About Rewilding

Perhaps I owe Dave Foreman an apology for co-opting his word, though I know I’m not the first one to do so. He coined the term “rewilding” in 1992 specifically to mean restoring the land and its apex carnivores to a naturalized state that needs little to no human intervention.

But with our human-centric ways, it should come as no surprise that we would take a word (and a principle) meant for the more-than-human world and quickly find ways to apply it to our own. Hilarious.

And yet: this may actually be perfect. For perhaps this act also sprang from a deep knowing that even as we often feel separate, we too are part of the wild world, inextricably woven with soil and sunshine and salmon. And perhaps our care for the land can be beneficial and symbiotic, just like so many other animals.

Yet so many of us in uprooted cultures don’t know (or forget) how this could ever be. Still, every single one of us has ancestors who were indigenous to place at one time in history – though those histories, ruptures, and continuities are not the same. (For further context, see the note on decolonization). And there are so many ways – from home-based practices to volunteer opportunities to simply paying more attention – that we can jumpstart our return to beneficial relationship with the wider, wilder world – a relationship that is quite literally in our blood and bones.

So I offer practices of rewilding – soulful reconnection, embodiment, skill-building, co-creative spaces, land-based experiences – so that we may touch earth and remember that we really are a part of the more-than-human world. Or as some would call it, the world.

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Curious? Check the Rewild tab up above👆🏼 for upcoming gatherings, rituals, immersions, and resources. And join me at Rewilding Wonder on Substack to read deeper about my philosophy and find tips and reminders on how to dive into the stream of rewilding today…

Love, Ariana

A note on Decolonization:

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Perhaps it’s no surprise, but rewilding and decolonial work go hand in hand (and in many ways are two facets of the same process). Shared principles include recognizing patterns of harm, hierarchy, and power-over, and stepping into new worldviews rooted in relationship and humility rather than dominance, extraction, and human exceptionalism (patterns that are often far subtler than we realize, especially in the internal realms). This work is both personal and external.

But it also bears stating that Rewilding Wonder specifically endeavors to be a social-justice-aware, non-appropriative space. To this end, we are continually educating ourselves on histories and present-day realities of both oppression and privilege, and take great care that our work doesn’t draw directly from cultural or spiritual lineages without permission and explicit naming.

To be clear, the practices and principles offered through Rewilding Wonder have grown up through the soil of Ariana’s lived experience and are not attempts to draw upon or appropriate from other lineages. Though the multicultural milieus she has engaged with have certainly influenced her, unless specifically stated, she does not aim to replicate or convey teachings from lineages beyond her own. As part of this commitment, Ariana has studied decolonial and antiracism work for over a decade.

Since we don’t live in a post-racial world where all histories have been healed, we understand that this commitment may at times require choices that diverge from mainstream new-age practices – including taking extra care with our words and consistently attending to the difference between intent and impact.

It is our hope that Rewilding Wonder might be one small force in helping untangle colonial mindsets and patterns of action – in service of more personal and collective liberation.