You may have experienced a weight being lifted from your shoulders, a lightness in your chest as you take a deep breath, a wave of calm rush through your mind as your worried thoughts quiet. All of these sensations and experiences are a product of escaping into a home we feel most comfortable in, the wild.
To get back to the wild is to retreat to the peace of the outdoors, a simple way of life that comforts our deepest, most primal desires. When we find ourselves walking below trees up above, through gentle breezes, bearing witness to the sweet songs of birds all around, we cannot help but feel right at home.
To get back to the wild doesn’t require one to explore into the deepest forest. It doesn’t require one to move off the grid and into isolation. Anyone, at any time, can get back to the wild by means of their own two feet and a curiosity for what lies beyond the confines of the indoors. A slow walk through a nearby park, moments spent hammocking on a nearby river, a bike ride along endless winding trails, a picnic on a green patch of grass. In nature we can indulge in comfort, or intentionally push ourselves in relentless forward progress. Whichever path you choose, whatever activity you chase, let it be done in wild surroundings and in a wild spirit.
To get back to the wild is to fall from the world and into yourself. Remove yourself from the world and enter into a simpler and more authentic mindset full of clear and uninterrupted thoughts.
To get back to the wild is to return to freedom; shut the laptop, leave the phone, pack a journal and book of the moment, and find yourself right where you belong, outdoors. When we get back to the wild, the worries of the world cease to exist, and life is put into perspective in such a manner our minds could never reach as long as we are still of the world. Wrapping our eyes and minds in the wild of our surroundings and chasing our individual escapes into the wild instills in us an indescribable peace and understanding. Clear eyes and higher thoughts.
All too often we get caught up in daily obligations only to find ourselves feeling overwhelmed by all we feel we must do. We must ask ourselves, who am I living for? To help others, we must help ourselves. If you are being honest with yourself, is there really “just not enough time in the day”, or are you not being intentional with how you choose to spend your time?
At the end of the day, we dedicate our time to the things that are most important to us. There are times when we should seek to sooner sacrifice obligations for a moment of freedom. It is these decisions for freedom that linger in our memory years later, not the obligations I chose to overlook.
To get back to the wild is to indulge the desires deep within us, what we crave most: fresh air, uninterrupted solitude, and a present moment free from trivial worries.
