Article #10
The best of
Both worlds!
why there is no "OR" between old knowledge & new time, but an "AND".
A sky full of diamonds, the sounds of animals in the darkness, a sunrise like the heartbeat of the earth, myself closer than ever before - a few years ago, I landed in the African wilderness for the first time, not in a comfortable lodge, but in a tent, without electricity, water or a toilet, in the middle of the bush. At night, elephants ate above my tent, hyenas searched for leftovers by the embers of the fire, lions snatched zebras at first light, and when I went to the toilet at night, I had to check my headlamp in search of reflective eyes in the black thicket. If I did discover any, I was instructed on the first night with the words "Whatever you do, don't run", because:
UNLIKE IN THE "MODERN" WORLD, WHERE EVERYONE IS RUSHING AGAINST EACH OTHER, HERE IN THE BUSH ONLY THE PREY IS RUNNING!
Life in the bush is an everyday life that we can hardly imagine in our modern, technological and so-called "civilized" world,- I felt the same way, because up to this point my life was mainly characterized by power, speed, performance and success, created in closed rooms, and yet this wondrous time without all the "lifestyle" I knew in the wilderness of Africa was characterized above all by one feeling: Coming home! Today I know that was no coincidence, because Africa is considered the cradle of mankind and is therefore the root of us all. But what its original nature reflects to us is not only our connection to it, but also the pain of how much it has been lost to us.
THE WILDERNESS IS A MIRROR OF OUR SOUL, ASKING US THE QUESTIONS WE DON'T ALLOW OURSELVES TO ASK!
When I came back to the city from that trip - I remember it only too well - I had the almost overwhelming feeling that I had to emigrate immediately because I could hardly stand the "modern" city compared to the wilderness. What I couldn't relate to at that point, I now see very clearly: no matter how modern we are, the wilderness is a mirror of ourselves, the place in our own nature from which anything is possible if we let it grow freely; only that, although we are the generation of possibilities, we hardly ever do that anymore. Instead, we "prune" ourselves, squeeze our talents, abilities and joys into forms, "function" in everyday life, and thus deprive ourselves of the fullness of life, i.e. precisely that part that can still be felt in the wild places of the earth. Ultimately, we are not "only" missing nature, we are missing ourselves! And so, for me too, my outward journey to Africa became the first stage of an inner journey that was to last much longer, and which I share in my book "You are Nature"; namely the journey back to a connection with - my own - nature.
REWILD YOURSELF IS THE ANSWER I HAVE FOUND FOR MYSELF. AND I THINK IT'S MORE HONEST THAN JUST WANTING TO "SAVE NATURE".
Being close to nature and living in the city? Being modern and following old knowledge? How does that work out? This is a question that I have been confronted with again and again since then, and I can understand that: I didn't emigrate to Africa, I live in the city, I work with digital media, I have a car ... and if you look at me, you probably don't even come close to realizing how close to nature I am, that I carry knowledge of ancient indigenous cultures, or do rituals for the earth, and that's totally okay. I am a modern woman and I don't pretend otherwise. I don't close my eyes to the fact that the world is moving forward and I believe even less that we will live like the indigenous peoples again - that's not even necessary, because one does not exclude the other!
THE WORLD IS NOT BLACK AND WHITE; THERE IS NO OR BETWEEN OLD AND NEW, BUT AN AND!
From my personal experience, it is much more essential to let nature grow again where we are in life, to start with it in the first place, and to stop thinking that one would only be possible without the other. If I hadn't had the opportunity to fly, I would never have ended up in Africa, I wouldn't have written my book, I would never have come across the ancient knowledge of indigenous cultures, I wouldn't have been able to do my own training, and today I wouldn't be able to contribute in my own individual way to making it grow again in our modern world. "It's easy to be connected to nature in the wilderness," I always say, "but it's hard work to let it grow again from the place where you yourself stand in life," and yet that's exactly where it needs to be done again: Because, where it is least present, it is needed the most.
HOW RICH WOULD WE BE IF WE COMBINED OLD WITH NEW KNOWLEDGE?
How rich would we be if we saw our growth not only as having, but also as being? How rich would we be if we used the achievements of our time, all the technologies and opportunities to live in harmony with the planet? What would we create if we stopped just taking and instead gave back some of our inner wealth?" is written in the last chapter of my book. "Wouldn't that be exactly the world we actually want?"
HOW WILL YOU WALK IN THE FOREST NEXT TIME?
If this article has inspired you, I would be delighted if you would share it with others,
and join me on my mission to create a new awareness of - our own - nature.
