How the Art and Nature of Story-Telling Heals Us
Resilience and Transformation: A Better World Requires Each of Us to Help Birth a New Vision for Self and World by Trusting Each Other and Ourselves
Traumatic experiences and a lot of physical change left me feeling overwhelmed. I had moved to two States within six years, turned down a dream job working with an International publishing company and, I abandoned an opportunity with a television station. (They liked my idea for a segment on the news.) I had also dabbled in film, print ads and commercials, and was told by a well-known, award-winning Executive Producer, Writer and Director that I looked great and I should consider doing more film work. But, to me, mainstream media felt like “lamestream” and entertainment seemed like “Hollyweird”. I struggled to find my place in the world. Stressed relationships at work and distressed in my personal life, I was exhausted and depressed. I needed relief and release.
An image came to me, I painted it, wrote a poem and a short story about what I felt and experienced. I didn’t labor over the art and story- a flow happened- and it felt good. The intensity relaxed. My body-mind-spirit felt a little freer. A new perspective was born. It showed an opportunity to restor-e self and flow in a new direction.
Renewal and protection, a “mother star”- a guiding light- with a spirit that flowed around the globe and throughout the Universe, represented belonging, interconnection, freedom from worries and suffering that arise from challenges. Perhaps the art showed a destiny of Self-Mastery, and served as a reminder to trust self, others, and just Be.
Positive self-talk, free-flow writing and creating art helps reduce anxieties and fears.
Stories and art help us evolve. They serve to express our inner cravings, struggles, failings, loss, goals, and can help heal and empower us. If we are fortunate, they can reveal an unknown part of self, and maybe even our calling: our piece of the peace.
I knew I wanted to help the biota, show how to reciprocate with nature, love all her beings, and help make the world a better place. What would that look like and how would I do that?
Birth of I AM Rebirths a New Earth
Mother Earth,
A painful Birth,
I AM Awakened.
Spiraled and Shakened.
Trauma and troubles unfurled,
New Beginnings have been hurled.
A new perspective, a gift from a dying ember,
For what we know, we re-member.
We forget our woes
When we are in the flow.
Trust, be gentle and let go!
Celebrate and take flight
from darkness to the light.
See beauty, compassion and good from a new height.
I AM Grateful as Mother Star is my guide.
Expand, Give and Be, I AM One and Allied.
An original poem by Loud Hawk, A Poet with a Purpose to restore soils and souls.
Have you ever been scapegoated? How did you handle it? How did it affect you? Were you able to empower yourself or did others help you?
Connect with Nature. Material gain and waste are astronomically huge problems. We make others responsible and we refuse to make efforts that may help us. It is as if the natural world and all her beings are worth-less than some people’s greed and need. We are nature. Know how to reduce harm by living simply and peacefully.
Revealed revelation: Blame, shame and scapegoating are examples of violence. Many of us have been scapegoated, including the author, nature and animals. I empathize. Some people have taken from me for their gain. And, many politicians take from others for agendas and programs.
Abusers reflect, project and deflect their pain and suffering onto others. We must not accept their mis-use of us as our truth, that we are unworthy of love, success and belonging.
Trust yourself. Resilience releases our freedom.
We all need to take a break, reflect, and examine our thoughts, feelings and deeds. Many people, including the author, have felt that there was something wrong with self and with our world. Resilience allows us to see a new perspective, be gentle with self, find balance, trust and then focus on our passion: important skills needed to rebirth/ re-story self- and, that is my friends, freedom. Imagine a world of liberated people, like our Founding Fathers envisioned!
For gentleness through awkward, anxiety filled, and painful times, be open to a different perspective than the one that got you in a bind. We are all working through challenges in our lives and we all have issues that make us feel vulnerable, “broken” and maybe even afraid. Be humble and kind, it helps form a positive perspective and self-esteem.
A laugh a day keeps the doctors away. Taking responsibility for ourselves saves time and resources. Our personal time, energy, bank account balances, health, well-being and self-esteem increase, and humor allows us to connect with ourselves and others, too!
Not taking self or others too seriously helps, especially when dealing with problems. Not everyone says and does what we like. People make mistakes, including self. We can overcome our differences and challenges with ourselves and with others.
Know Thyself: My body-mind-spirit are good and my intentions are pure. Knowing self empowers us, especially helpful when life tests us and when people project on us.
Seemingly unsolvable, or, do you need to expand your horizons? Sometimes there is a problem that doesn’t seem to have a solution. Consider this: the problem is a blessing. It can serve as a teacher, help keep us be present in our daily lives, kind and amiable. Resilience enables us to be in the moment, be creative, open to possibilities, and builds patience, persistence, communication, collaborating skills and our abilities to act when opportunities arise.
Most problems are temporary. Getting a new perspective may help with decisions and taking the next step. Self-reliance requires developing skills on how to deal with difficulties in your life, and in this crazy world. Once we know how to live simply, peacefully with compassion and empathy, we reduce harm and handle things with more grace and generosity.
Re-new, restore. re-story. Life may be much different than one had imagined it would be, especially in our rapidly changing world. When we flow with what life brings, our flexible, easy-going, calmness helps us be prepared, balanced, present and help-full.
The art and nature of story-telling helped me with acceptance, forgiveness, letting go, gratitude, presence, responsibility, trust and generosity with self and others.
What are you ready to let go of and restore in yourself? Are you ready for better health, well-being, connection with nature, others and a better world?
Join a Wildlands Challenge
Wildlands is building a community where we share our art and stories. Your art and story do not need to be masterful and they will not be judged.
Wildlands is about our connection with nature and health and well-being. I explore a variety of topics that connect the three, along with advocacy called “Love in Action”.
It’s for those who want health and well-being amidst an epidemic of confusion, delusion and destruction due to devices, crises and vices, weekly escapes to the wildlands soothe the spirit.
Wildlands offers frequent and diverse “travels” to health, well-being and personal sovereignty. Your inner freedom is my goal. Helping you be liberated from the agendas of harm helps create a better world for all beings.
Substack is a home for my work, a place to build community, in-joy with others.
Advocacy is love in action.
My holistic health, art, creative writing, naturalist and teaching experience have helped me heal from chronic health issues. I’ll share an occasional healthy, simple recipe from more than thirty five years of a plant-based way of life. I will share how to heal with plants. I’ve helped Cities, Counties and organizations create native pollinator gardens, organic food and herb gardens to reduce harm and increase health and wellness in the community. I’ve helped others to see themselves from a new perspective, and to re-new, and restore- and thrive. I can help you see YOU in a new light and help you put love in action and reduce harm.
Let’s grow together through art and stories and connection! We can serve in-joy and play!
Restore self to strengthen resilience and help rebirth a better world. Are you ready for a challenge and for a fun community?
Here are more ways you will receive goodness from our monthly Wildlands challenges:
Empower self. Share your art and story with others. You will be heard, seen and given support. Together, we build trust and strength for inner freedom and a better world. Learn how to handle situations with confidence and calmness. You will receive support for your goals and be given ways to help you.
Peace, Balance and Release. Desire can be unhealthy when it comes from lust and craving. When we share a plea for our world, and share skills to help others, it can help us release unhealthy habits, manage situations and not be affected by them. Inner peace requires reflection, meditation, time in nature before action to reduce (maybe even unify) a conflict. An example of balance: when a tree is cut down, plant a tree.
Collaboration and Community. Think, “collabs are fab! We will have centering exercises, and include quiet time for reflection before discussions. Wisdom and community help us achieve goals, grow, and solve issues together. Being in service, with compassion and empathy, can help fix problems. There will be personal challenges regarding simple, healthy living to restore/ re-story self. And, as part of your well-being, ideas, projects, and places to give back to others will be shared. You will also strengthen advocacy that you may already be doing. Reciprocity is a natural form of generosity.
Restoration and Transformation. Feeling overwhelmed and a bit unsure of self? We’ll discuss discernment for clarity of purpose. Adaptability helps us move through situations gracefully. We will also discuss how having a rebel mind can free you. New skills, experiences and personal goals will be revealed through play-full exercises. Humility and support heal. New opportunities happen when we connect with self and others.
Sustenance and Celebration. Many people struggle with choices and cravings. One example is food: it can harm and it can heal. We will have discussions about self-care, slowing the aging process naturally, how to increase energy, and share simple, healthy food and recipes. We’ll celebrate revelations, restorations, releases and transformations of self and others.
Your Next Steps to Be a Part of a Growing Community:
You help build a new monthly online meeting place where we can celebrate our experiences, build trust, communication, skills, and strength towards better health, well-being and connection with nature, self and others.
A paid subscription will give you access to once a month challenges, online community and resources. If you are in need and unable to pay, please DM me, and we will work out a win-win. I will take a survey of paid participants for a meeting time and date, and a zoom link will be sent to paid subscribers.
Together, we help birth a new vision for self and our world through trust, restoration, transformation, reciprocity and gratitude for our journey.
The first Wildlands challenge:
How have you re-storied your life after loss of a goal, a dream, a loved one, a job, a relationship, an opportunity?
Draw, paint, or create something with found objects that tells a story about an experience that caused difficulty in your life or is a challenge for you and your community.
Then, write a short story or poem about your art.
Did it bring you some relief within your mind-body-spirit?
Were you able to see a situation from a new perspective?
What do you need to re-story and release for your relief?
If you have questions and comments, please share them!
How can we each reduce harm and increase love? We will each share what we created, learned and discuss what we need for support for health, well-being and connection with nature and others.
Re-birth of self re-stories and restores us, strengthens our resilience and helps create a better world.
Thank you to the many Substack creatives for connecting with me and for telling me how my work has inspired them! And, thank you for your support of Wildlands!
Every month there will be a different challenge, online community and resources. I look forward to connecting and growing with YOU!
Thank you, @Gary Gruber, for re-stacking "How the Art and Nature of Story-Telling Heals Us".
Also included: I made the news! Find out how YOU can make the news, too!
Gini M., a Wildlands subscriber says, "Great work! I love your perspective!!"