I'll be gone for a while...

 

Natural Cordage

 

I'm getting ready to lead a group of ladies out on an "Art of Nothing" Women and Wilderness week long excursion.  We literally go out with nothing but the clothing on our backs and learn to live within the natural order of things.  We have all kinds of women, from those who have only spent a few days wandering well kept paths to those who have lived in wilderness settings far away from civilization.  We have older women with adventurous souls and younger women with the joy of living.  Basically we have all age and skill levels take this course.  We learn to make shelter, tools, find food, make our water safe, but most of all we learn to work with nature instead of fighting against it. 

Hook, Line and Sinker, Nature Style

When I was asked why we didn't call this a survival week I said because the word "survival" seems synonymous with the word "struggle" and that is not what we do.  Most of the ladies comes with their sleeves rolled up and are ready to work hard but they find very quickly that is not the case.  It is only the modern day world that sees survival as this huge project that must be accomplished.  In an Art of Nothing week we find that when we stop trying to go against nature, most things fall into place and those that don't we live fine without.

 

Firing Pottery Made from Natural Clay

 

One woman told me that she never knew how hard she worked and how little she gained from that work here in the modern world until she was on one of our week long gatherings.  Here we do what is necessary to go on and we don't work extra for all those things that society tells us we need.  When we work together we build the bonds that no amount of "stuff" can ever take the place of.   Modern people have been fed the line of, 'if you have stuff you will have friends, so work hard for lots of stuff so you will have lots of friends'.  Humans are group animals, we don't like to be alone, so many buy into the modern day way of thinking and work hard, usually to make other people money, so that we can buy stuff so that we can have friends.  Problem is, that doesn't work, so we work harder and buy more stuff because obviously we didn't try hard enough in the first place.

 

Bone Whistle

Actually, work, play, tears and laughter are what brings us together.  There is no competition in the wilderness.  We bind together in the fun job of finding, harvesting and preparing food.  We make shelter if, and only if, we need shelter.  Other than that we lay under the stars and have the best view on the planet.  Our creative side is nurtured with all the different things we can make for free from our surroundings. We use all of what we harvest and make so there isn't much waste.  What waste there is comes from nature and goes back to nature, the epitome of the sacred circle.  And all of this is sooo much easier than what we have been led to believe.  In fact it has been shown that "primitive" people had more leisure time than we modern humans do.  Basically because they were not been fed the idea of work for stuff to have friends.  They went right to work with friends and skipped over the middleman "stuff", which to me has always had a trickster spirit anyway.

 Flint Knapping

 

To see a person first make fire with a bow drill that they made while walking into camp, to taste food that comes straight from nature, to hold your creative objects that you made with absolutely no money, to know you could disappear into the wilderness and not only survive but thrive in Her arms, there is nothing like these weeks I know of.  It takes the first three days just to decompress.  It is shown that a person cannot break free of society's teaching until the have been away from its influence for at least three days.  This is why many native tribes sent young vision seekers off on vision quests, to get them away from their society's influence so they could witness their true spirit's journey.  It is amazing to see this awakening of sorts, to see a person step into themselves, some for the first time.  I am grateful for each of these ladies and for my own awakening that happens every time I leave society and simply LIVE.

 

Leaching Acorns

In case you can't tell, I'm really looking forward to the journey that I start tomorrow night and I hope everyone else has an excellent adventure this next week.  Or you find a few moments of rest...which ever you need the most.

Primitive Trap