I'm sure some of you have heard the term rewilding. It is gaining quite a bit of buzz lately in our world. As we try to navigate how to move forward while respecting the limited capacities of our only planet, the idea of rewilding will continue to be present. Rewilding is a concept that is often used in reclaiming wild landscapes from the constraints that human beings have placed on it.

“It’s a progressive approach to conservation. It’s about letting nature take care of itself, enabling natural processes to shape land and sea, repair damaged ecosystems and restore degrade landscapes. Through rewilding, wildlife’s natural rhythms create wilder, more biodiverse habitats.” -Rewilding Europe

The word rewilding contains so much within it that pertains to us as human beings. We have tamed ourselves and lived in a warped sense of captivity to the point where we forgot we are nature. We have taken all the wild out of ourselves and left only rigid structures. We no longer live in nature, we no longer commune with nature, we no longer eat what comes from nature, we have completely lost ourselves.

Yet, we are simply nature.

It is time that we begin to rewild. To learn to let the nature within us take care of itself. To remove the structural constraints that we thought would make us ‘better’. To allow the natural rhythm of life and death to return to the human realm.

So much has shifted in how we live. It began in an attempt to make our “wild” and “difficult” lives easier but has morphed into something that has us so incredibly disconnected with ourselves and our environment. We have sterilized and structured our lives for maximum efficiency and comfort. Yet we live in a time where mental health and physical health are at its absolute worst.

We grieve when we see the beautiful orca in captivity. Swimming in smaller and smaller circles, waiting in vain to never return to the vast ocean. We can see the sadness in it’s eyes, the changes to it’s physical beauty, and the weakness that develops.

Yet we choose to not see our lives as the same sort of captivity. We sleep in sterile boxes made of wood or stone, travel in metal machines that poison our air, only to sit in different sterile boxes and stare at a screen for a few hours. Only to hop back into the metal machine and return to our sterile box with artificial light to sleep and do it all over again the next day.

Why are we not grieving the loss of wild within ourselves? I believe many of us are grieving on a level that is not fully conscious to us. We do not know how to explain the longing for something we have never experienced. Most of us alive today have never lived in direct relation with the wild. But deep in our DNA, there is remembering that is constantly there. A knowing that we are simply nature. A craving to let nature take care of itself.

Our bones know living like this is not optimal. We are not meant to be tame. The wild is begging to be seen within each of us. It is now our duty to witness the wild within. To let the most wild and untamed version of ourselves be seen.

How do we begin this process when we are taught our entire lives to fear the wild. Every fairy tale has the wild beast or old witch that we are told is bad and should always be avoided. The knight in shining armor or the handsome prince are always the victors over the dark, dangerous and wild character. From the youngest of ages we are conditioned to believe the wild is not safe so of course we have always feared the wild within.

How do we overcome this fear that has grown within us and truly begin our rewilding journey? Curiosity, shifting perspective, vulnerability, courage, honesty, compassion, and seeking the truth. Nothing is easy about beginning the rewilding process and it is something that is best to not do alone. There is often safety in numbers, as human beings have always been pack animals in the wild.

Perhaps to overcome the fear of the wild, we must find our pack and collectively heal. Come join us on this journey of rewilding. Let’s get curious together and walk down an unknown path.

What structures and constraints need to be removed for you to be your most liberated and wild self?