Some people ask, “Where did the name Camp Broken Arrow come from?”

The answer unfolds in layers.

Shortly after I decided to build a camp on this property that has been in my family for 50 years, I found a broken arrow lying on the ground.

An arrow that was likely used for deer hunting. Arrows are a reminder of man’s earliest weapons of destruction and death. Today, the offspring of mankind’s arrows are now present as rifles, missiles, attack jets and mortar shells. Breaking an arrow is breaking a habit of war and separation and “otherness”.

So – the quick answer is that a broken arrow represents the end of war… a symbol of peace. I hope this camp will be kept in service of that highest value.

Breaking an arrow to destroy your fear

At a deeper level, that broken arrow invoked a time when I had an encounter with another broken arrow. In fact, it was a full wooden practice arrow that I broke… with the tip of the arrow pressing against my throat.

This broken arrow was part of an exercise at an Integral Theory retreat in a class being taught by Cindy Lou Golin. Cindy was inviting us to take a risk so crazy, so outrageous, so unimaginable… that once we did this, we would be empowered to take other risks to make the most of our lives.

She invited us to sign a waiver against accidental injury or death. This is never a good sign.

Then, she proceeded to introduce us to a wooden practice arrow, with a plastic bow piece, synthetic feathers, a wooden shaft and a shaped metal tip capable of penetrating an archery target. One by one, each of us who signed the waiver was asked to place the back of the arrow against a concrete pillar and the metal tip… against the soft area of our throat, just above the collar bone.

Go ahead and find yours. Roll your finger on that soft part of your throat. And imagine that you will put a metal-tipped arrow against it.

Now, STEP INTO THE ARROW UNTIL IT BREAKS!

I’d like to say I went first… but I didn’t. Once I saw someone else do it, I volunteered to try as well. My level of fear and apprehension was through the roof. There were real risks. The arrow could splinter and enter your eye – or your throat. Not likely, really – but possible.

And then, as you push that arrow into your throat… and feel the cool metal against your hot skin, you wonder, “how hard am I going to have to push to break this thing?”

You apply a little pressure and it doesn’t give. It just pushes further into your skin. And you stand there in fear.

So, you drop all of your inhibitions and take a full step forward. The arrow breaks. You get a rush of relief and adrenaline that is unforgettable. I felt like I entered a new way of being.

So at another level, Camp Broken Arrow is about stepping into your fears and pushing through them to an unknown future. Pushing into a future that brings all of your current world with you … and opens a door into an unknown world that you did not previously know was possible.

This is where magic happens!

Broken Arrow: When All is Lost

And then my son, a war history buff, told me, “Dad, that’s a terrible name! Do you know what ‘broken arrow’ means in the military?”

I admitted that I did not.

“It means that your position is lost. It means that your enemy has overrun your borders and is about to slaughter you and everyone with you. It is a radio call that is made to call in coordinates for a suicide air strike, in hopes that the strike will take out your enemy along with your squad. ”

And I realized that this meaning of the broken arrow was something that we’ll all have to contend with, sooner or later. Our current way of living is broken. We have depleted the wells and we don’t know it yet. We have out-consumed what our world is able to create. We’ve lit the fuse on the bomb … and we are about to be overrun by our way of living.

Broken Arrow means we are here to find a new way forward. We are ready to leave the ways of modernity and step into something new. Something unknown. With magic. And in peace.