Alone, we seek support.
Hungry, we seek nourishment.
Vulnerable, we seek openness.
Cold, we seek the warmth of an inner flame.
Empty, we seek vision.
Human, we seek not to be different but to be ourselves,
not to find another world, but to live fully in ours.
Most of all, we pray for a gift to bring back to our People and our Place.
>> John Davis
Many of us live in ways that are out of connection with what our soul's desire, working in jobs that don't speak to our passions and working long hours to sustain a lifestyle that doesn't resonate deeply with our values. I'd like to offer opportunities for people to step out of this for an hour, a day, or more, to listen to the quiet voices within, the ones that speak dreams and longings and truths, the ones we tend to push away in fear or out of sheer exhaustion from the running of our day-to-day lives.
Why are you raising money?
I am raising money so I can train as a Wilderness Quest* guide in the USA and return to Australia to offer opportunities for people to explore themselves through Wilderness Quest.
* Wilderness Quests are known variously as Vision Quests, Vision Fasts and Nature Quests, to name a few alternatives. For this campaign I use the term Wilderness Quest.
What is a Wilderness Quest?
It is a solo bush experience in which you spend 4 days and nights within nature seeking personal truths, emotional release and spiritual clarity. The simplicity and powerful universality of this quest format means it works for people of all belief systems and religions, including any Australian seeking a deeper empowerment of their life’s purpose through this ancient rite of passage.
>> This description by Claire Dunn
By training as a Wilderness Quest guide I will be able to lead Wilderness Quests.
Huh? I thought you were a nerdy academic? Why do you want to lead Wilderness Quests?
Hmmm! Yes. Some of you might know me in that guise. If that's the case, we're overdue a cuppa. ;)
In my 20s and the first half of my 30s I worked diligently forging an academic career in public health, researching how neoliberal structures like casual employment impact on the wellbeing of women, children and families. I did an MPH, a PhD and some postdocs. At 37, four years ago, I was headhunted to manage a new research centre in a Government department. However, in a job that "should have" been the icing on the cake for over 15 years of hard work, I felt far from fulfilled.
Around that time my loves of nature and spiritual enquiry converged when exploring "rewilding", sparked by Claire Dunn's book 'My Year Without Matches'. Since then I've followed an effortless curiosity, studying and experiencing nature connection and soulcraft practices including natural fibre weaving, ecodyeing and basketry, plant and bird identification, fire without matches, shelter building, poetry and journalling, community building, sacred ceremony and Wilderness Quest.
I am also a regular member of the weekly Friday Rewild group, a board member of Firekeepers Melbourne and have recently completed the inaugural Nature Stewards program, a 10-week Naturalist's Training course.
A photo from a few years ago, showing a silk scarf I ecodyed with eucalyptus leaves. I know, it's a bit hard to see here but I promise it's gorgeous! I'm offering ecodyed scarfs as rewards in this campaign.
Left: I made this necklace from locally foraged fragmites; common reed. I'm offering these necklaces as rewards in this campaign. Right: practicing a traditional Maori form of basket weaving with New Zealand flax.
Whilst all these activities have been enriching, Wilderness Quests have been the most profound. Questing has brought me into more intimate contact with the essence of who I am and what I am to do with this "wild and precious life".
Since my quest in March this year I've felt called to support others by guiding Wilderness Quests.
What would happen if everyone lived in alignment with their values, dreams, gifts and truths? How different would the world look, from individual lives through to decisions made on the global stage?
Wilderness Quests are a powerful tool for stepping individuals toward greater congruence.
I'd like to see what we are capable of collectively, with this congruence as our springboard.
At the Women, Earth and Soul retreat led by Claire Dunn and Rebecca Wildbear, March 2019. The retreat included a 24-hour Wilderness Quest.
What's the course you're planning to attend?
A month-long Wilderness Quest Training program run by the School of Lost Borders in Colorado, US in July-August 2019. You can read about the program here.
What's going to happen after the course?
I will hold several half and full-day Wilderness Quest walks with supporters of this campaign, based on what I learn on the course.
In 2020 I plan to offer these workshops with the general public, along with 24-hour quest experiences, with a view to offering multi-day Wilderness Quests as I gain experience.
Rewards.
Now might be a good time to peruse the rewards I'm offering, if you haven't already. I hope you find something that interests you.
In terms of timing,
- I have started making the necklaces and ecodyed scarfs, and I'll send them out as soon as this campaign closes.
- The emailed rewards will be sent after I return from the course, in September.
- For workshops: once this campaign has finished and I know numbers, I will email participants and ask you to register for specific dates. You'll have a choice of dates in September, October and November, with a maximum of 10 participants per workshop. All workshops will be held on Saturdays.
Any questions? Feel free to email me [email protected], subject heading CROWDFUND.
If the campaign raises money beyond the stretch goal, it will be used to subsidise tickets for workshops I run in 2020, for people who would not otherwise be able to attend.
I'd like to support this campaign, but I am not interested in any of the rewards.
No worries!
If you feel comfortable contributing financially, you might consider gifting a reward to someone else. This could be someone of your choice, or you could leave it with me to gift on.
- To do this, submit a reward as usual, and then email me on [email protected] with details of the person you are gifting to OR let me know I can gift it on. Subject heading of email CROWDFUND.
- If I am gifting on, I will wait until the campaign is complete and then through my Facebook account I'll put a call out for people interested in receiving these gifts, focussing on people who would not otherwise be able to afford them.
If you'd like to support this campaign in other ways, I'd love you to consider
- Sharing the campaign on social media, perhaps adding why this work/campaign resonates for you.
- Telling your friends, family and colleagues about the campaign.
- Putting your phone down right now and taking three deep breaths! Go on!
Gratitudes.
In signing out, I'd like to express gratitude to all the wonderful people who've supported my journey of nature and soul up to this point. Special thanks to Claire Dunn, Melissa Turnbull, the Friday Rewilders, the Wild Women Circle and my family, who show unconditional love and support even if they don't always "get it". I acknowledge all the peoples past and present who practice Wilderness Quest ceremony and graciously support others to apprentice to this practice. I honour the great unknowable mystery that guides me and give thanks and feel great love for our wild earth and all that she holds.
With some of the Friday Rewild crew at a beautiful community wedding in February 2019.
Campaign cover photo by Jac Price.
