What Kind Of World Do You Want To Live In?

Reflections & intentions after Third Nature Summer Camp + the joy of being home.

What kind of world do you want to live in?

That was one of the questions we asked every participant before they arrived at Third Nature Summer Camp. And it’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot over the last year.

From my vantage point, the modern world often seems disconnected.

I see the disconnection…

• when I’m on social media

• when I flip between news stations

• when I think about the physical separation we’ve created between ourselves and others, and between ourselves and nature

• when I read an article like this.

In The Art of Gathering, Priya Parker inspires us to think of any event that we have a hand in creating as a temporary alternative world - ideally, one that creates ripple effects that move the real world closer to a world we all want to live in.

So at camp, we aim to create a temporary alternative world, where the default state is deep, meaningful connection – connection to self, connection to others, and connection to nature.

These ideas are present on our website and in our videos, which many people read and watch before signing up for camp.

But Third Nature Summer Camp is a co-created experience, contributed to by all those who choose to show up as their true, full selves.

So rather than only focusing on creating a more connected world, I wanted the world we co-created at camp this year to be a product of each individual participants’ response to that big question:

What kind of world do you want to live in?

This started with how we put together GPS Groups - aka, Good Peeps Squads.

The Good Peeps Squad is something we came up with at Summer Camp 2019, as a way to help every participant feel meaningfully connected right away.

Each GPS Group is made up of 4-5 people who we believe (based on all the information we gather about them before camp) will really hit it off.

Every year, we challenge ourselves to come up with new and better ways to put these groups together.

This year, we made groups using the adjectives that participants wrote to describe the kind of world they want to live in.

For example, in one group, all 5 people used the word “EMPATHETIC”

The other words used were displayed around that one word that everyone in the group had in common:

We revealed this in a pretty fun and creative way if I do say so myself, but I can’t divulge all our trade secrets in one newsletter 🤓

When participants realized that everyone at their picnic table also wanted to live in a world that was…

Empathetic

or Safe

or Loving

or Peaceful

or Compassionate

or Joyful

or Free…

The connections formed within those Good Peeps Squads felt even more meaningful than they have in past years.

As we moved through the rest of opening day - to dinner, orientation at the lake, and our opening campfire - I started to see that the temporary alternative world that was Third Nature Summer Camp 2025, could actually be all of those things - Empathetic, Safe, Loving, Peaceful, Compassionate, Joyful, AND Free - at the same time.

Now fast forward to Monday. We’ve experienced so much together, it’s hard to believe that we’ve been at camp for less than 3 days - a reminder of how full and long life can feel, when we’re less distracted and more Present (another word chosen by one GPS Group).

During our closing workshop, which we simply call, “Bringing Camp Home,” my camp co-leader, Andrea Maeng, gave us all an opportunity to visualize our future selves, embodying our own unique takeaways from camp.

In my visualization, I saw a version of me that felt lighter. Because that’s how I felt throughout this weekend. Especially compared to the heaviness of Summer 2024 - when my wife experienced a miscarriage, followed by the unexpected death of her brother, shortly before camp.

Where Summer Camp 2024 felt like medicine, but a bit like pouring from an empty cup…

Summer Camp 2025 felt like a celebration, and a bit of a love-fest.

A few participants noticed and reflected this lightness back to me. Maybe it was me cracking more jokes during post-meal announcements, or doing standup comedy for the first time at the Saturday night Talent Show.

But camp feeling the way it did for me wasn’t an accident. It was the result of another year of self-discovery, growth, and intention.

Continuously bringing more of me to camp, then back to my post-camp life, and back to camp again.

Integrating pieces of the temporary alternative world that is camp, into to my world outside of camp.

Or, as 3-time camper, Ray Liu said in his latest Substack:

The gap between the magic of camp and the magic in my life outside of camp doesn’t feel as big anymore.

When I first attended camp in 2022, I thought it was a transformative experience. I didn’t even know the magic and level of community and connection I experienced was possible. Now, the magic at camp is certainly still there, but I feel that I’ve been able to cultivate a lot more of that magic in my life outside of camp as well. This includes of a long list of intentional choices like living with and near friends, living close to nature, meditating and journaling every morning, writing gratitude, cultivating the ability to listen to my heart, and much more. The feeling of this closing gap felt like a testament to how much I’ve grown, and that the intentionality I put into making values-aligned life choices may be paying off.

This is why we do what we do.

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For more of a window into Third Nature Summer Camp 2025, check out the dozens of stories that participants have shared on Instagram in the last week.

If you want to live in a world that feels more Connected, Empathetic, Safe, Loving, Peaceful, Compassionate, Joyful, Free, Present, Respectful, Accepting, Communal, Collaborative, Creative, and Open…

putting Summer Camp 2026 on your calendar could be a good place to start.

We’ll be back at Camp Scatico for Labor Day Weekend, which is a little later next year - September 4-7.

If you’re interested, fill out this short form, and you’ll be the first to know when registration opens.

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Upcoming Workshop: Summer Reflections & Fall Intentions | Friday, September 26th from 12-2pm

I have a saying that I found myself sharing a few times at camp:

"If you're doing life right, every year can be better than the last."

During one conversation, a new participant and friend shared his version:

“Life gets harder, but you get better.”

Essentially what we’re both saying is that as we learn to better understand ourselves, others, and the ways of the world, we become better equipped to handle anything that's thrown our way.

Life doesn’t necessarily get easier, but it becomes more fulfilling and connected.

How do we learn to better understand ourselves, others, and the world at large?

I’ve cultivated a bunch of habits over the years that help me - and the seasonal reflection workshops that I’ve been facilitating for the last 5+ years represent a distillation of those habits, in workshop form.

If you’d like some dedicated time and space to reflect on the last 3 months of your life, alongside other kind, curious, and supportive humans from around the world, we’d love to see you there on Friday, September 26th from 12-2pm.

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Loved That

Here’s where I enjoy sharing some of the things that made me say (out loud or in my head), an enthusiastic, LOVE THAT, since I sent the last newsletter.

But there's another reason I do this: I believe "LOVED THAT" is a habit worth spreading. Taking the time to reflect on your week, savoring all the things you loved, is another form of gratitude practice that enhances happiness, fulfillment, optimism, and memory.

Do try this at home!

Anyway, here's mine from these last two weeks, with a focus on camp:

1. Having Alexis, our 4-month old Baby Drew, and my mom at camp.

My mom drove Alexis and Drew up to camp in the middle of the weekend, and got to see me leading Third Nature Summer Camp for the first time.

My mom being a big reason Alexis and Drew got to come to camp felt especially fitting because - as I said during Closing Remarks on Monday - she’s the reason we were all at camp that weekend.

A couple decades before I spent 13 summers at Camp Scatico between ages 8-20, my mom spent 9 summers of her own at that same camp. Without her camp experience - and in turn, my camp experience - it’s hard to see a world where Third Nature Summer Camp would even exist.

Mom - I’m so grateful you won that argument, and gave me one of the greatest gifts of my life 🙏

2. The Arts & Crafts stations set up by Ishaan and Chelsea that participants got to play within throughout the weekend, lovingly referred to as Space Crafts (get it?).

The playdoh, legos, painting, collaging, adult coloring books, and ample supplies for participants to create things with their hands, were a welcome addition to the experience - and helped fulfill our intention to lean into levity and child-like play.

3. The aforementioned Talent Show, where we witnessed incredible feats of memorization, music (including from the newly formed Third Nature Band), dancing, storytelling, spoken word poetry, and literal magic.

And for those who scroll down just to read Loved That who may have missed the top section - I finally got on a stage and did standup comedy, fulfilling an intention I set at Summer Camp 2021.

4. Our nightly campfires, and all the awesome conversations I got to have with participants late into the evenings.

I especially loved how Derick - in his 4th trip with us and 2nd as part of the official leadership team - led us through a powerful mindful moment on our last night, where we sat in silence, watched him light the fire, and witnessed it grow to one of the biggest campfires I’ve ever seen, in a matter of seconds. Immediately followed by a beautifully guided reflective visualization of the weekend, led by Andrea.

5. Getting to spend Monday night at camp with Alexis and Drew after everyone else had left. We of course had to pick up sushi from Osaka in Tivoli, my favorite restaurant in the known universe, while relishing in post-camp solitude.

Bonus Loved That - a weekend back home in Brooklyn. After spending almost all of July and August away from home, this past weekend was exactly what we needed.

On Friday night, Alexis and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary at Leland Eating & Drinking House (loved the eggplant fries).

On Saturday night, we went to a magic show with another couple at 69 Atlantic (very intimate and entertaining).

Then on Sunday night, we stumbled into Ozakaya for some delicious omakase, and the best Karaage I’ve ever had.

Lots of exploring our surrounding neighborhoods, which we’re excited to do more of in this next season of life.

Feeling very grateful that this is the kind of world we live in.

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You can always browse the archive of old but evergreen posts here.

Feel free to reply or comment with any thoughts or ideas that came up as you were reading - or things you’ve experienced recently that you LOVED.

Wishing you a great week ahead :)

With gratitude,

Brian