A rare uplifting gem! So much despair arises from this sense of immensity and powerlessness - I'm not immune myself - but there is also much joy to be had in joining with those around you to make all your lives a little bit better. I'm currently involved in developing a community group around the therapeutic use of growing food, flowers and wild habitat in a 2 acre field that we have moved into.
There is perhaps a background element to these 3 areas of focus which is connection. A sense that you don't have to do it all, that you have a part to play alongside others and so the ability to create in a way you could not on your own. Or even more simply a group of people you spend time with and chat to.
My mind is still reeling from having read both volumes of Iain McGilchrist's The Matter With Things. One of the many insights from it is that the immensity of the world and indeed the cosmos is a beautiful, creative thing and far from us each of us being an insignificant spec we are a necessary 'cell' in the cosmic 'body' with an important function in helping to create life. Nor is our role prescribed. The joy is in finding yourself and your unique contribution to the life of the whole. Lets get out there and find it!
How wonderful to be developing that community group - how did you find the field and decide to do it?
Completely agree with you on the connection point and feeling part of the cosmos. I used to think it was a very 'woo woo' idea but the more I think about it the more it just feels right that we are all part of a bigger cosmic body - because of course we are.
I'll have to check out The Matter With Things, it's going on the reading list.
Re the community project it was originally sited in a lovely walled garden in Suffolk and focussed on growing and selling heritage varieties of fruit and veg as well as native wildflowers and progressed into meeting social prescribing needs through growing and nature. We sadly had to move but we have now partnered with an existing community project a few miles away which has a more diverse population which will help our reach.
On the read, there is a previous book - The Master And His Emissary which lays out the ideas and evidence for the different functions of the two brain hemispheres (the basis of both titles) although there are plenty of YouTube videos that explain this idea in interviews with the author. Happy reading!
I really enjoyed this article! Love the analogy drawn between rewilding and citizening - maybe humans need to get out of the way of nature in the same way that the megalomaniacs and big institutions need to get out of the way of the citizens!? Things knit back together quicker than we often expect.
In response to your prompt at the end, I have been living in my current place for about 3 months and (to my shame - eek!) still don't know anyone's name on my road. I'm vowing to make that change this week! Thanks :)
Thank you so much! I'd been struggling to write it as for a while they seemed like somewhat disparate interests and then it hit me that they're very much part of the same mentality shift.
I love the idea that institutions need to get out of the way to allow citizens to rewild society - beautifully put.
I'm a bit of a hypocrite on the knowing your neighbours front, I also don't know mine so maybe we can make a pact to change that together 🤝🫱🏾🫲🏼
Hi there, thanks for the article, very nice to read. A couple of things I've been trying that might be relevant are:
Rewilding: The last few years I've been (slightly obsessively) growing young wildflower plants from seed, first as giveaways and to plant into the long grass at work (I work as a gardener). Quite cheap and some are fairly easy and you soon meet folk who have room for some.
Citizening: Then I joined my local parish council, and through that managed to get a corner of the Local park allocated for wildflowers instead of being close mown, then moved on to other patches around the village. Also helped start a community food garden that partly came about through conversations around the wildflower planting at a volunteer day. And lots of other local scale interesting bits happen too
I'd say anyone interested in citizening it's worth trying local councils, many of the ones I know are crying out for folks to take an interest and get involved. Likewise on the rewilding front there's lots of groups trying stuff that need volunteers. Tricky to juggle all these things with a 9-5 though
How did you convince the council to give you the corner?
And it's a really good tip on working with local councils, I often think that people get caught between thinking at an individual level and then a national or global level and forget how much can be done locally. I actually haven't really engaged with my local council so you've given me some inspiration, thank you!
But yes, I totally hear you on the 9-5, I have been so deeply privileged to be able to step out of that for a while. It gives me a passion to find a way to enable many more people to do that, I think the world would be a much better place.
Well after I joined as a councillor I suggested we try a No Mow May in part of one local park, this got turned down for fears of litter etc but as a compromise we tried it in a different park, so now a chunk of it is wild through may and another bit is wild all year. Then after a community day getting volunteers planting wildflowers one of our local housing associations kindly gave us a disused little park to turn into a community garden, now planted with fruit trees and flowers and the first veg crops coming on, some planted by the local kids. Quite amazing really how well giving things a try and getting involved has worked out
But rewilding I have gotten the idea to create a huge green area from the libary that i live close to here in Denmark. Around the libary it is today all pavement and it would have a huge impact to the city to rewild I think😊
In regards to citizening (I love Jons work too) i have wanted to do knowledge sharing into understand capitalism and its impacts to our world for a long time now. Really feel called to do this to support more to awaken to the truth of what we really are nature💚
Tech im not so sure about but I do feel that these meta platforms are getting old and I have been ready to let those go for something meaningful instead
Thanks for this Sofie. Libraries are such important spaces and they are struggling so much to survive so I think creating a green space around it sounds like an amazing idea!
And fully agree on the need to be able to properly understand and then explain capitalism. I think it's very hard to have meaningful discussions with people who are still bought into it as a system, when you can't articulate what it is and why it's not working for the majority - this is definitely something I'm still working on.
A rare uplifting gem! So much despair arises from this sense of immensity and powerlessness - I'm not immune myself - but there is also much joy to be had in joining with those around you to make all your lives a little bit better. I'm currently involved in developing a community group around the therapeutic use of growing food, flowers and wild habitat in a 2 acre field that we have moved into.
There is perhaps a background element to these 3 areas of focus which is connection. A sense that you don't have to do it all, that you have a part to play alongside others and so the ability to create in a way you could not on your own. Or even more simply a group of people you spend time with and chat to.
My mind is still reeling from having read both volumes of Iain McGilchrist's The Matter With Things. One of the many insights from it is that the immensity of the world and indeed the cosmos is a beautiful, creative thing and far from us each of us being an insignificant spec we are a necessary 'cell' in the cosmic 'body' with an important function in helping to create life. Nor is our role prescribed. The joy is in finding yourself and your unique contribution to the life of the whole. Lets get out there and find it!
Thank you so much for your comment Richard.
How wonderful to be developing that community group - how did you find the field and decide to do it?
Completely agree with you on the connection point and feeling part of the cosmos. I used to think it was a very 'woo woo' idea but the more I think about it the more it just feels right that we are all part of a bigger cosmic body - because of course we are.
I'll have to check out The Matter With Things, it's going on the reading list.
Re the community project it was originally sited in a lovely walled garden in Suffolk and focussed on growing and selling heritage varieties of fruit and veg as well as native wildflowers and progressed into meeting social prescribing needs through growing and nature. We sadly had to move but we have now partnered with an existing community project a few miles away which has a more diverse population which will help our reach.
On the read, there is a previous book - The Master And His Emissary which lays out the ideas and evidence for the different functions of the two brain hemispheres (the basis of both titles) although there are plenty of YouTube videos that explain this idea in interviews with the author. Happy reading!
I really enjoyed this article! Love the analogy drawn between rewilding and citizening - maybe humans need to get out of the way of nature in the same way that the megalomaniacs and big institutions need to get out of the way of the citizens!? Things knit back together quicker than we often expect.
In response to your prompt at the end, I have been living in my current place for about 3 months and (to my shame - eek!) still don't know anyone's name on my road. I'm vowing to make that change this week! Thanks :)
Thank you so much! I'd been struggling to write it as for a while they seemed like somewhat disparate interests and then it hit me that they're very much part of the same mentality shift.
I love the idea that institutions need to get out of the way to allow citizens to rewild society - beautifully put.
I'm a bit of a hypocrite on the knowing your neighbours front, I also don't know mine so maybe we can make a pact to change that together 🤝🫱🏾🫲🏼
Hi there, thanks for the article, very nice to read. A couple of things I've been trying that might be relevant are:
Rewilding: The last few years I've been (slightly obsessively) growing young wildflower plants from seed, first as giveaways and to plant into the long grass at work (I work as a gardener). Quite cheap and some are fairly easy and you soon meet folk who have room for some.
Citizening: Then I joined my local parish council, and through that managed to get a corner of the Local park allocated for wildflowers instead of being close mown, then moved on to other patches around the village. Also helped start a community food garden that partly came about through conversations around the wildflower planting at a volunteer day. And lots of other local scale interesting bits happen too
I'd say anyone interested in citizening it's worth trying local councils, many of the ones I know are crying out for folks to take an interest and get involved. Likewise on the rewilding front there's lots of groups trying stuff that need volunteers. Tricky to juggle all these things with a 9-5 though
I love this!
How did you convince the council to give you the corner?
And it's a really good tip on working with local councils, I often think that people get caught between thinking at an individual level and then a national or global level and forget how much can be done locally. I actually haven't really engaged with my local council so you've given me some inspiration, thank you!
But yes, I totally hear you on the 9-5, I have been so deeply privileged to be able to step out of that for a while. It gives me a passion to find a way to enable many more people to do that, I think the world would be a much better place.
Well after I joined as a councillor I suggested we try a No Mow May in part of one local park, this got turned down for fears of litter etc but as a compromise we tried it in a different park, so now a chunk of it is wild through may and another bit is wild all year. Then after a community day getting volunteers planting wildflowers one of our local housing associations kindly gave us a disused little park to turn into a community garden, now planted with fruit trees and flowers and the first veg crops coming on, some planted by the local kids. Quite amazing really how well giving things a try and getting involved has worked out
Thank you Olivia! For another wonderful article🙌
But rewilding I have gotten the idea to create a huge green area from the libary that i live close to here in Denmark. Around the libary it is today all pavement and it would have a huge impact to the city to rewild I think😊
In regards to citizening (I love Jons work too) i have wanted to do knowledge sharing into understand capitalism and its impacts to our world for a long time now. Really feel called to do this to support more to awaken to the truth of what we really are nature💚
Tech im not so sure about but I do feel that these meta platforms are getting old and I have been ready to let those go for something meaningful instead
Thanks for this Sofie. Libraries are such important spaces and they are struggling so much to survive so I think creating a green space around it sounds like an amazing idea!
And fully agree on the need to be able to properly understand and then explain capitalism. I think it's very hard to have meaningful discussions with people who are still bought into it as a system, when you can't articulate what it is and why it's not working for the majority - this is definitely something I'm still working on.
Fantastic! Meticulously written and thought provoking!
Rewilding: my friend talks about his work rewilding mushrooms so I'm gonna chat to him and be curioussss🍄
Citizening: I already uprighted a sheep this week so I'm goooood🐑
Technology: I'm gonna sit with this one! ✨️
Would love to learn what you learn about mushrooms!
And I look forward to righting more sheep with you, maybe I'll be brave enough to do the next one
Only reading this now but I will pick one area that you have suggested and feedback on it when I can, great article