The Girl Scout Law vs Leaving a Clean Wake
Okay, let’s say you’re on board with this whole “leaving a clean wake” idea (if you’re still here and still reading, hopefully that means you are). We like to think it’s a fairly intuitive strategy, and with a lot of room for customization, but what does that actually look like?
Some of that customization could come in the form of partnering “leave a clean wake” with one or more other life philosophies, as we’ve discussed previously. There are certainly a lot of options out there, and some are definitely in the same vein as leaving a clean wake, while offering some more specific details and applications to expand on the core concept.
There are also some life philosophies that, in our humble opinions, don’t stack up quite as well. But we’ll get to some of those later on in the Great Life Philosophy Showdown. For now, on a positive note, we present to you (drumroll please)...
Leaving a Clean Wake vs the Girl Scout Law!
The Girl Scouts of the USA logo
Michael was a Boy Scout, but Vienna is the one writing this, so Girl Scouts it is.
The Harvey women have a combined several decades of experience both being Girl Scouts and leading Girl Scouts. It goes back further, too: Ginny’s mom was a troop leader, and Michael’s mom was a Girl Guide—the UK equivalent of Girl Scouts. Ginny went on to be a camp counselor and later a troop leader herself, Vienna and Rhiannon were K-12 Girl Scouts, and Vienna served as an assistant leader and small craft safety instructor for multiple troops in Norfolk.
Rhiannon and Vienna as Brownies, c. 2003, aboard the good ship Atalanta.
We’ve done the whole gamut: camping, cookie selling, community service, completing a wide assortment of badges/patches/awards, leading various ceremonies at various official functions, and yes, reciting the Girl Scout Law on lots of occasions. Vienna and Rhiannon both earned Gold Awards, the Girl Scout equivalent of an Eagle Scout project. Vienna constructed a butterfly garden for a local library, and Rhiannon raised rats to star in educational programming at the local zoo—very indicative of our bookworm and our biologist.
For those unfamiliar, some quick background on Girl Scouts:
Girl Scouts was started in 1912, in Savannah, Georgia, by Juliette Gordon Low.
Her initial troop had 18 girls, but the organization quickly expanded and spread across the US.
Today, there are several million active Girl Scouts, plus a huge number of alumni, many of whom remain involved with/connected to the organization through adulthood.
Girl Scouts includes several age categories for girls in grades K-12, and individual Girl Scouts can be registered either as part of a troop or as “Juliettes” who are not affiliated with a specific troop (for example, if you live on a sailboat. Vienna and Rhiannon spent several years as Juliettes in between our WA troop and our VA troop).
At one point during our boat years we ducked into Hilton Head while fleeing a violent electrical storm, and made a little pilgrimage to Savannah to visit the Juliette Gordon Low House!
While Girl Scouts may be best known for the cookies, Girl Scout activities also include things like outdoor skills, volunteering in their community, tech skills (including a recent partnership with Google called “Made With Code”), and so, so, so much more.
Vienna at the Juliette Gordon Low House, 2004
The Girl Scout Law (and the shorter Girl Scout Promise) is often recited at events, ceremonies, and assorted occasions as a reaffirmation of these guidelines as words to embrace and live by. The Law has undergone several changes since 1912; the current form has existed since the 1990s and reads as follows:
I will do my best to be
Honest and fair
Friendly and helpful
Considerate and caring
Courageous and strong
and
Ginny, Rhiannon, and Vienna at the Juliette Gordon Low House, 2004
Responsible for what I say and do
and to
Respect myself and others
Respect authority
Use resources wisely
Make the world a better place
And be a sister to every Girl Scout.
Dissecting it a little, we can see that it breaks into two parts: the first five elements are qualities/characteristics, and the last five are more action-based. Given that the first four elements consist of two characteristics each, that brings us to 14 total values. Only the final line specifically references Girl Scouts—the others can apply to anyone. All of them are focused on things to do or be (positive) rather than things to not do or be (negative). I have some reservations about “respect authority” as a blanket statement, but the Girl Scout Law is primarily targeted for children and teenagers, and in general these all seem like pretty unambiguously good ideas.
Personally, I think the Girl Scout Law can make a really nice expansion on the idea of leaving a clean wake. Aspiring to all these qualities and actions (although again with my slight quibble with “respect authority”) can contribute to your leaving a positive mark in the world as you go about your life.
Vienna, Ginny, and Rhiannon making the Girl Scout sign, c. 2004. Note the “Juliette” patches on Vienna’s and Rhiannon’s vests
It’s unlikely you’ll hit all of them 100% right 100% of the time, but that’s okay—we’re all just humans, doing our best (hopefully). We all have days when we’re not at our most considerate and caring and our wake isn’t as clean as we might like, but tomorrow is a new day and a new chance to learn, grow, move on (including making any necessary apologies), and continue doing our best.
“Leave a clean wake” is short and sweet, but sometimes it can be helpful to have a few more specific ideas about what that might actually consist of in practice. The Girl Scout Law can step in to offer some of that further guidance, while still leaving plenty of room for interpretation and adaptation to your own unique circumstances, and brings with it a long and storied history and tradition.
Vienna and friends building a butterfly garden for Vienna’s Gold Award, 2011
Whether or not Girl Scouting itself is for you, the Girl Scout Law contains values we can all aspire to in our quest to leave a clean wake.
“The work of today is the history of tomorrow, and we are its makers.”
All information taken from the official Girl Scout website.