Wild Thing

By aligning with the rhythms of nature and connecting to its wisdom, you can channel your inner wild thing in the tameness of suburbia.

- David Cauldwell

The pace of modern life demands convenience to function, but often at the expense of primal instinct. Being able to turn on a switch and instantaneously acquire light, heat and entertainment has distanced us from our wildness and the biorhythms of nature. Yet it’s possible to retune into your innate wildness, your primal essence, and still enjoy the comfort of paved streets and snug homes.

Rewilding isn’t about donning a loincloth and swinging from lamppost to lamppost. It’s much subtler than that. Slowing down is key. Nothing happens in a hurry in nature. Even hurricanes take time to amass their whirling centres. And so cultivating a practice of rewilding in suburbia is a process of sowing seeds every day.

Reconnect with the sun’s cycle

The sun governs all life in the solar system. Technology, weather and our consciousness are all affected by solar flares, so it makes sense that forming an intimate connection with the sun links you to everything. Sleep without curtains. Wake naturally to dawn. A key tenet of rewilding is to keep the flow of things as organic and synchronistic as possible, so use the sun’s light as an alarm clock.

If catatonia cripples at dawn, or work shackles at sunset, there are other ways to summon the sun’s energy. Walk into the back garden. Choose a spot that feels anchored and erect a mini monolith/crystal there. On a particular day once a month, perhaps the first one of every new month, at a specific time (again intuit this — perhaps the time you were born), check where the sun casts its shadow in relation to the monolith. Place a rock or a crystal at the tip of the shadow. Do this for a year. At the end there’ll be a pattern, an artwork created by the sun. From an energetic point of view, you’ll be in the presence of the sun even when it’s cloudy. This rock pattern could also be the layout for a garden mandala or shrine.