Genevieve here, this post takes a look at the rewilding lifestyle. This is study is from our perspective, everyone is on their own unique journey and so rewilding will mean something different for everyone.
The word rewilding is new to us, we first heard it used in spring of 2017 by Daniel Vitalis on his "Rewild Yourself podcast." The journey we have been on however, started long before we ever listened to Daniel and it is the journey we will be on the rest of our lives.
What is rewilding? Let me tell you from our perspective, as a couple, having lived this lifestyle for years now. Looking through our eyes, you would see a relationship built on deep communication, trust and hunger. Cass and I have a deep bond, we are best friends, lovers, dreamers and builders. We listen to each other when things are easy AND when things are really uncomfortable. Rewilding ourselves really started with our relationship. We committed to being a team and holding each other accountable.
I believe the relationship we have is the foundation of our alternative lifestyle. Once we found a balance between us, a yin and yang we were bound as a single entity. This single entity bond is the catalyst that has driven us to cut many ties to the average/expected/domesticated lifestyle of the middle class.
We started our rewilding journey by doing a 180, going in the opposite direction of those around us. Suddenly our dreams, goals and ambitions were aligning, we wanted the same thing. Next we started taking risks such as leaving our payroll jobs and living off our savings. We brought whole food into our life and even began a relationship with that food. We learned how to take life and then give it back, butchering chickens with Cass’s family and then planting a garden with my mother. We began tuning into something much bigger than ourselves…nature.
Nature demanded that we be outside to really move our bodies, let the sun kiss our skin and listen to the flora and fauna all around us. We chose the landscaping profession because we wanted to be outside working with plants and sharing the experience with others. We work for ourselves and have our own set of ethics in place because we value ourselves and our time.
This journey has not been easy. Easy is domestication and the domesticated lifestyle is being lived all around us. There were days when it was easier to order pizza than to make a meal from scratch.. but looking back those were also the days when we handed our personal power over to someone else. We didn’t put enough value in our time, we were chasing the $ and it led us to being exhausted and disconnected.
You have to work hard to work for yourself. You have to decide on your non-negotiables and hold yourself to them. Finding a teammate or a community to hold you accountable means you are supported. Allow others to support you and you to support them. Rewilding is about finding and building your tribe, the people that you vibe with.
Our rewilding journey has disconnected us from many things and even some people…but the people, places and practices we have collected are far more nourishing and loving. We’ve learned to speak our truth which means saying “NO” when we need to. It means putting ourselves first sometimes and that is okay! The more we say no, the more we actually do things our own way and experience more. Saying “no” is also how we set boundaries that are firm and few rather than complicated and unpredictable.
A superficial look at our rewilding lifestyle: Cass and I no longer drink water from the tap, instead we make our way north to a fresh water spring that roars from the ground year round. We swapped our tight chic shoes for Vibram Five Fingers, or we go barefoot whenever possible. We ditched the gym and integrated movement into our work, play and our home space. We found a balance between the material goods we want and what we actually need, which gives us the freedom to make just enough and still feel “rich”. We put intention into the way we live, eat, sleep and even shit. Our diet is composed of locally and globally sourced foods with the intention of nourishing our whole bodies not conforming ourselves to a restricted and idealistic diet. That being said we also harvest our own food and medicine every year from our garden, our land and we do our best to support the small farmers in our area.
We wake up with the sun, yes even in winter and reward ourselves with sleep. We squat to poop and for 20% of the year we do that outside (one day it will be 100%). Most importantly we talk to each other, and it isn’t always easy but nothing ever goes unsaid for long which means no one feels excluded. Our appearance is low maintenance, this does not mean we neglect our image it means that our health is good looking and that a loving self-care routine can be natural rather than artificial.
We make money so that we can afford really high quality, nutritious food. We believe food has value. We have educated ourselves by investing in our personal time and access to all kinds of educational materials. We seek guidance and training from our elders, and we don’t discriminate if someone is completely self-taught.
And finally we accept death. It is inevitable and neither Cass nor I have any interest in fighting it. We will age but we can choose what that ageing process feels like through our dietary, monetary, physical and emotional choices.
If you've read this post and are interested in more rewilding knowledge we recommend listening to The Rewild Yourself Podcast The host, Daniel Vitalis, has compiled a well curated list of authors, scientists, healers, explorers, trainers, really everyone under the wild wise sun! You'll find topics like: diet, sex, foraging, skin care, rites of passage, sleep, invasive species, landscapes, taboo topics and more. For each episode there is a list of resources and links. Have fun exploring and rewilding!
