Rewilding ‘Yourself’ is tricky when you are linked to everything. Western society will have you believe that you are separate from others, from nature… but it simply is not true. Rewilding at its core is not about personal gain, personal ego, personal psychology, or personal empowerment. Rewilding is meant to be community based, and meant to be informed by our human ecology and by the native people of the places we reside. It is about connecting back and giving back to the land that sustains us all. It is about vitality and health and regeneration for everyone.
You are a thread in the web of community and what you do matters. My personal inside voice tries to tell me sometimes that what I do does NOT matter, that my efforts are a waste of time in the face of the empire. When I allow this voice in the driver’s seat, all my creativity, intentions and actions come to a halt.
You are a thread in the web of community and what you do matters. My personal inside voice tries to tell me sometimes that what I do does NOT matter, that my efforts are a waste of time in the face of the empire. When I allow this voice in the driver’s seat, all my creativity, intentions and actions come to a halt.
Below are some ways of ‘rewilding yourself’ that I teach and strongly encourage my local communities to try on - individually and collectively. You may skip down to that section, but for anyone out there that feels powerless, helpless, or disabled at times by the forces and consequences of the industrial growth society, read the next paragraph first.
I gave up. For years in my life and career, I spiritually and psychologically gave up. I stopped believing that my efforts held any value; that people could alter their consciousness or behaviors; or that standing up for the rights of other people and species was worth the time. Then, one day while on an urban walk in Boulder, CO I heard something that shifted things. I heard ‘…so are you are going to give up on me too?? Just be with me, you don't have to fix things…’ It was Earth speaking to me that day.
So depending on where you lie on the fairy scale you may either dismiss this or empathize with my experience. Regardless, this was a big ‘Ah Ha!’ for me that resonated with my relationships with people experiencing hardships. When someone I care about is ill or in crises and I don’t have the answer or cure, do say ‘I give up’ and abandon them? No, I sit with them, I hear their struggles, I try to comfort, I offer what I can, and I am present. I do not have to be able to fix things in order to stay engaged.
I gave up. For years in my life and career, I spiritually and psychologically gave up. I stopped believing that my efforts held any value; that people could alter their consciousness or behaviors; or that standing up for the rights of other people and species was worth the time. Then, one day while on an urban walk in Boulder, CO I heard something that shifted things. I heard ‘…so are you are going to give up on me too?? Just be with me, you don't have to fix things…’ It was Earth speaking to me that day.
So depending on where you lie on the fairy scale you may either dismiss this or empathize with my experience. Regardless, this was a big ‘Ah Ha!’ for me that resonated with my relationships with people experiencing hardships. When someone I care about is ill or in crises and I don’t have the answer or cure, do say ‘I give up’ and abandon them? No, I sit with them, I hear their struggles, I try to comfort, I offer what I can, and I am present. I do not have to be able to fix things in order to stay engaged.
I encourage us all to stay engaged, to offer what we can (which is more than you think), and to be present to what is happening and what is being lost. This means embracing grief. This means knowing what injustices are happening locally and in your state. This means activating some new behaviors and attitudes within yourself and family system. This means knowing and trusting in your unique gifts and employing them for your community. This means gathering with others in the spirit of regenerating a culture that connects versus a society that controls and disconnects.
Don’t give up on Her too. There is much you can do.
