How Fascinating!

2010 Moot, Part One

At the 2010 Moot campfire, I made the comment to someone that I couldn’t imagine dreading the Moot, as several of my teens had mentioned. I really can’t, as a 31-year-old mentor. I look forward to it all year, and not going is not an option for me.

But as I write this, I recall my teenage self. Having grown up mostly computer-free, I can’t really say whether or not I would have joined an online writing forum like CleanPlace. My guess would be not—I was very sensitive and not open to criticism. And I know for sure that I would never, ever have done something like the Moot. I could barely make the effort to go to sleepovers with friends I’d known since middle school, let alone trek into the mountains without my parents to meet a bunch of other teenagers I’d never seen before. The me from back then would have certainly understood the trepidation expressed around the campfire. That me would have wondered who’d even consider such a thing in the first place.

The Moot is never quite like I’d expect, and this year was no exception. For one thing, I did not expect to be making my solo singing debut. Nia is very good at talking me into things I never thought I’d do without me realizing what I’m agreeing to. We decided to do the water buffalo song from Veggie Tales at the Moot Open Mike. (If you haven’t heard it, YouTube it!) What I didn’t know when I blindly agreed was that I’d have no time to learn the song before we got to the ranch, and we’d have zero time to practice together. But it’s hard to screw up a silly song, especially when you have the words in front of you.

I did not expect to be on the verge of tears all week. I think that was part tiredness, but mostly just being overwhelmed with emotion the whole time. After three years on CleanPlace, I’ve really gotten to know my teens and become a part of their lives. And they are a huge part of mine. I love them so much. My tears are sad when they are heartbroken, and my tears are joyful when they are amazing.

On our first afternoon at the ranch, I led a critique group. Mimsy, our new mentor, was with me. It was a good group, and a lot of them were teens I either didn’t know very well or hadn’t spent much time with in a more intimate setting. We gathered around a table at the cookhouse, and I told the group right away that I wouldn’t force them to talk. Most of them seemed very relieved—I had one or two first-timers and a couple of very quiet teens too. Even though I spend a ton of time reading the teens’ work and giving them feedback, I was still amazed by the quality of work and by the insightful feedback they gave each other.

One new thing we did this year was to include a devotional time every day. Sunday was our longer time, since we were missing church services. But during the other times, we asked four of our older CleanPlacers to share. Rivus spoke on Saturday about some verses that had stood out to him recently (2 Corinthians 1:12-22). MOTS talked about faith and made us laugh, and Elraen spoke of worry and planning, both things that really struck a chord with all of us. Shalana also shared on our last night, but I had to miss it. They all did a great job and had good things to say. I was proud of all of them.

I did not expect to learn Mandarin at the Moot. But I did anyway, without trying. Wolfsong, our linguistics nerd, taught several versions of a language acquisition game called Where Are Your Keys. On Mandarin night, all I did was circle the group, taking pictures. But I learn by hearing, and I managed to absorb the vocabulary as I snapped photos. Part of the game is that whenever you have an aha moment, when you get something, you raise up your arms and shout, “How fascinating!” And then everyone else throws up their arms and shouts, “How fascinating!” (It’s the only English you’re allowed to say during the game.)I even joined the game after a while and had the fun of experiencing my own “How fascinating!” moment.



We were fortunate to have Scott Myers, the worship leader at Pulpit Rock Church, with us again this year. On Sunday night, he led us in worship, and on Monday morning, he spoke. In the worship service, we sang some songs after going through them line by line and talking about what they meant. I think we’ll all have warm fuzzy Moot feelings now every time we hear “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.”

On Monday morning, Scott spoke about art—the meaning of it, the myths about it, and the tensions in it. I’m still processing the points Scott brought up and the things we discussed. (That may be fodder for a future blog post or two.)Though we had handouts with blanks to fill in, it was really a discussion, not a lecture. At one point, Scott said. “Let’s fill in a blank and then argue about it.”

Nia and I hung around for a while and chatted with Scott for a bit, and one of the first things out of his mouth was something he wanted to speak about next year. He’s an official Mooter now. I think Nia told him we’re booking him until he dies or Jesus comes, whichever happens first.

On Sunday afternoon, Nia and I led a poetry workshop. We spent a little time recapping what we talked about last year and then built on it. This year we gave the teens a lot more time to actually work on composing their own poems. I really enjoyed digging deeper and talking about things that are more intuitive for me, things I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about, like why we use metaphor and simile in poetry. And it was so much fun to answer questions, to read teens’ poems, and give them feedback. My favorite moment was getting to read MOTS’ poem. MOTS who says she’s not a writer. It was a wonderful poem, with all these great images. I was glad she let me read it.