"you are strong" by carrie hart

"You are strong"

Today, I wish to tell you of your strength. You are very strong. You are powerful and full of talent and capability. You have all of the strength that you need to handle what is flowing toward you in life. All of the challenges, all of the obstacles to be overcome. You can handle all of it.

And the thing to know about your strength is this: the more you face your challenges and respond to them, the stronger you will become. The more you hide from them, the weaker you will become.

First, believe. Believe that you are capable of handling your life. Feeling the victim is very disempowering. When you begin to feel sorry for yourself and fall into a pattern of blame, blaming circumstances, other people or even yourself, you are giving away your strength.

Strength lies in responsibility. Take a look at what life holds in this moment. Take a clear and calm look, not full of blame and bitterness and certainly not full of fear or doubt. Just a calm, cool assessment. This is how things are today. And then, take a deep breath and act, act out of a deep conviction which you feel inside, out of the center of truth and peace which resides within.

It takes courage to directly deal with life, to accept what is without anger or blame and then set about doing what you need to do. But every time you fill yourself with courage and act, you will grow stronger, and then it becomes easier and easier to be the strong and capable person you truly are.

Every time you pretend, every time you deny what truly is, every time you run and hide from what has come your way, you grow weaker. But even then, even if you have done this in the past, it is not too late. You still have within you the power and strength you need to do what you must do. It is never too late to show the world who you are.

It is never too late for courageous action and truth, never too late to correct your direction. You are enough for your life, and you are surrounded by help. And when you look at life in the clear light ofday and choose courageous and honest action, all of the energy around you becomes charged and aligns itself with you. Your truth reaches up into the greatest power that exists and empowers you to act upon it, fully and nobly.

You are strong.

Here is a little prayer for today

Today, I feel courage running through my body. I am full of power and it surges through me.

Today, my eyes and my mind are clear and calm. I see life for what it is right now and I feel the flow; I am a deep part of all that is.

I embrace this moment right now, fully and completely. I embrace who I am and where I am, exactly as things are. I feel my own strength growing as I acknowledge my place in the world and reach down into my own personal truth for the rightness which is there.

I am strong. I am powerful. I am full of truth. I am.

***by carrie hart

be blessed and be blissed

"in the bubble of present-moment bliss".

This is not the final destination, not for me. It is a stop along the way. I will eventually move on, and when I do, I might not make it back here again. Or maybe I will be blessed to stop here again, on a different pilgrimage around Turtle Island (North America).

Either way, this moment right now is what is happening. It's where it's at. I slowly look around, and I see every plant as uniquely and distinctly alive. I hear a soft whooshing, like the whisper of God. I hear rhythmic, melodic bird songs. I see moss on trees that has been growing for many decades. I feel enveloped in a giant bubble of present-moment bliss. Nothing and yet everything exists outside this moment, this time-stroke, at this crossroads where I am sitting and meditating.

As life goes further along, I find myself falling under frequent reveries, spells of meditation, where I sit down and absorb the full, sweet-tart awareness of life. I follow my thoughts like a child exploring a stream. I totally tune in to the surrounding sounds and movements, the scents in the air. I don't do drugs or drink. It's just a natural thing that happens when I sit still and focus on grounding and centering myself in who I truly am. 

 

My life has moved on and moved on and moved on, over and over again in recent years. I will not lay down roots for the rest of my life...yet.I can tell the journey will continue. So I will visit other stops along the way, and enjoy each one to the fullest in the present moment, and the moments will collect and flow like a river. A beautiful river, the river of your life, 

if you can stay in the flow that is right for who you are, and stay aware in the present moment.

In the moment, the present moment, the silence I first encounter and the lack of electronic stimulation is strong in my awareness. Gradually, I realize what I've been tuning out, as the space fills up with all those sounds that I usually tune out. Not to mention bird song and wind, I can also hear many other sounds that come together like a symphony or a jam rock solo. Space...or the voice of God?

I look around at my life, at where I am actually sitting, and I think about all the places I've been in life. Some I've called home, others just a way station along the way. Is this the nexus of my journey? I think about the impermanence of it all, yet what remains permanent is my soul, the part of me that flows along, observing and interrelating. 

I like to appreciate where I am and who I meet, right in the moment that I am there, because many times I have experienced sudden endings and movings, and then the person or place is seemingly out of reach forever. But if you love it to the fullest, it becomes part of you somehow, and then you can enjoy it whenever you recall it, by reminiscing and 

honoring the past in your celebration of the present moment.

I also remember to give thanks and feel gratitude. It makes everything sweeter, even if I need a few minutes to get over some disappointment or anger. After I get over it, I come back to my Center, and focus on gratitude. These things make the journey a lot more blessed.

In Honor of Gary Snyder

In Honor of Gary Snyder


by kiyonah thundersong

written October 08, 1993

oh to be alive
 on a mid-october morning...
walking down a shady path,
barefoot, hair loose,
pack on shoulders,
sunshine, changing leaves,
rocky gorge in the Appalachians...

gurgle and shimmer of an icy creeks waters,
stones and moss underfoot,
singing inside...
creek music, heart music,
smell of sun on gravel,
hawk in the blue sky above,
dancing in th morning air...

eating wild mushrooms,
drumming in the sunshine,
at one with the world,
complete, whole, content, serene...
a bullfrog speaks to me
from someplace unknown.
i laugh and speak back.

home is where my heart is,
and home is right here...

my very first Rainbow Gathering

My favorite Gathering was probably my very first one, the Cumberland Gathering in the spring of 1993. OM Valley from Cincinnati also had a big presence there with their Bliss Kitchen (music all the time, usually Grateful Dead on banjos and mandolins) and their hand built Kid Village playground. i had no idea what Rainbow was, and i went there on a "camping trip" that my boyfriend promised me i would love and never forget.


so we drove down winding country roads thru eastern central kentucky, where all the dripping caves and shady hollars are. well, you can imagine my bafflement and surprise to be greeted by the most beautiful Rainbows, with dredlocks, muslin and calico clothing, all kinds of funky jewelry, people of every possible description including straight looking people and old folks, all up in the parking lot, yelling "welcome home!", "we looooooove you!" "you're beauuuuutiful!" over and over again, trying to outdo each other and breaking up into laughter and silliness, jumping on each others backs for piggyback rides and stuff. i was amazed. the Rainbow Flag was there, saying the family that prays/plays together, stays together. also an Earth Flag. lots of colorful banners with raps and advice, and flags to the shitters and kitchens and stuff. i felt i'd arrived in a different country, all of a sudden!


so i put on my boots and shyly gathered my pack up, trying not to look anyone in the eyes, but study them without them seeing me do it. they were so open and sweet. running up and demanding a hug and then kidnapping the person, spiriting them away to get high in a nearby tent. i had never smoked ganga, so i had no hunger for it, but i was very curious.


i walked down the trail slowly, marvelling at the natural wonders in the treetops, with blue sky peeking thru, the rocky creeks, the sharp curves where i had to grab a tree to not go off a cliff. i felt i was crossing a threshold into another world. there were little camps all thru the trees, like an ewok village in star wars. drums. heavenly scented smoke, children giggling.


the first place we arrived was at the kitchen, to even more welcome homes and hugs. i'm sure my eyes were shining very brightly by now. i forgot all about my pack and just dropped it, so i could wander around. the culture shock was so strong, within my own culture, that i will never, ever forget it. i was reborn that day.


that night, the bonfire was beautiful. i saw dragons and faces of ancestors and so much else in the embers of the bonfire, and i had never tripped yet. whenever someone stoked the fire, embers and sparks showered upward into the clear night sky, to the moon and the stars. the heartsongs literally made me lay on the ground and cry so hard. i cry now just remembering it. a beautiful sister was drinking wine and yelling "I....FEEEEEEL....FREEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!" over and over again. cool old men sat around playing guitar and reminiscing about the heyday of acid rock and psychedelia. god, it was great.


the food was mainly 12 bean soup with cornbread, and it was so delicious that my mouth waters remembering it. also, the Hare Krishna were there with their bells, their storytelling, and their sweet delicious food. they threw flowers on the fires that made the entire area smell like heaven. they did cartwheels and told stories and make everyone smile. at night, the dudes in the kitchen, Scooter and crew, made tons of pizzas in a clay oven, and pretzels with chocolate, and fudge brownies. Scooter made sure to put some for me in a little hole in the ground with a stiff piece of earth over it, because i could never get in line fast enough, before it was all gone. what a sweetheart. he also carried my pack out of the gathering for me, all uphill, and i gave him my favorite turtle bead, because my name was Turtleheart at that time. last i heard, he still has the bead in his medicine bag.

wisdom and wanderlust

"And the world cannot be discovered by a journey of

miles, no matter how long, but only by a spiritual

journey, a journey of one inch, very arduous and

humbling and joyful, by which we arrive at the ground

at our feet and learn to be at home."

-Wendell Berry, "The Unforeseen Wilderness"

Since June 2005, I've traveled at least 20,000 miles, from the Atlantic Coast of North Carolina to the Pacific Coast of California, and many places in between. It began as a journey into homelessness and ended as an arrival Home once again.

I’ve journeyed through wilderness and urban jungles, exploring realms both dark and light. I've realized the value of seeing this time of my life as a pilgrimage, an initiation, a rite of passage.This Hero's Journey has served me well, to reconnect me with the Earth and with Spirit, pushing and pulling me to heal my personal life, and strengthening my resolve to help restore the balance and majesty of our beloved planetary home.

The lessons of this journey were about survival, interconnectedness, faith in Spirit and the Flow, forgiveness of people who knew not what they did, growth in myself of qualities dormant for too long, and so much more. I began as an innocent fool, and emerged as a sage in training. When others held up the Light for me, I took hold of it and held it up for those who got on the trail after me, to help show the way.

Wisdom, Wilderness and Wanderlust. They've compelled deep and profound revelations about my true nature, about the purpose of my life, about possibilities, as I began to transition to a new phase of my soul's evolution. They've given me deeper understandings about life and love, and respect for the intimate interconnectedness of all life. I've learned about the road as a metaphor for the journey of life, like never before.

I've had to call on all my reserves of courage and endurance to overcome the obstacles along the way. The rewards have been times of soulful bliss in the midst of crippling darkness, a deeper radiance in the face of diabolical oppositions, an opening of my heart and expansion of my mind despite the lagging awareness of some of those around me, and a certainty that I am stronger and bigger than I know. These Hero's Prizes came to me after many months and miles of intense suffering and struggling to be reborn and to find Home again.

I have to honor myself and all pilgrims and soul survivors for enduring the journeys and rebirths. The Road has forced a lot of deep emotional stuff to the surface, which had to be processed and released. I had to be strong to understand, to correctly interpret, and to integrate my experiences. Without the understanding and release, I could not have transcended and carried on. Sharing my stories with you helps me to attain a profound integration of my being, going from woundedness to wholeness.

My Journey thru Wisdom and Wanderlust has been in all ways an experience of being fully alive. My heart and my soul have remembered Truth, given and received Love, been electrified and soothed and metamorphosed by Light. I was a caterpillar, now I am a butterfly. And so my journey Homeward continues...

keep your wild human funk alive

This is what I know. This wild human life is alive. No matter what the circumstances, our wild human lives are begging to be celebrated, cared for consistently, and cultivated to greater depths and higher vibrations, even when we struggle to hold on to sanity and serenity. I won't let any of this postmodern insanity in all aspects of life get me down. Not for long, anyway.


I know these things while I'm feeling bathed in the light of love and I'm living a well-loved life. My challenge is to connect the illuminated high points like dots on a map, across the terrains of darkness that I go through, and to be a beacon of light for myself and others, while going through that darkness. I think of it like a mental map I can show to someone on the same kind of journey, to help them survive and find their way home, too. And I can offer a wild human template to show them what is possible.


When life is turbulent, how can we reclaim the miracles of our wild human life? Embrace it and celebrate it and empower what we want to amplify and solidify. We take a breath, we step up, we bite into it, and we love it as it is. Sometimes it's sweet in the mouth and sour in the stomach, sometimes its sour in the mouth and sweet in the stomach.


Think about all the garbage we have to process in modern life, physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. We have to process it in all directions, from it's creation to it's decay and eventual recreation. Maybe it's time for an attitude adjustment or a major overhaul. Reduce, reuse and recycle in ALL ways on ALL levels. As old circumstances fade away, make good choices aligned with who you really are, be good and live good and bring in good. Live organic, eat organic, love organic, think organic. And when garbage comes in, find a good way to treat it and get it out of your life.


Maybe...maybe not. Life has darkness, and so I believe it serves some valuable function for growth and change. We can't get rid of it. It's part of the design and the balance of life itself. We can handle how we receive it and react to it, I think. Eventually master it by degrees, anyway. And then integrate it into the wild human tapestry of our wild human lives.


Every day in every way, everything in the world is simultaneously dying and coming alive. Which aspect do you focus on, as a wild human? I focus on both. Do you see the dying and the coming alive in your home, your clothes, your transportation, your friends and their lives, your thoughts and dreams, all of it? Now isn't that something? The rose is in the garbage, and the garbage is in the rose. Interdependent coexistence of light and dark, good and bad, wild and tame, free and imprisoned, beautiful and ugly, happy and unhappy, all of it.


Hmmm. Quite amusing and interesting when you aren't too attached. Quite agonizing and emotional when you are. Great Spirit must be extraordinary to have created all of this, to allow it and sustain it to continue, and to love and to care about every molecule in Creation. Just think about that.


How can you as a wild human create a heritage for yourself, based on values of celebration and reverence of life as it is, including and embracing all of it? How can we make choices so that we smell, touch, taste and feel what is balanced, healthy and just, even while system-busting and subverting the dominant paradigms? Or even while dealing with unevolved people with no appreciation of our wild humanness?


Reverence. Like poetry in motion as wild human life. The essence of wild human life. Hitchhiker poetry. Outlaw poetry. Down in the blues poetry. Wilderhumans uniting in the woods poetry. The poetry is life itself. Sometimes written down, sometimes sung, sometimes acted out. In reverence. Spiral slacker, gutterpunk, neotribalistic, green anarchistic, hip hop spoken word, insane buddhist, peaceful native american, seasoned elder, fearless youngster, poetic reverence.


Embracing all of it, including the pain and the scars. Those details of the poetry give the wild human story of your life character and depth. Even the shame and the dying and the apparent failures and shortcomings. All of it is heroic. All of it makes me cry and shout with joy at the same time. My soul has a thousand tattoes about the adventures I've experienced so far, and my mind is covered with the grafiti that tells the stories...


Wild human reverence is big enough to fit around both the beauty and the hell of this world. It's also small enough to fit in your pocket. By carrying wild human reverence with you, you can stay awake and aware and creative in how you relate with what shapes your world. When I am upset, I go hide up in the treetops and remember who I am and what my wild human life is about, and I embrace it. I step slowly and carefully when crossing such terrain, so as not to get hurt too badly, and as soon as the coast is clear, I run and smile and be happy again. Such is life.


How you do anything is how you do everything. So what about that? Hmm? When YOU get overwhelmed, angry, apathetic, lost in the insanity, who and what helps you to relight your wild human fire? How do you increase your capacity to self-ignite and electrify yourself to life again? Sometimes I feel like I'm crossing the Swamp of Neverending Sadness and if I give in to it, it will suck me down and under. Only then will the enemy have won. So on I go, streaming tears and thunder struck with grief sometimes. Eventually, I come up the bank and into the forest and life is ok again.


The secret is to keep your wild human spirit IN MOTION. Your spirit needs to have actions that are relevant, meaningful and somehow significant, however small. Like grafiti that says "THIS IS VANDALISM FOR IT'S OWN SAKE".. This is Wild Human Life FOR ITS OWN SAKE and no other. Ha!


WAKE UP. RISE UP. LIVE!!!! Face your challenges and opportunities by rooting down deep into your wild human peace. If you don't have wild human peace, then strive to find it or create it. It will soothe you in the darkest times and help you to exude your truth. Carry it into all your taproots and branches and leaves and seeds and fruit. A tree is known by it's fruit. Send your roots deep into the earth and reach your branches up into the sky and make your wild human fruit juicy and soulful.


Be a home for all kinds of wild creatures. I'm in love with the family of racoons that live in my yard and tall trees. A mom, dad and three beautiful babies. They look like a cross between a cat, a ferret and a koala bear. They are fascinating, so intelligent and aware and beautiful like bandits with their face masks, climbing face first down those tall trees, hiding in the v-crooks watching me as I watch them. Wow.


When your wild human self awakens to another day, remember to define and refine your conscious actions and attitudes, and bring a little attention to the unconscious ones. Choose your habits and have-to-do's with all the conscious intention you can muster!!! Take time to wake up, at least an hour or two--be alone with your coffee and the breeze so that your thoughts can settle and you can "get into character" to face the day if necessary--" character" is the you that you wish to become and to be, or it's who you are before the world imposes it's paradigms on you.


In this time of humanity's great transitions and changings, wild humans are not to be afraid to shine. Like the light of the world. Like a beacon down a dark trail guiding pilgrims home to what is real and what has value and meaning for those with whom it resonates. So many souls need it and long for it. I receive letters every day that show me this.


We've got to keep our wild human phunk alive as we compost this dominant paradigm of conspicuous consumption, hierarchy and power, demand and waste, distraction and meaninglessness, disconnection and acrimony. In it's place, we wild humans grow a fertile culture of connection with the Earth, with each other, with Spirit, with our true selves. We express this in our relationships with ourselves, our people, our places, our values, our choices.


Be beautiful, be free, be true to your wild human self, and be blissed, because you are.

it's all about the motion

How do you hold steady as a wild human? People who live in a state of relative motion, living on the road as they seek out a home base, are aware of the need to hold steady amidst constant change. But even rock solid lives are besieged with transitions these days, and even stable people need to stay steady. These transitions in our personal lives are connected with transitions in play on a planetary scale, as habitats, weather patterns, animal species and entire ecosystems are on the move. Even the trees themselves are on the road as their seedlings take root ever farther north, chasing the climates that soothe their souls.


How do you as a wild human hold steady, when your soul is on the move, seeking home and stability? I'm not just speaking of geographical motion, but also of economic, political and even spiritual motion, as we stare into the gnarley eyes of collapse all around, and as we play our hands, with each new card dealt holding the possibility of volatile change. A lot of shuffling and stirring these days. Me oh my. None of this motion is like a simple move in a U-haul, no no, this is vague and looming and crunchy with uncertainty.


There is a lot going on "out there", as well as "in here" that could cause one a lot of distress...Where is all of this going? Are we doomed as a species? What happens when the last penguin boards the bus to oblivion? Is the last human next? I know these are heavy questions, but even the corporate mass media, always rushing to capitalize on the latest fears, are asking some pretty heavy questions of late.


I think that the gift is right there within the curse. We can do numerous things with our fears, doubts and concerns--feel anger, resentment, or hopelessness- -but I propose that as wild humans we go into appreciation, gratitude and wonder about the complexity of what it takes to pull off all the shifting that's going on. Just one small example could be all the beauties, problems, and complexities of the Rainbow Family on all levels. We could get angry and resentful about cop interference, persecution from all directions, stuff like A-camp and wrecking crews, etc. Or we can feel gratitude for the Rainbow Family itself, and appreciate it for all that it is, and feel wonderment at the incredible counterculture that it is.


If it is all about the motion--keeping life and spirit in motion while holding our souls steady through the changes so that we don't deconstruct- -and if movement permeates our existence on all levels--then we as wild humans can instigate movement into what we'd prefer to experience. And we CAN take the shortest path, though not usually the path of least resistance. When we are beset by bad feelings about facing this world as it is and is becoming, then we can allow ourselves to be moved by those very feelings into GRACE.


Grace is a very powerful state to be in. I also call it being in the flow. Have you taken your daily dose of Vitamin Be Here Now??? It requires blind faith sometimes, and acting "as if" it will all work out, even when you know that is not possible. Grace is dynamic--everchangi ng--,and supportive of hope, and urging to all of life to create and to move forward. Grace is the flow of energy and events that mediates between our immaturity and our power, like when we drive on "autopilot" while high and while talking on a cell phone and not crashing. Grace, wild human grace, is what carries the motion of our lives forward through our personal and sociocultural evolutions. It's an energy and an attitude we carry with us whenever we can remember to. I sometimes think of it as Jedi Mind Tricks.


We have often heard that the journey IS the destination, and the ends ARE the means, but how do we apply that to the drone of our daily, to-do-list oriented lives, with our goals and unfinished projects and so forth and so on? There is definitely joy in a sense of completion and accomplishment, but the joy is so much fuller when each moment has an opportunity to reflect it.


It's often hard to remember, but each moment of life is complete, in and of itself. Each moment reflects a blip on the heartbeat screen of creation. It glows with the possibility of living in the sanity and beauty we know is on the tips of our souls. We don't usually see the next blip coming, but it comes, packing another shining opportunity. If that last moment we went through fell apart into fear or anger or self-loathing, well here comes another chance to acknowledge grace and being here now, as we flow into the next moment.


What did you create in the moment you just experienced, if anything? It doesn't matter what the label for it is--a grassroots movement, a hippie music festival, caring for a child or parent. What matters is that we do trust the flow and the grace to carry us forward into each proceeding moment, each sacred, joyful, annoying, persistent, brilliant moment as it flows one after another. Do you broadcast vibes of stress or peace? Hatred or tolerance? Opposition or connection? Unconsciousness or awareness?

Generate a world you know is possible through what you as a wild human create in this moment. When you miss a moment or two, its ok, you can return to wild human awareness in the next moment. It's all about the motion, the flow, the dance of life.

There is where the strength and the magic reside, to hold all the questions and answers, the mysteries and wonders, the doubts and the facts, that hurtle us ever forward into the unknown.

urban tribalism

I believe that humans were created and have evolved to live in a tribal society, not a modern or postmodern society. Modern society is a mutation that is unsustainable and headed for collapse. We have to look at where we are evolving beyond modern society. But over and over again, the people I meet and communicate with feel they cannot be happy until they find, recreate, or embrace a tribal lifestyle, and I will attempt to define for you what that means for us as modern wild humans.

Almost all human societies go through four distinct phases in their evolution. The first is the tribal form. It was the first to emerge and mature, beginning thousands of years ago. It's main characteristic is kinship, which gives people a sense of identity and belonging. Kinship, identity and belonging are the basic benefits of culture, and people still need these things today, even in the modern world.

The second phase is the institutional form, which emphasizes hierarchy, as seen in the Roman empire (and now the American empire) and the Catholic Church. This phase bores me and I don't like it.

The third phase is the market form, which allows people to prosper and excel in competitive and fair exchanges, supposedly. It was there all along, but rose strongly in the 19th century in England. This phase tends to benefit the status quo at the expense of everyone else.

The fourth and final phase for our evolution is the network form, which serves to connect isolated individuals and groups so they can organize and act together. With the rise of the Internet, we entered this phase. This form strengthens civil society and greatly intensifies cultural evolution. So we evolve and we revolve back to the beginning, back to the tribal form, with the other forms blended in- tribal*institutional*market*network* WOW!!!

To succeed as wild humans, we will probably make the best progress by combining all four forms in our own subversive way, or at least allow them to function together. They are not substitutes for each other--the tribal form does not replace the institutional form, for example. They complement each other, and we might function best at this time by honoring some aspect of them all.


We are at our core tribal creatures. Those of us who feel it more strongly sense the constant opposition to our inherent natures on a daily basis. Think about how you are channeled like a metal ball through a maze by traffic, beaurocracy, and "the way things are done" in every aspect of life. We are strongly "encouraged" to cooperate and go along with how things were set up by people we have absolutely no connection with. Even if we can clearly see or invent a better way, we are thwarted and opposed and must go against the grain and fight to innovate society and life in general. If you look at how tribal cultures handle the business of life, it's organic, it's communal.

Anthropologists have noticed for decades that when a species is removed from the environment in which it evolved, it will eventually become neurotic or pathological. Look at dolphins in aquariums who eventually commit suicide by banging their heads into the tank wall over and over again. You never hear about it in the media but it does happen. Other animals commit suicide too. And so do humans!!!

Humans are not in an environment that resembles the one in which we evolved. There are numerous kinds of natural environments, but they are all characterized by small locality, with an ecosystem from which to directly draw sustenance, homes made of local materials, a kinship and communal system to which to belong, and so forth.

Two bad things about modern living that are not found in tribal cultures are having to live in a society of strangers, and having to prove your membership or citizenship all the time in order to function or to receive any benefits. It's completely alienating! It's not wild or natural. And it's not healthy. I don't know this for a fact, but I feel like an optimal size for a tribal group is 150-300 people. And I actually prefer much smaller groups, like 30-75 people. You need enough people for cohesion and variety, but not so many that there is competition and conflict over limited resources or ideological differences.

I see the general breakdown of our social structure in America, as so many people move around every few years for economic reasons, they have to commute long distances to work--then work all day--come home and collapse in front of the tv or computer--go to bed--get up and do it all over again, and they don't have time for strong friendships and community activities. This is generalizing, but I've seen it's true when I look around me. A few people manage to juggle it all, but for the most part, it's hard to define what it means to be an American today. A century ago, you were defined by your roots and sense of place, your religious affiliations, your apprenticeship and career, your family and it's reputation, your roles like mother or teacher. Now, who knows. We have to figure it out again, in this postmodern context, and define it for ourselves.

I think it's only natural that as we realize the dissatisfaction of modern and postmodern life, that we look back to our ancient roots for guidance and for templates for our existence. That's actually the meaning of revolution--revolving back to the beginning, like a circle coming back around again. We revolve around and around. That is different than thinking of revolution as a form of revolt with violent resistance, which I am opposed to unless it's completely unavoidable and we are fighting for our lives. We evolve and we revolve, and that is revolution. So our attention comes back to the past again, and we look to see what got our ancestors through the past million years of life on Earth.

So what does urban tribalism look like for us as wild humans? What does it mean, as far as describing how we can live and grow and thrive? As you know, I believe that wild humans can create a co-existence between tribal lifeways and modern technological lifeways. I believe we can blend them into something new that addresses our need for authentic human experience.

So, we can live in communal situations, like houses of wild humans who have intimate friendships, cultural rituals like initiations and heartsong circles and full moon potlucks, with common human decency laid out as general rules to guide us. At the same time, we can go into town to work at productive jobs or run our own businesses, we can drive cars, we can shop in stores or visit chiropractors or whatever we need. We can grow our food in a garden, then cook it with a food processor and other machines. We can learn about wild human ways online, and then turn off the computer and camp in the woods and do it. I like going into town and hanging out in coffee shops and going to the movies and browsing through head shops and stuff. Whatever turns on that part of your mind. The key is balance between natural tribal ways and modern technological ways.

I want to make it clear that I believe in a peaceful and nonviolent transition to this blending of tribal and modern lifeways. I don't want to see society or civilization collapse. However, many people, such as the Anthropik tribe, believe that it is inevitable, and maybe it is. I believe that we can thrive as urban tribalists, wild humans, even before modern society has been reduced or destroyed. I don't believe in walking away from modern society and abandoning all the people we'd leave behind. I don't believe in taking any violent actions to accelerate it's collapse--absolutely not. Wild humans will sometimes practice nonviolent resistance to modern lifeways, like graffiti or squatting, but never violent actions. Violence only creates problems and makes the beasts stronger and angrier. And we don't need that.

That's not what tribalism and wild humanism are about. We are about personal empowerment and cultural transformation, and we are inclusive and loving. We serve as a bridge between traditional and modern lifeways. We focus on learning survival strategies and practicing them, as well as forming little tribes and communities everywhere, so we have a solid foundation in place as modern society goes through it's turmoil. I wish I could make the transition easier for everyone, but I can't, so I do what I can, one person at a time.

Unlike traditional tribes into which people are born and raised, your membership in this tribe is voluntary. It may even be shallow and fairly meaningless. We don't have strong cultural traditions and kinship ties of our own, like traditional tribes. That's why we fall into the description of neotribalism or urban tribalism. It's something new, a new meme in the garden of human life. And that's ok. It is what it is, and it does what it does. We don't try to steal indigenous culture from it's true members, and we don't have a problem embracing what we still are--capitalists, products of public education, whatever. We are what we are, and we do what we do, and that's absolutely ok. We are on this journey together.

Modern tribalism is just as valid as traditional tribalism. It's very different, but people can be just as tribal now as they were then. Tribalism is the first paradigm for social organization, and it won't lose its significance or attractiveness. It will not go away, because it's a part of who we are as humans.

Here are some characteristics of modern tribalism. The Rainbow Family and homeless people and wild humans all fall into this description, as do other groups with similar traits. They have their own values and conventions and traditions. They form bonds with one another that mainstream people either can't or won't consider. Unlike traditional tribalists, they are ready and willing to adopt any new technology that will help them, like the Internet. They almost automatically share any benefits they gain from the technology, and they include each other in every aspect of their lives. Wild humans just keep on truckin. They focus on the intimacy of their social ties. Phamily is the most important thing. Modern tribes evolve in every way imaginable, drawing on ancient wisdom, experimenting with new social forms, networking with people all over the world, unlimited by time or space. We are kindred spirits, wild humans, urban tribalists. And we love you, you are beautiful.

rewilding for wild humans

Rewilding is the process of returning to a more natural or wild state. It's the process of undoing our domestication. One of the first steps is expanding your knowledge and skills about it, and since most of us can't go to wilderness survival skool or buy all kinds of books or apprentice with an elder, we do it online. These skills are often easy to learn and hard to master. They include everything from rewilding your calendar (renaming the full moons) to rewilding your pantry and rewilding your family and friends and community.

The term originated from the anarcho-primitivist, or green anarchist movement, many of whom believe that humans must return to a more "feral" state, through the process they have coined "rewilding," either because of their personal ethics (they must walk their talk) or for survival as civilization collapses on itself. It's more of a lifestyle change, than a hobby focused on learning primitive skills.

Many wild humans don't know any primitive skills at all, and that's ok with me. They are often masters of urban survival skills. Those skills are good to have too. Rewilding is about finding a meaningful life for yourself as civilization declines and begins to collapse, and some wild humans are nonviolent resisters who seek in various ways to help dismantle society.

There is much I can say about learning both wilderness survival skills and urban survival skills (catching a rabbit in a snare and cooking it by making fire with no matches vs dumpsterdiving etc.). Both skills are valuable, and the more skills you have, the more adaptable you are, which increases your ability to survive and thrive. It's a big worthy project, equivalent to a bachelor's degree, to rewild yourself completely, yet it's as simple as you can make it, by taking one step at a time as opportunities present themselves.

So we combine modern technology with primitive knowledge, because the next step in rewilding is to participate in creating a feral culture, by networking with other wild humans and learning the ways of your more natural, wild predecessors. Our wild ancestors have long since disappeared, and teachers now are few and far between, so we gather here and communicate, empowering and helping transform one another. As we grow a feral culture for ourselves, the need for computer networking will greatly decrease, but right now we use it to disperse information, provide cultural cross-pollination, provide community for those with little or none, provide free networking for those with computer access who aspire to educate themselves, and provide a meeting place for those who wish to make plans for when things finally do crash down.

Civilization requires domestication. We domesticate plants and animals and people too. And of course we domesticate ecosystems like the Colorado river. Domestication goes against the flow of life. It may be successful for a long time, but eventually nature wins out. So by rewilding, we are actually aligning ourselves with natural truths and the laws of life, a smart thing to do. Now, most people do not want to rewild. They want progress and ever more domestication, to the point of force and destruction. So when that all collapses, guess who will be left standing? The wild humans, that's right.

So it's in your own best interest and the best interest of the Earth to learn about rewilding, anarcho-primitivism, survival skills, meaningful resistance to modern lifeways, economadism, and so much more. It's enjoyable and empowering, too.

We obviously cannot abandon all modern ways, because we are interdependent and tied into the economy and other systems together, but we can transition and make our survival more likely. And that survival can be more enjoyable when we study and practice things like rewilding. I like a lot of the things about modern life, like pizza and movies. But when we get too distant from how we are meant to live, life gets a little ill. Balance balance balance.

How are we meant to live? We are meant to live in small bands, and even if you live in a huge city, you should still find a small band to bond and align with (your tribe). Humans need relationships with one another. We are meant to eat foods that grow locally, and our bodies adapt over time to our diet so they function at optimal levels. We are meant to use what is right around us, and we are meant to enjoy it. I believe this because of my studies of humanity and religion. We are to be stewards of a beautiful garden, a wildcrafting garden where plants and creatures and humans are free and can breathe easy, and their hearts are full of emotions, and their minds are stable and wise, and their bodies are reliable and strong. Where we can feel safe knowing the Earth will support us, and feel safe knowing we live in accord with our fellow creatures.


Anyway, here are some of the aspects of rewilding you can focus your growth on.

*Diet--adopting a paleolithic, foraging (incl. dumpsterdiving and food banks) or other wildcrafted/wildgathered diet.

*Camp and shelter methods as a wild human, including tools we use. (incl. squatting, ninja camping)

*Musical instruments, such as drums, and heartsongs.

*Networking at workshops, camps, guerilla skools etc.

*Economadism

*Ceremony and building community circles.

And much more!

Here are some of the ways that wild humans begin to rewild themselves!!! They are only suggestions, and always open to debate, but I've heard all of them mentioned by fellow wild humans I've met in person and online:

Consider quitting school. Maybe even quit your job and follow your bliss.

Stop reading books for awhile, or read as much as you can, as you gather a variety of voices and perspectives to guide you. Study your specific bioregion and apply your knowledge directly. Balance book knowledge with life knowledge.

Look people in the eye, acknowledge them, and talk with them, or at least say hi.

Go barefoot. Sleep with your windows and doors open. Feel your feelings.

Sing your song, dance your dance, tell your tale.

Practice coming from your own place of internal strength and knowingness. This is a way to really be here now on Earth and in your body. You can go barefoot (it's amazing if you haven't done it in awhile, very liberating), eat wild foods (chickweed, blackberries, nettles, dandelion, just for starters), hang out in the woods whenever you can. From that place of presence and feeling the wildness of life, you can take action in your life and find lots of ways to integrate wildness and naturalness in your life.

Stop worrying!

Turn off the electronics for a while each day. Find activities that are more rewarding than your vices, and balance them.

Try to actually design a flyer and post it, or pass out free food, or play music on the sidewalk, or build a bonfire, or make your own drum, or start a small garden. Give it a try!

Be kind to the people you meet. Remember solidarity. Bring people along on the cool things you do, like going to a waterfall or a swimming hole.

Take responsibility for your life, all aspects of it. Be the master of your circumstances.

Take a break from video games, or use them to learn and sharpen your mind.

Lighten up on the alcohol and dope, if you are not usually sober. Clarity is a good thing in survival situations.

Be uniquely you!

Take brief breaks from the internet, especially if the climate is not conducive to growth and change. Focus on positivity and empowering yourself and transforming culture.

Stretch your mind and challenge yourself to rewild in your own unique way, and share it with others! Choose life, and choose meaning.

Love yourself, love life.

Learn and understand the basic facts about civilization (See  crimethinc, dismantlement, and many, many more topics. Do a google search for blogs about the topics we want to explore.)

Serve your bioregion and your community with knowledge, insight, and creative expression.

Challenge yourself to rewild, and share that challenge in fun ways with others.


Wild humans tend to balance time in nature with time in civilization. Time in nature deepens our feelings towards the Earth. Time in civilization is where we go to create a culture. Both experiences help us to build something new to serve who we are right now, a blend of ancient and modern. Civilization is not so much a location in physical space as a social space.It takes up physical space, but anyone can testify that wildlife ignores and adapts to cities. Civilization exists in our minds. Rewild your mind and you will ignore and adapt to cities too, just like a natural animal. It won't control you so much or bring you down in the same way.

So rewilding is about spending time away from the social and mental space of civilization, as well as about reclaiming the physical spaces, with things like graffiti and music. When you go in the woods, you take civilization with you, and when you go into civilization you take the woods with you. That's what wild humans do. It's both mental and physical. You can learn survival skills in a finite amount of time, but not so with deprogramming your mind. It takes time to change your perceptions, so it's good to both spend time in the woods and spend time in your culture.

the wild human pleasure of thinking for yourself

I offer you my thoughts about my personal experience of being a wild human. Today I am thinking about the need to think for your own self. To think critically and not just accept whatever is given to you, no matter who the authority is or how socially accepted the thought is, to go beyond it and within it and think for yourself. I did not learn to think for myself until I went to college in my mid-twenties.

Before that, I was strongly bound by what "they" think about every single aspect of myself. I always deferred to the authority or the source or the media or whatever. It was hard, but I had to work on learning to think critically for my own self for the first time in my life, in order to pass my classes. And then it helped me to blossom as a Rainbow and as a wild human.

Many people who focus on fighting for causes and ideals have on some level or another realized that it is totally futile to fight for their own causes and ideals, so they somehow project it onto outward institutions, in order to create a meaningful and passionate life. This is just one step along the path of maturity. Until we reach maturity, we appear to be ambitiously directing ourselves to think critically, on behalf of a cause or ideal, but in reality, we have actually accepted alienation from our own unique desires, causes and ideals. This was my state of being until I was struck by the lightning bolt idea of forming the Wild Human Initiative, a lightning bolt delivered by a fellow wild human named Cory, who had tramped like a homebum thru dreams and nightmares, and was very alive and able to think for himself specifically as a wild human. His influence changed my life in ways that will ripple and echo forever, as it touches my children and everyone I meet and know. That is just a small part of the power of thinking for yourself as a wild human. It gives you courage and authenticity and a true voice amid the clamor of soulless voices in this often programmed world. You gain the power to create something new that is progressive, unique, and just right for you, rather than something that is generic, cookie cutter, Martha Stewart, Disneyland, white bread style.

Anyway, even if you think you are a revolutionary, your actions are just reactionary if you are acting on behalf of a cause or a desire or an ideal outside of your own truth and experience. (Kind of like the yucky feeling you get when you feel pressured to subscribe to a religion you don't really believe in--as I was for my first 23 years--versus the power and beauty of subscribing to that same religion in my late thirties when it finally resonated with my own personal truth and experience).

It's hard to think for yourself as a wild human when you are being suffocated by anyone else's ideologies, whether religious, political, economic or social. You have to dumb yourself down and subjugate yourself to the group mindset in order to function or survive. A friend of mine used to say with a sly smile..."Who wants to be sane in an insane world?" He had a sense that he was the only one who was actually thinking and perceiving anything with total clarity, and I believe he was right. He's another friend who served to awaken and liberate me by teaching me to think for myself.

By actively, critically, step-by-step struggling to think for your own self, to realize your own feelings and thoughts about something--rather than by accepting and embracing predigested and preconceived notions--you reclaim your own mind as your very own. You take it back!!! And you do with it what you will, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, on your own. That is a big part of maturity.

Do you know how to think for yourself, to create a body of thoughts and ethics that will serve you well, that will help you to understand why your life and the world are the way they are? As you learn to think for yourself, as you develop this body of thought for yourself as a wild human, you will also develop a methodology for creating the life you want. It just happens naturally. It doesn't really need explaining, but these are my thoughts today, so I'm sharing them with you.

Your wild human way of thinking will end up being very practical as well as magical. It will guide you in your actions each and every day, just naturally, as it develops. It will lead to you realizing your wild human dreams and desires. The first step is learning to think critically for yourself as you examine yourself, your life and the world at large.

This is what makes thinking for yourself a wild human pleasure. It leads to subversion of the dominant paradigms. It empowers you. It influences the transformation of society. It deconstructs some of your long domestication, so you can be more creative, authentic, and courageous in your daily and long term life.

Thinking for yourself shows you what you really want for yourself, and shows you how you need to go about getting it. As a tribal person, this may be both self-centered and altruistic. By taking care of yourself, you are indirectly taking care of everyone else. You will see.

Anything that serves to maintain the status quo, and uses you as an object to keep it going, is not wild human and does not represent thinking for yourself. Those things give you a false consciousness and force you to wear a mask and conform to some degree, where wild humanism is about your personal experience with having your own true consciousness that aims to attain your own true desires, regardless of the ideologies that support the status quo. You have an interesting, unique face, and you don't wear a mask. You are a living breathing feeling human being, not a "human resource" or a "tax id number" or a "statistic". You are a wild human.

Many people don't want to know how to think for themselves. The ideologies and systems that think for you make your life easier, so you don't have to think fully for yourself, and the responsibility belongs to someone else. An example that leaps to mind is entertainment. It's quite a challenge to learn to entertain yourself in a satisfying way, and requires much thought and creativity and effort. But it's totally easy to turn on the tv, go to the movies, pop in a cd, etc. One is artificial, one is authentic. Think about it and decide for yourself.

Those things, and also drugs, keep you from fully realizing your roles and your power in the world as it is today. You are too busy watching tv, going to the mall, getting drunk, surfing the web, chasing your vices and addictions, to do anything about the circumstances that oppress and program you and everyone else, if you don't learn to think critically and use these things as tools for empowerment. That's the way the powers that be want it. And it's a function of the wild humans, with our cultural, intellectual and other diversities, to thwart that. The way to do that is to think and choose for yourself. That's the revolutionary pleasure of thinking for yourself.

These things like tv and conspicuous consumption and mainstream Christianity serve to separate you from an authentic experience of your life, and also demand a lot of sacrifices from you, which you will willingly make until you are fed up, you rebel, and you insist on thinking and living in ways that are true and real. You become a person rather than a tool of the false idols that I mentioned.These false idols demand your conformity, your duty to serve them, and your patriotism to the dominant social order. Wild humans tend to find it difficult to serve the false idols, and soul sickness will result until we empower ourselves by thinking for ourselves in all areas of our life, even when opposed and persecuted. Even if we go down, we go down fighting, as conscientious objectors. I have lived this truth, my friends.

We learn to think for ourselves as wild humans by asking ourselves, "How do I really feel? How is my life at this point? What do I want to experience? Am I getting what I want by living this way? If not, why not?" This is called consciousness, awareness. Every day you do this, your real life emerges more and more from up out of the matrix of programming and oppression that keep the status quo and the dominant social themes and authorities in place.

One way to think for yourself is to really see the inside-out, upside-down nature of life today. It costs money to love God, via televangelism, happiness becomes a commodity with absurd trinkets like smiley buttons, impersonal radio stations claim they love you, and dish soap companies claim they care about your skin and your family, when really they don't. They just want your money, so they have to get you to buy their product.

Another way is to reject conversational sedatives, like "Don't worry, be happy", or "You can't always get what you want", or "Life has it's ups and downs". These are intellectual shortcuts that shortcircuit your authentic truth and experience. Every day, people deny themselves an authentic life, and then go to the mall or whatever and lay down their hard earned dollars to buy back the shit that dumbed them down in the first place. Stop doing this and think for yourself! Go deeper!!!

Thinking for yourself helps you develop a coherent set of tactics to transform your world. You must do this in order to transcend the rage or the depression at the systems that try to destroy you. I was the victim of the depression aspect of this. But other people commit suicide, or kill other people, or blow up buildings. You must learn to think for yourself as a wild human to transcend the need to do these kinds of things and live a good life.

In thinking for yourself, you can work toward your own self-realization, or you can reach out and work with other free thinking wild humans on collective projects for our overall self-realization. Imagine that! I love to imagine that.

When you think for yourself in authentic and revolutionary ways, the gradual and sometimes immediate result is transformation of our social inter-relations and transformation of the world as a result of realizing our wild human desires. It works, I promise you.

Have you noticed in therapy how they try to get you to "adjust", to "mainstream", to "normalize"?!?!?!? I have. And I think it's dumbing down, oppressive bullshit!!!! The healing of any individual and the healing of some aspect of society must go hand in hand. Like the healing of sexual abuse victims must go hand in hand with the healing of the abusers, for example in the Catholic church or in foster homes. It's systemic. They will not think for themselves, being systemic, and you should not adjust to the perverse realities involved, so you have to start the process with your own self. By thinking deeply and changing your own life no matter what anyone else thinks, you change the nature of social life in general, like a ripple effect.

Think about this. In today's society, we are each expected to play a role, and to play it well, for better or for worse. We have to get in character, repress our feelings, put on our social armor, and go to work, or to school, or to church, or whatever. We have to pose as what we are expected to be, and conceal our true desires, as a defense against the attacks of other people if we don't "play our part". We HAVE to bravely shed these roles and communicate without this kind of role playing in order to transform society and ourselves. When we stop playing our individual roles on a mass level, then society will stop playing it's roles too, because no one will be participating in that old game anymore. It starts with thinking for ourselves, as wild humans.

getting the wild human tribe vibe

I appreciate all wild humans, from all walks of life. We are just now, once again, breaking ground on all of our endeavors. And as we begin to consciously perceive our future, I believe we must reharmonize our entire family into the tribal vibe. Through our interactions within each of our own spaces, we can come together as a true force for the survival of our species, with light working and conscious effort.

As we grow together as a group, we must also grow as individuals, learning to create, empower and perceive life from our heart and mind. We must be able to perceive the miracles we wish to create. That's why it's so important for all of us to have our focus on collective consciousness. Together as a movement, we WILL make the difference we are working to create. Life teaches us that if we wish to succeed, then we must be open to divine opportunity. I believe we are on that path, and now we are to conceive or create together. We are all vital parts in the success of our inspiration. Each wild human is as valuable as the other and the next.

I want to ask all of you to focus on what we feel that makes us wild. What within our hearts and minds makes us evolve towards our collectively wild human nature? For me, it's a desire to belong to a phamily and evolve toward true consciousness and love. What is it for you?

Why do we wish to create harmony? What must we do to create it? For me, I believe that life is good when it is harmonious and aligned with natural truth. To create it, we must align our thoughts and perceptions with our choices and actions, in such a way that harmony is created.

What causes us to be so individually different, yet somehow the same? I feel that the Creator is an artistic genius who loves variety, so He made each one of us unique, yet following the same blueprint of archetypes and emotional experiences. We each experience the Journey of the Hero. There is strength in unity, and our individual differences make for a beautiful song.

And how can we get what we perceive as wild humans to be visible out there in the Mind at Large, so that other like-minded individuals can participate and make the circle of our tribe grow? I would ask you to tell people about it, and invite them to join with us or start a grassroots group of their own. Anything to increase the consciousness and the urge to activate.

I love you all with tribal solidarity, and I hope we can get together soon and council about what our true initiatives and dreams are, and figure out how as a tribe we can obtain all of them. You are my phamily and you embody my hopes and dreams. I appreciate each one of you. I love and respect all who choose the wild human path. We are the peace keepers and the protectors of bliss.

I believe in our efforts and our dreams. Have faith in miracles, for belief is 99 percent of all creation. I believe in a free world without ignorance and perpetual fear. I believe in our responsiblity in the coming years, with the falling of Babylon, to bond together in a tribal and communal spirit, to rise above the faulty aspects of humanity and embody love and harmony and peace and justice. I believe in our ability to teach our children to perceive the hard lessons with wisdom and compassion, so that they will learn from the past and move our culture forward into evolution and empowerment and transformation.

wild human alternatives to babylon boredom

So you feel you are a wild human. And you wish to align your lifeways with your beliefs. Here are some of my suggestions for walking your talk, so you too can aspire to rewild yourself, create personal empowerment, encourage cultural transformation, cultivate communion with the Creator in your inner life, and build grassroots community in your outer life, which will endow you with that basic sense of joy emanating from awareness and expression of your own wild humanism.

Liberate yourself right at the start, if you are mature enough yet to do so.Take control of your own life by thinking about who you REALLY are. What do you really want in your heart of hearts? How do you really want to try to do that? If you could do anything you wish, with no censure or criticism from anyone else, what would it be? I don't advocate hedonism or other dead-end lifestyles, I'm speaking of expressing who you really are. What are your big dreams and what are your small dreams? What do you really admire in other people? They are like a mirror reflecting back to you the parts of yourself you have yet to acknowledge and honor.

Do you like dreadlocked people cruising around in beat up pickup trucks, eating honey off the comb and blasting reggae while they smoke a doobie out the window? Who are you, as you see what you like in other people? I'd love to know. Figure it out, then model your life to resemble theirs. Buy a drum. Dred your hair. Paint your van. Whatever your personal journey of change calls for.

For example, I used to be a very depressed goth chic studying philosophy and listening to dark music all the time. I had to lighten up or commit suicide. So I went through this questioning process, and discovered I was happier as a "h.i.p.p.i.e.--a Happy Intelligent Person Pursuing Infinite Enlightenment/Enjoyment". I actually loved batik tapestries, Grateful Dead, wonderful oils, comic books like Freak Brothers, hiking to waterfalls, cooking gourmet vegetarian dishes, etc. And as I discovered these things, I did indeed lighten up and come to life. People told me it was like watching a flower blossom, to see me change that way.

So do your own "personal needs inventory assessment" and give yourself the gift of some wild human direction for your plans and aspirations.

In this process, you may discover that you still have a desire, a longing, a burning passion, to learn and to be a part of the social circles attached to what you want to learn. I wanted to learn about car mechanics, so I bought an old VW bus and rebuilt the engine three times, very slowly, labelling everything and drawing diagrams. I also painted the body, carpeted and paneled the interior, made curtains for it, etc. It took a long time. In the meantime, I also went to Volkswagon rallies, where I met many wild and interesting people, including a man I loved for two years. I also went to mechanic garages and brought the dudes donuts and hung out and listened to their stories, similar to real live "Car Talk" like you hear on NPR.

Other ways to learn include:

*unschooling (learning by living--like building your own shelter, building your own clay or solar oven and using it, making your own clothes, growing/harvesting and canning/preserving your own food--sink or swim style),

*homelearning (like surfing the web, browsing discount book stores, joining book reading circles, going to workshops and conferences--you write your own curriculum and decide on your own progress)

*distance learning where you enroll in an actual school and take their courses online, and visit the school once or twice a semester. for independent self-starters who discipline themselves.

*apprenticeships, where you get a job or volunteer for something you want your life to be like. for example, if you want to work for the National Park Service, the competition is fierce, but if you volunteer for a few years, a job is more likely, and you get to hang out in gorgeous areas and know smart, cool people.

*start your own business or thing you do. for a few years, my sister exclusively volunteered at music festivals, in exchange for free admission and camping passes. in return, she met an incredible number of famous musicians, partied like there was no tomorrow, and filled up her own little black phone book with new friends and acquaintences. now she travels all over the world working as a party planner for these people.

Those are some specific ways to learn, in a manner that will grow your social network and give you experiences of a lifetime to cherish. There are many more possibilities than this.

You can do a little research and find out about the Rainbow Trail, about their year round schedules of gatherings, potlucks, festivals, and other events, like peace rallies and fundraisers, design an itinerary, and go to them.

You can craft an identity as a performer, like a musician or storyteller, and travel to community centers and churches, and stay with people who belong to them. They will feel honored and blessed, believe me. It livens up people's lives and they love it.

You can choose a band or a musician you love and follow them on tour or on the festival circuits they travel, probably selling posters, tshirts or food and staying in hotels or campgrounds or with fellow festies/tourheads.

You can go on a mission to visit ecovillages and intentional communities, interviewing people and being a documentary photographer and travel writer.

You can volunteer or work at Earth Camps and other camps (like ones that teach survival skills), picking up and honing skills, meeting people, and growing your life.

You can also craft your own individual journeys and vision quests, like Peace Pilgrim or Forrest Gump or the Native American Honor Rides on horseback or motorcycle. Carry a sign and promote a movement or a (r)evolution.

You can start your own companies or nonprofits. This will empower you to give energy to movements that need help to grow, or to start your own movement, like this Wild Human Initiative. I've posted before about how to start a grassroots nonprofit or how to start a co-op or a company, and I'll be glad to do it again if it will help you.

I would strongly recommend hanging out with real people who can look each other in the eye, and do cool stuff together, not "consume" or "accomplish" stuff together. Like, go climb a building or a mountain. Draw a cool flyer to raise awareness, copy it a bunch, and go on a sneaky rendezvous at night and post them up in eye catching places. Explore back alleys, talk with lonely homeless people, go on hikes, whatever you like. Find someone to invite and drag them along. You might have fun!

You can consider being a nanny for road-trippin hipsters, or agree on a work-trade arrangement with them for something you know how to do so you can live with them and soak up their vibe for awhile, and circulate among their friends and make friends of your own (like cooking, gardening, carpentry, child or animal care, house repair or housesitting, whatever you are good at that they need)

If you have the money and the freedom already, educate yourself in your own diverse way. Go to Ecovillage and Permaculture Training, go to Outward Bound Outdoor Leadership Training, go to Activist and Leadership Training (like that offered by Starhawk). The sky is the limit, and maybe you can even go beyond that if you like astronomy. Think about training in digital entertainment, photography, gardening, natural building, earth activism, herbalism, massage, etc. one class/workshop at a time, rather that a four-year formal liberal arts education. Custom craft it wild-human style.

Be underground or be in the spotlight (like Julia Butterfly Hil). It's your life, so live it! Be the change you wish to see in the world. And remember the key points of wild humanism:

*refuse to be fully domesticated

*live in ways that are creative and innovative

*explore outside the bounds of mainstream dictates

*walk your talk with courage and beauty*aspire to rewild yourself and your life

*create personal empowerment for yourself and others you meet*encourage cultural transformation with social accupuncture (conscious conversations) and with conscious choices in your daily and long term life

*cultivate communiton with the Creator in your inner life by striving to know who He really is, what He really did, how He loves you, and so forth and so on. Learn to turn to and rely on the Creator as your Source of All Things.

*build grassroots community in your outer life, by organizing little events like music parties, food giveaways, letter writing campaigns, whatever will unite you with people of like mind and heart. Invite people to stay or camp with you, or do rideshares to meet people and go to events. Build grassroots community one person at a time, starting with yourself.

*endow yourself with a basic sense of joy that comes from knowing that you are a wild human, and you are beautiful, and we love you!

who we are and what we do

What is a Wild Human?

A Wild Human is a spirited person who has chosen to revert to and reclaim their authentic human nature, by refusing to be fully domesticated, by living adventurously and creatively, and by being willing to explore outside the bounds of mainstream dictates. Wild Humans like to build bridges between traditional and contemporary human life ways (for example by learning both wilderness and urban survival skills), to search for personal empowerment, to build grassroots community by loving our Mother Earth while feeding our brothers and sisters, and by going on capers and adventures of our own wild designs.

What is the Wild Human Initiative?

The Wild Human Initiative represents a growing movement to reclaim our natural humanity, with all the blessings and blemishes that come with it. This movement seeks to provide each other and everyone with opportunities to experience once again what it truly means to be human. The members of this movement believe we can only know what it means to be human by living in a context of community, whether online or by living together in place and space. This movement seeks to create viable Wild Human communities from Coast to Coast and continent to continent. This is a movement focused on empowerment and transformation, by working with what is real and by living in ways we find magical. Thus, we took our own Wild Human initiative and launched this grassroots nonprofit to represent that movement, to promote, advocate, and spread Wild Humanism to every heart wanting to know about it and be part of it.