How do we rewild ourselves?
(also, an audiobook giveaway!)
The poet Nikita Gill wrote one of my favorite quotes:
“Some days I am more wolf than woman, and I am still learning how to stop apologizing for my wild.”
Does that resonate with anyone else? I can almost feel its meaning in my body; this primal, organic return to my truest, most unencumbered self. A rewilded human really does mirror a rewilded prairie: perhaps appearing unkempt to the outer observer, but nourished and flourishing on the inside.
I can say that is, blissfully, a picture of how I’m feeling lately. My thoughts and questions might make some people uncomfortable, even nervous. But the more honest I get with myself, the more I am willing to trust the movements of God in that self-honesty, the more I see signs of life blooming up from inside. Perhaps I look a bit wolfish to some. It’s okay. I’m learning how to stop apologizing for my wild. After all, the Maker in whose image I was made is the wildest of all.
What about you? Have you befriended your inner wolf yet, or are you still trying to tame her on a leash? Yes, I know this is all very abstract. How can we bring it down to real time? What are some tangible habits and spiritual practices that might rewild us? Maybe things like…
Asking questions about what our emotions point to
Advocating for our needs to be met
Following our desires and trusting that they are good/God
Admitting the truth to ourselves and speaking it
Being curious when dualism breaks down
Creating boundaries around what’s okay and what’s not okay
Trying something that once felt taboo
Dropping loads that aren’t ours to carry
These are the kinds of things (and many more) that I examine in Rewilding Motherhood. But there is always a longer journey to walk, always more to learn, so I decided to rename this little newsletter The Rewilded Life as a reminder to all of us that what we can expect to find in these emails is an invitation into the reckless divine Love and Being whom we know God to be—and trusting that when we give way to that kind of freedom, it will never steer us wrong.
Rewilding Motherhood officially launched into the world last week and I’m finally catching my breath. What a gift it has been to see this work so eagerly received by so many. I’ve had women tell me it’s their favorite book of all time, women tell me they are gathering a group of friends to wrestle through it with, and women say they want to fall asleep with it every night. All of this serves to confirm what I suspected: women have long been hungry for a book that tells the truth about our experience.
But the response from men has been equally as encouraging, if more surprising. I didn’t really expect men to buy the book, but they are showing up left and right with feedback about how it has helped them understand women better, while simultaneously reflecting their own parenting experience in many ways. So win-win all around!
If you’re curious about the book, there are a couple of excerpts floating around and you can find them here:
Cultivating Patience at Today's American Catholic (this has a Q&A as well)
Cultivating a Thriving Spirit at Spirituality and Health
Of course, you can also use the “Look Inside” feature on Amazon
Rewilding Motherhood is available wherever books are sold, but I always encourage people to support brick & mortar bookstores if you can. Bookshop is a great way to order a copy from a shop near you!
Already read the book?
Could you take a second to leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon? (You can copy and paste the same review to both.) This greatly increases the visibility of the book in the good ol’ Internet Kingdom. Thank you for your help!
And now for an extra fun giveaway!
I have a whopping EIGHT free audiobook downloads of Rewilding Motherhood to give away to 8 different winners! If listening to books works better for your lifestyle, this giveaway is calling your name.
To enter the giveaway, respond to this email with proof of your purchase of a paperback copy (screen shots are fine; just go to the website you ordered from and it should be recorded there). I know many of you have already ordered—THANK YOU!—and this way you can give the paperback to a friend or relative if you’d rather have the audio version.
I will put the names in a hat (literally? not sure yet…) and pick 8 winners. Good luck!
Sending you love and peace and a heaping dose of wild,
Shannon