travelling 4 years ago! I’m so pleased to be adding y’all to my adventures and making California a pin in the map for many Summers to come!
I love music. I love language. I love playing and messing around. I love sharing all of these things and collaborating/creating with others – that’s where you are all going to come in. I’ve never worked with so many young people and I’m crazy excited to be able to share this experience with you and hopefully guide and help out along the way – embracing fun (I love to laugh), adventure (let’s climb that mountain/tree), mindfulness (let’s move in our bodies and embrace our breath and minds) and compassion and balance through our dealings together (working together to create a beautiful environment of possibilities and experiences).
I’m excited to use my body – movement is brilliant fun and I’m psyched to explore new ways we can use our bodies differently, more creatively and more freely. I enjoy flow sports, fire, outdoor activities, the wilderness and just general tomfoolery and madness.
I love animals – do you? I find it hard to truly think of anyone who doesn’t like animals but maybe you’re one of those people – if so I’d love to convince you of their awesomeness. From lambs that I’ve helped grow up, to doggy friends the world over, brief encounters with cats and crocodiles, hooved friends, long necked lads and all that are residence in the underwater world.
I love this planet we’re spinning on! Nature enthralls me. Inspires me. Is me. Is us. I swim in it, run and jump in it, explore it’s cavities, go high above it, look out over from it’s peaks, climbs it’s limbs, dive into it’s waters, interact with it. Star to tree. I’m so excited to explore nature with you and experience living in a wild environment among mother nature herself: sleeping under the stars on our overnights! What do you think to nature? Do you realize how incredible it is and vital to us all?
I love creepy crawlies. Sticky, spiney, strange critters are my favourite. Spiders are primo – they’re just so strange and spindley – creepy crawling. Living in the rainforest in Australia for a while gave me a renewed appreciation of the planet’s diversity – wow! I’m interested in how we can protect and ensure we appreciate our surroundings – the creepy and the crawly alike.
I love outdoor activities and pursuits and travelling this last 3-4 years around Australia, New Zealand, Europe and Asia has given me a beautiful range of opportunities to pursue different things. I’ve sky dived, bungeed, caved, climbed, run, camped, kayaked, canoed, surfed, wild swam and loved challenging my fear of heights and using my body to embrace wild experiences. What fears might we face at camp? What awesome opportunities can we explore together – I love and loathe heights in equal measure and water as these dreadies get pretty heavy when their soaking.
I’m called to the mountains and riding atop wheels in their various forms: I love speed – be it on a bicycle down an alp, on a board down a wave, on skis through the snow, down a road on a board or through a 4×4 track into the outback – I love experiencing my environment. What calls you?
I also LOVE creatures of the mysterious realm – DRAGONS, GOBLINS and even ZOMBIES now and then! Dragonheart, Fern Gully, Flight of the Navigator, Aladdin and The Goonies are some of my favourite movies…so I love PIRATES, KNIGHTS and FOREST PIXIES too! I’m excited to try out some of my impressions and see what a bit of improv might create in the moment.
Which brings me to ART – I love to create and find art so boundless, so freeing and it can pretty much be anything you want – from a painting that hangs in a gallery to a pile of rocks and sticks you intentionally organised in some way…who’s to say? What do you think of art? What art do you like to create? A beautiful building, a photograph, a cartoon, graffiti on a wall, a sculpture in your park, a story, a poem, a song…what shall we create together this summer?
Creation and collaboration are central to my enthusiasm for my first Summer at Camp Augusta – it strikes me that I’m entering into another dimension – a world beyond our world – a place free and open to opportunities…I am so excited to see what special wakeups I can create with the community, cabin activities we can do together and celebrations we can develop in community with everyone at camp.
And so to our next adventure together – I cannot wait to grow and experience this place with all of you – let’s make this an unforgettable summer – eeeeek I’m SOO EXCITEEEDDDDD! WAHOOOOOOO!
*Dances off enthusiastically with the goblins and pixies…