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Welcome to the connected and layered world of Camp Portalistic.

 

Camp Portalistic (noun): A magical place set in the middle of Northern Wisconsin in the fictional town of Fuchsia Falls, and on the north end of Lake Fuchsia. It is a camp that was specifically designed for kids (mostly 9-11-year-olds) to go and discover their path and themselves after very personal battles with trauma, grief, loss, tragedy, and pain. Each child has a different story, as we all do.

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Camp Portalistic (noun): A book of the same name describing the very camp created and described above. There are many portals to Camp Portalistic itself, and almost anything can happen there. Animals interact with the Moon, portals appear in the Fuchsia Falls, and personal answers and paths reveal themselves in ways that are unique to each individual who decides to stay there. It's a magical place of healing for young lives, kids who have been through more than most adults before they reach the age of 12.

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Camp Portalistic (noun): The name of this website, as this is the virtual version of that very camp that doesn't really exist (yet). Here, I envision camp as a li'l brick-and-mortar coming to life, but online and for modern times.

- As Camp Portalistic is said to have a past of a different origin before residing in Fuchsia Falls. Here, on this website, we'll embrace community, connection, and creativity.

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Camp Portalistic (noun): The name of a mixed media painting series currently hanging at Lulu Cafe. The duality of writing the book while painting the landscapes and animals helps me refine my vision, as I can SEE this place in my mind. It's quite beautiful there, and I'm doing everything I can to bring it to life for many of you.

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Camp Portalistic (noun): Portalistic is not an actual word you'd find in a dictionary

- but it's a word that will not leave me alone. It came to me shortly after my husband, Zach, passed away. When he was sick with cancer, those four months felt like a portal that only the two of us were experiencing. That portal led each of us to a new realm.

- and he went one way, and I went another.

I cry each time I say or write that. Because it's true.

We live in these chapters, rooms, portals. This particular name resonates with me despite the countless times I tried to shake it off.

It found me.