The Mindful Home Office: Family Camp

A note to the reader: Families in 2020 can mean many things: whether it is you, your partner, the family you choose and even a virtual tribe you create, I hope this essay helps you design the spacious landscape we all are needing. 

After five days of working from home and anticipating next week’s start of on-line learning for our two boys, I am realizing there is work to do to help create inner and outer peace, calm productivity and joy. With the long stretch of a weekend ahead of us, we have time to prepare what I am now calling a work sanctuary. Here is a simple guide to your contemplative future. 

Set the Stage 

With the world turned upside down we can consider anything is possible as we design how and where we work in the home. I am creating a new desk space at the back window where I can work and watch birds, sky and home. I am encouraging our boys to stake out their desk space, too: setting aside with intention: this is where my work will happen. 

Prepare to Sustain 

On one of your spatially distant trips to the store, stock up your pantry this weekend with healthy snacks: apples and almond butter, tangerines, my mother’s epic “ants on a log” (celery, peanut butter, raisins); popcorn, oranges, nuts (in small portions) and grapes. Write up a list of ideas in your family meeting (next up). Meal prep needs to be easy and something everyone can help with, too!

The Family Meeting

If you haven’t already held a formal Family Meeting in light of the world events, it is time. Your kids are listening and watching all of this unfold-and they are especially watching you. What may seem fine on the surface may not be so, and connection and togetherness will be the balm our hearts need. 

In your Family Meeting, set the time aside with the ringing of a bell, ask someone to lead, and design in a short (30 minute) agenda that might include mindfulness (3 minutes), prayer, sharing time (high/low of the day, mood) and topics like “building the shopping list”; “making a daily and weekly schedule”, “what I love about my life” and “what I don’t miss from our pre-COVID-19 life”. Offer skills of attention, awareness and deep listening. This is your family’s time and that means it is precious time.  

Be Happy Campers 

I worked at Brush Ranch Camps in the heart of the Sangre de Christo Mountains for several years and I learned that the best way to live, lead and survive is to live as a camp counselor. We all came together each summer for a purpose greater than ourselves: to create joy and growth in the mountains. In this sabbatical time of pause, we can do this too: each member of the family plays a part in our greater purpose: to run a happy, healthy, non-anxious home/ family office and school. You might: 

·      Name your tribe 

·      Call your Family Meetings Tribe Meetings or Tribe Council 

·      Assign chores: Cabin Clean Up (cleaning rooms daily), M&M (Minor Maintenance), Kitchen Duty, Hoppers (clearing the table), Snack Duty (from your thoughtfully prepared snack list!) and even Nature Teacher, Art Teacher, Hiking Leader. Get creative, we may be at Camp for a while. 

Design your Daily Life 

Create a Schedule You all Love: build in down time, fun time and outside time: every day. Ask your kids to write the schedule from the very detailed instructions we are receiving from the schools, balance serious with humanness: be perfectly imperfect. Here is a sample schedule

7:00-8:00 am Breakfast and Mindfulness 

8:00-9:00 Cabin Clean Up 

9:00-10:30 School work/ Session One 

10:30 Snack time and Outside time 

11:00-12:00 School work/ Session Two 

12:00-2:00 Lunch, Rest, Play 

2:00-3:30 School work/ Session Three 

3:30-4:00 Snack time/ Outside time 

4:00-5:30 Homework/ Quiet time / Open 

5:30 on -open for evening activities (we are taking Family walks at 5:30 to recap the day) 

This will take some practice: check in on what is working and not working and amend as needed: this is yours to perfect. Kids are used to and love structure: they will surprise you. 

Ring the Bell

Each Day assign a Bell Ringer to mark the time: when the bell rings at Plum Village in the South of France (Thich Nhat Hanh’s beautiful retreat center) the community stops whatever they are doing and breathes for a few silent moments. You can also set bells on phones at interval times in timer or in the Insight Meditation App. A relationship with time helps everyone focus and stay connected to the present moment. 

Create Space for Silence

Mindfulness will get you there: to a home office that is peaceful and intentional: begin with short sessions (2-3 minutes) in the family meeting and add in moments of mindfulness at meals, on walks and in your own work practice. Mindful writing (3-5 minutes keeping the hand moving) is also a helpful practice to get clear about where we are in the world and helps us source mood, emotion and the challenges we are facing. Set up a mindful corner in your home for Campers to visit anytime: it can be as simple as a cushion, a bell and a poetry book. Ask one of your Campers to create it!

Take Care of Yourself and Your Campers

You know the instruction well from airplane travel: place your own oxygen mask first before helping others with their masks. Self-care and compassion (Kristen Neff) are paramount to the health and success of your co-counselors and campers. Share the work, communicate needs, express courage, acknowledgement, appreciation and love often. Camp Leaders needs to maintain a deep well of love and compassion for others: take the time to fill yours up: exercise, alone time, reading, resting, meditation and yoga are all wonderful practices of compassion for self. Let the present moment be your teacher (Pema Chodron) and your Family Camp will be a haven of work-life pause and possibility. Graces to you Spaces!