What I mean when I say “Trailblazing Mom Eagle?”
When our son was five years old, my dear friend Amy said, “Let’s join the Y-explorers. It is a YMCA program. We’ll go camping with our sons once per month”. Yes, I was in! I love camping, and going camping with Amy and our sons Dylan and Zayden sounded awesome. It was!
I remember at our first campout, we were at a beach campground in Carlsbad, California. One of the first activities was to come up with an “Indian” name. I chose “Trailblazing Mom Eagle.” We made leather rounders and stamped our new name and a symbol into them. Later, we also got patches for our leather vests with our Indian name on them.
We were part of the program for six great years. We had adventures galore and met many terrific mothers and sons. Sometimes we had intense winds, and tents buckled or even tore. We figured out how to fix it, jerry-rig it, or in any case, deal with it. We helped each other. Each of us was contributing her skills.
Another time, I was driving to a campground pulling an old trailer. The trailer held our tribe’s camping gear. It was raining “cats and dogs”. The wind was unbelievable. Suddenly, to my shock, one of the doors mounted on the top of the trailer ripped off. The hinges that had connected the door to the body of the trailer were old and rusty. The wind finally finished them off. With Dylan in the back of the car, I got out and figured out how to put the door back on the trailer and somehow keep it there. I tried duct tape, but it wouldn’t stick in the rain (not surprising).
It seemed dire. I happened to have a short rock climbing sling with a couple of carabiners in the car (but no rope). I managed to macgyver the door back onto the trailer well enough to limp to an auto store some 20 miles away. There I got proper straps to secure both trailer doors. Later, the Chief of our tribe created a new award, the Macgyver award. I was the first recipient. LOL.
I became a “firestarter.” That meant I was tasked to build our campfires, keep the kids and others from falling into the fire, and administer first aid. When a kid got hurt, I took care of him (luckily, it was almost never that serious). Then at the end of the campout, we awarded him a “blood bead” (a red bead). That was to acknowledge their courage to deal with the incident. Amy and I used to joke about how many blood beads her son was collecting.
Both our boys and us moms had a ton of fun. Us moms often stayed up late at the campfire, told stories, played games, and got some great laughs. We also gave each other hugs and support. I will never forget the many great times we shared.
What Makes This Story Into a “Brilliance Nugget”?
My “Indian” name is perfect for me. At the center of the name is “Mom.” I love being a Mom! I’m grateful that we have Dylan – as challenging as raising a kid is at times (I think all parents know a thing or two about that).
What about “trailblazing”? To me, blazing a trail is exciting. It applies in life as a whole and in business. Putting Brilliance Extraction™ into play and creating a growing impact from it is the business trail I’m blazing right now.
And then there’s the eagle part. To me, the eagle is about courage and strength. Most things in life that are worth doing need some courage and strength. And there is no doubt that having a tribe of supportive people around you is both fun and helpful.
I’m Curious
Which trail are you blazing right now? Who do you have to support you along the way?
