Hey there, wild souls!

This week, I have been thinking a lot about rewilding, and what it could mean - both for the land and for oursleves.

A quick google reveals the word wild to mean, "a plant or animal living in its natural state". So, I guess it follows that to rewild is to go back to a natural state.

I actually find this to be a tricky concept for two reasons: Firstly, can you ever really return to a 'natural' state if it is a premeditated and active decision to do so? (and what is 'natural' anyway - as life is always in flux?). Secondly - it implies that there is something unnatural about the way us and our way of life... which I do resist slightly because we are part of nature.

For me, rewilding encapsulates something deeper than a hypothetical natural state. It gets to the core of what Gabor Mate calls the tension between authenticity and attachment. We need both - but in our culture the drive for attachment (and thus security) has meant a denying of our intuition, bodily impulses, and an attempt to exert control over the wilder side of things whether that be in ourselves or in our environment.

Whether it's the climate crisis or acute mental health issues, there's something about our wild side that we have become disconnected from and which if tapped into can help to restore balance. So, where can we look for the answer?

1) Wild Plant of the week: Oak

The Oak is often used as a symbol of conservation charities here in the UK. In many ways it encapsulates the dichotomy we face in a culture that claims to love 'nature' but systematically fails to protect it and is slightly afraid of the wild.

Who doesn't love an Oak? I am constantly irked by people saying they hate 'weeds'; but I've never heard anyone ever say anything bad about Oak trees (have you?!).

While rewilding can build new spaces and help with nature recovery, ancient oaks support long standing ecosystems that cannot easily be replaced. I love this story of an ancient honeybee, thought to be extinct, found thriving in Blenheim palace's ancient oak trees a few years ago. A reminder that we need to both protect what we have as well as look for new opportunities for nature to thrive.

2) Rewilding: healing the planet one wild space at a time

Amidst recurring reports of the threat of ecological collapse this year, rewilding our land offers huge hope for restoring balance to our planet and all its creatures. October will see world leaders coming together at the UN COP16 meeting to discuss progress towards biodiversity goals. So, this week, I've taken a bit of a deep dive on the rewilding movement and what opportunities it can offer us. I won't repeat what's in the blog here, but do check it out:

3) Other inspiration: Rewilding ourselves

Over the summer I started reading "Call of the Wild: How We Heal Trauma, Awaken Our Own Power, and Use It For Good" by Kimberly Ann Johnson. She offers the following observation: "animals in their natural environment don't experience trauma, but humans, domesticated animals, and animals in zoos do".

This kind of blew my mind.

The aim of her book is to guide the reader 'beneath the social self' to connect with the physical self. She includes a lot of valuable information about the autonomous nervous system and useful techniques. Well worth a read.

Which leads me to circle back to the master, Gabor Mate, and his theories about how our society's way of life has become unnatural. I highly recommend checking out his most recent book, "The Myth of Normal", which is a fascinating and insightful read. Gabor says, "...much of what passes for normal in our society is neither healthy nor natural, and that to meet modern society's criteria for normality is, in many ways, to conform to requirements that are profoundly abnormal in regard to our nature-given needs".

Concluding thoughts

I hope you've found this newsletter on rewilding interesting - do let me know if you have any thoughts or suggested reading on this topic. I'm always keen to learn more.

Wishing you lovely weekend.