Without a community, you will fail.
The Turning Feral Journal - Day 5
Day 5: Family, friends, and community. Those are often overlooked elements to beginning a self-sustainability journey. I, for one, fully ignored those three elements when I first became motivated to try and move away from society. Instead of seeking help from others and building a community to grow with, I was fueled by the anger of a recent divorce.
Like many young men, I had “had it” with society and the life I was told I needed to live. So, instead of focusing more deeply on my family, friends, and community, I shunned them and set out on a solo adventure with the mindset of “do or die.”
Thankfully for me (with the clarity of hindsight) the woods and general self sustainability is a master at serving out humble pie for free, every single day. It turned out that without family, friends, and a community to lean on, I was actually slowing my progress to learning the skills that I was so desperate to acquire. I would spend hours trying to do a task when it would have taken 10 minutes for me to walk to a more knowledgeable neighbor and learn that skill the appropriate way… and they were willing to teach!
Yes, the woods helped quickly break down my own ego and forced me back into recognizing that family, friends, and community are not only a component of learning to be more feral, but an absolute prerequisite.
Daily Prompt: Who is in your close family and friend circle? Does this community align with where you want to be on your self-sustainability journey? Can you actively share and learn skills within this community, or can you get together today to start a community garden or small trade circle? If you don’t have a small “tribe,” how can you go about starting one?:
Motivational Passage:
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:24-25
Rewilding Action: Whether you have a strong self-sustainability community to tap into or not, take action today. Start a local gardening club, join a shooting club, or call up your mom and ask her how she used to make her sourdough bread. Been curious about a specific topic? Follow someone new on instagram and reach out with questions you may have been too embarrassed to ask in the past. Remember, we all start somewhere.