In our daily lives, commuting to and from work, sitting inside offices and then returning home to slump in front of the TV it can sometimes feel we have lost the wild in us. We have been tamed by society, by our urban environment and by busy schedules. We’re always so busy looking ahead to what we have to do next, feeling we don’t have any spare time, and then too exhausted to do anything when we do.
But how difficult is it to re-wild ourselves and what difference would it make?
Well today I tried to shake off the shackles of my monkey mind, telling me all the things I ‘should’ be doing. I told that critical voice in my head to go away. No ‘to do’ list, no timescale, no plan.
The aim, or intention, was just simply to focus on what I was experiencing now. To be in the moment, be fully aware of it, appreciate it and enjoy it.
I went for a wild walk in the Seven Sisters Country Park, I watched wild bees feeding on the nectar of wild flowers, I listened to a wild buzzard screeching in the sky overhead, I gazed up at the wild clouds and I made friends with three (not so wild) sheep sheltering in the shade of a tree.
At first it was easy to be present, entering this other world, senses alive with the initial abundance of wildlife: the buzz of insects, the birdsong, the intense green of the undergrowth and the towering trunks of the trees.
But I noticed how quickly the mind started to wander, becoming de-sensitised to my surroundings. My pace quickened, going into automatic mode as if needing to get somewhere, as my thoughts drifted to work or plans for when I returned home. I had to keep bringing myself back, stopping, looking, reminding myself not to miss the joy of what I was doing now, by worrying about what might happen in the future.
Not only does this mean we allow ourselves to fully experience everything we do, when we do it, but we also recognize the pleasure and carry it with us. It means we’re not wasting time and energy on things that may or may not happen, not focusing on stressful aspects of our lives and allowing them to overshadow the positive.
In effect we’re practising increasing the joy in our lives and reducing the negative. What’s not to like?