Take a Walk on the Wild Side

Take a Walk on the Wild Side

In wilderness I sense the miracle of life & behind it our scientific accomplishments fade to trivia
- Charles Lindbergh

There are times in life when we find ourselves in the wilderness.  We may have moved home, changed jobs, ended a relationship or literally trekked off into the sunset in search of new adventures. Times of transition and transformation invite us to let go of our known identities, stories and comfort blankets and connect with the wonderful wilderness of the unknown.

The Wild One
One darky wintery night on the streets of a small village in Austria, I encountered the Krampus - a long horned hairy beast who goes around scaring naughty children on the eve of St Nicholas Day. Unlike St Nick, who comes bearing gifts, the Krampus comes with a whip and may even carry you away to hell in a bathtub.  His big beastly footsteps track back to mythological wildmen and women including Old Father Winter, Jack Frost, Pan, Odin, The Green Man, Werewolves, Crones and Witches like Baba Yaga and Hekate, Satyrs, Fauns, Sprites and Elves.  Different forms of the Krampus can be found stalking across Europe from Befana the Italian witch, La Pere Fouettard the French Whip Father and the currently controversial Black Pete of the Netherlands. I share the deep discomfort of protesters about the use of blackface by white people, even if used to impersonate a character who emerged soot-faced from the chimney to leave gifts for children in their shoes.  It is no surprise that these wild characters provoke intense debate, for that is their role - to catalyze chaos and transformation.

The Call Of The Wild One
The Krampus myth is a big, bad, hairy monster which calls to acknowledge the wilder aspects of life.  Krampus is not just the bad cop to good cop St Nick, he is actually in service of our development. In some myths he asks children to sing a song, recite a poem or answer a riddle, in others he is St Nick’s adopted helper, much like Santa’s Elves.  Like the Roman winter feast of Saturnalia where masters and slaves reversed roles and cross dressing orgies were rife, on Krampusnacht wildness roams the streets.  The message is simple: if we want the gifts of life, we must take a walk on the wild side.

Getting Wild
We need the tonic of wildness.  At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be indefinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable.
- Henry David Thoreau
The wild ones come from the woods.  They live on the outskirts of our consciousness in dark places, under stones and prickly leaves.  All of a sudden they may spring out on us - in unexpected dreams, passions, conflicts, crises and transitions.  They live in the parts of us that we don’t know we don’t know, in the places where we are far more than our familiar identities.  They have no concern for traditional morality and conventions - being a ‘good girl or boy’ has no meaning in their realms.  Their ‘gifts’ do not come neatly wrapped nor do they give out easily interpretable ‘life lessons.’  Their wisdom is not easily discovered or illuminated, it emerges from the deep dark, lost places. They have access to a naturalness that defeats the intellect as to meet them requires meeting the wildness in ourselves.

The Riddle of the Seer
The Wilderness holds answers to more questions than we have yet learned to ask - Nancy Wynne Newhall
The riddle of our wildness is that in order to see we need to become present to our blindness. Much of our energy and potential can remain hidden in our blindspots - our everyday perceptions, filtered by our conditioning.  To live fully, we must release our creative wisdom which often emerges spontaneously from leftfield - through lightning strikes or the whispers of breezes.  To gain insight many mythological heroes, prophets, sages and deities spent time undergoing strange trials in the wilderness.  The Norse and Anglo Saxon God W/Odin hung upside down on World Tree Yggdrasil for 9 days and received the runic alphabet in a revelation.  He led the Wild Hunt across stormy wintery skies, followed by a trail of spirits - a myth now assimilated into Santa’s magic sleigh ride. W/Odin means seer, poet, sound, awe and the wild fury associated with ecstatic states.  Sacrificing an eye in exchange for a mouthful of the waters of wisdom, his quest for inner vision demonstrates that in order to grow, we must release our ‘normal’ perceptions and open to the great wild unknown.

Following The Underground River
Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? - Mary Oliver
When our wildness is not honoured, our growth is stilted, and like an underground river it will emerge where it can, sometimes violently.  Street gangs are formed from the need for initiation and expression in young people.  Crowds of sports fans revert to howling, chanting mobs in tribal warfare. Corporates driven crazy by stress seek out urban retreats and drum circles.
Our wild places, like the Underworlds of mythology, have rivers that run through them, deep archetypal strands that weave watery themes through time, passing through our own lives and those of our ancestors.  Charting a course through these dark waters may seem daunting in the shadows and may require us to shatter illusions about all we have known and held dear.  Yet connecting to this wild self is where we gain a deeper more satisfying and nurturing sense of power.  It is where we come home to the unknown within us and where our wildest dreams can and do come true.

Wishing you all the wonders of your wildness


 

Photo: Elizabeth Gadd whose photography captures Wanderlust in Magnificent Landscapes

Take a Walk on the Wild Side
* Challenge your habits - sleep on the other side of the bed, wear odd socks,
* Channel your creativity in an unusual way - paint with your feet, draw with your other hand.
* Visit a wild place in Nature or in your Neighbourhood :)
* Dare to say No - to unfulfilling obligations, oppressive situations and unnecessary social niceties
* ROAR!! - find somewhere safe to let rip!

Walking in an Inner Wonderland

Walking in an Inner Wonderland

Inner World - S Jaswant

Dear <>
I am surrounded by folks telling me they feel overwhelmingly tired here in London.  It’s no surprise - even though the autumn has been unusually warm, we now have less time to soak up the sun’s rays.  Yet in an urban environment, the production line carries on, insisting that all continue to output at the same level.  We wrap our bodies in extra layers, yet can miss the summons to stoke our inner fires.  Whatever season we are in, it is essential we nourish our inner worlds so that we can remain connected to our natural, creative impulses and re-energise our sense of enchantment with the wonder of life.

Walking For Wonder
All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking - Friedrich Nietszche
That old chestnut of a song, Winter Wonderland, contains some wisdom- to make life a wonderland we need to go for inner and outer walks. A pharmacist once told me that 20 minutes sunlight on our hands and faces gives us the daily sun vitamins we need - so walking can be truly revitalising. It also gives us time to walk through the talk in our heads - to turn over ideas about projects, ruminate on our relationships and simply let our thoughts wander. Walking feeds us with inspiring sights and sounds - from the dancing smile of a laughing child, the rugged face of a local tramp or the wind whistling through shivering leaves.  Like all forms of movement, walking charges up our inner spark, reigniting our energies and reconnecting us with our natural rhythms.

I’m looking forward to stoking the inner fires with graceful, generous yoga teacher Ciara Jean Roberts at a special Winter Warmer workshop - Phoenix Rising please do join us this Sunday for a heartwarming sing and stretch.

Making the Impossible Possible
“Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” - The White Queen, Alice Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
Our inner worlds can sometimes seem at odds with our external circumstances. We may find ourselves pushing to fulfil conditioned expectations or social obligations while inwardly longing to sit and dream by the fire.  Creativity bridges the gap between our inner and outer world, inviting us to walk through the wonderland of the impossible before making it outwardly possible - to listen to our hearts desires, our crazy ideas, our whisps of inspiration.  Singing requires us to listen for the magic of breath, melody, harmony, rhythm and to resonate with a song, a feeling, a story until it emerges as outward sound. 
I am currently honoured to be working with Joanna Foster, Angela Reith and patients on the Singing for Breathing programme at the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals on a composition that celebrates the wonder of breath, sound and song. This will be performed on 11th November at the exhibition of Jayne Wilton’s exquisite breathe artwork which makes the inner world of the breath visible.

Dreaming the world into wonder
Later on/ We'll conspire/ As we dream by the fire/ To face unafraid/ The plans that we've made/ Walking in a winter wonderland
We need the warmth of courage to fan the flames of our hearts desires. To make our world a wonderland we must act on our dreams.  The solutions to so many problems - both personal and collective - lie within and at the tips of our fingers.  I was recently inspired by a visit to Paxton Green Time Bank - part of a nationwide scheme enabling individuals and organisations to share and access skills, assets, time and resources. An hour is exchanged for an hour - whether that’s an hour of gardening, exercise or training - celebrating the value of our time and the wonderful wealth we have as individuals and communities. There is more than enough wealth in the world to end poverty - a tax of only 1.5% on some of the world’s billionaires would be enough to put every child in school and provide health care in the world’s poorest countries.  You can sign Oxfam’s petition to help Even It Up and dream a more wonderful world for all of us.

Wishing you a wonder-filled November

Dreaming more wonder in your world

* Make time for a wonderful walk
- perhaps in a new and undiscovered place
* Acknowledge your wonderfulness
- celebrate and list your skills and assets
* Dream something different
- dare yourself to fulfil that secret dream
* Bring more wonder into the world
- do something to make someone’s day