Alternatives to Mainstream Living

So you feel you are a wild human. And you intend to align your life ways with your beliefs. Here are some of my suggestions for walking your talk, so you too can aspire to rewild yourself, create personal empowerment, encourage cultural transformation, cultivate communion with the Creator in your inner life, and build grassroots community in your outer life, which will endow you with that basic sense of joy emanating from awareness and expression of your own wild humanism.

Liberate yourself right at the start, if you are mature enough yet to do so.Take control of your own life by thinking about who you REALLY are. What do you really want in your heart of hearts? How do you really want to try to do that? If you could do anything you wish, with no censure or criticism from anyone else, what would it be? I don't advocate hedonism or other dead-end lifestyles, I'm speaking of expressing who you really are. What are your big dreams and what are your small dreams? What do you really admire in other people? They are like a mirror reflecting back to you the parts of yourself you have yet to acknowledge and honor.

Do you like dreadlocked people cruising around in beat up pickup trucks, eating honey off the comb and blasting reggae while they smoke a doobie out the window? Who are you, as you see what you like in other people? I'd love to know. Figure it out, then model your life to resemble theirs. Buy a drum. Dred your hair. Paint your van. Whatever your personal journey of change calls for.

For example, I used to be a very depressed goth chic studying philosophy and listening to dark music all the time. I had to lighten up or commit suicide. So I went through this questioning process, and discovered I was happier as a "h.i.p.p.i.e.--a Happy Intelligent Person Pursuing Infinite Enlightenment/Enjoyment". I actually loved batik tapestries, Grateful Dead, wonderful oils, comic books like Freak Brothers, hiking to waterfalls, cooking gourmet vegetarian dishes, etc. And as I discovered these things, I did indeed lighten up and come to life. People told me it was like watching a flower blossom, to see me change that way.

So do your own "personal needs inventory assessment" and give yourself the gift of some wild human direction for your plans and aspirations.

In this process, you may discover that you still have a desire, a longing, a burning passion, to learn and to be a part of the social circles attached to what you want to learn. I wanted to learn about car mechanics, so I bought an old VW bus and rebuilt the engine three times, very slowly, labeling everything and drawing diagrams. I also painted the body, carpeted and paneled the interior, made curtains for it, etc. It took a long time. In the meantime, I also went to Volkswagon rallies, where I met many wild and interesting people, including a man I loved for two years. I also went to mechanic garages and brought the dudes donuts and hung out and listened to their stories, similar to real live "Car Talk" like you hear on NPR.

Other ways to learn include:

*unschooling (learning by living--like building your own shelter, building your own clay or solar oven and using it, making your own clothes, growing/harvesting and canning/preserving your own food--sink or swim style),

*homelearning (like surfing the web, browsing discount book stores, joining book reading circles, going to workshops and conferences--you write your own curriculum and decide on your own progress)

*distance learning where you enroll in an actual school and take their courses online, and visit the school once or twice a semester. for independent self-starters who discipline themselves.

*apprenticeships, where you get a job or volunteer for something you want your life to be like. for example, if you want to work for the National Park Service, the competition is fierce, but if you volunteer for a few years, a job is more likely, and you get to hang out in gorgeous areas and know smart, cool people.

*start your own business or thing you do. for a few years, my sister exclusively volunteered at music festivals, in exchange for free admission and camping passes. in return, she met an incredible number of famous musicians, partied like there was no tomorrow, and filled up her own little black phone book with new friends and acquaintances. now she travels all over the world working as a party planner for these people.

Those are some specific ways to learn, in a manner that will grow your social network and give you experiences of a lifetime to cherish. There are many more possibilities than this.

You can do a little research and find out about the Rainbow Trail, about their year round schedules of gatherings, potlucks, festivals, and other events, like peace rallies and fundraisers, design an itinerary, and go to them.

You can craft an identity as a performer, like a musician or storyteller, and travel to community centers and churches, and stay with people who belong to them. They will feel honored and blessed, believe me. It livens up people's lives and they love it.

You can choose a band or a musician you love and follow them on tour or on the festival circuits they travel, probably selling posters, tshirts or food and staying in hotels or campgrounds or with fellow festies/tourheads.

You can go on a mission to visit ecovillages and intentional communities, interviewing people and being a documentary photographer and travel writer.

You can volunteer or work at Earth Camps and other camps (like ones that teach survival skills), picking up and honing skills, meeting people, and growing your life.

You can also craft your own individual journeys and vision quests, like Peace Pilgrim or Forrest Gump or the Native American Honor Rides on horseback or motorcycle. Carry a sign and promote a movement or a (r)evolution.

You can start your own companies or nonprofits. This will empower you to give energy to movements that need help to grow, or to start your own movement, like this Wild Human Initiative. I've posted before about how to start a grassroots nonprofit or how to start a co-op or a company, and I'll be glad to do it again if it will help you.

I would strongly recommend hanging out with real people who can look each other in the eye, and do cool stuff together, not "consume" or "accomplish" stuff together. Like, go climb a building or a mountain. Draw a cool flyer to raise awareness, copy it a bunch, and go on a sneaky rendezvous at night and post them up in eye catching places. Explore back alleys, talk with lonely homeless people, go on hikes, whatever you like. Find someone to invite and drag them along. You might have fun!

You can consider being a nanny for road-tripping hipsters, or agree on a work-trade arrangement with them for something you know how to do so you can live with them and soak up their vibe for awhile, and circulate among their friends and make friends of your own (like cooking, gardening, carpentry, child or animal care, house repair or house sitting, whatever you are good at that they need)

If you have the money and the freedom already, educate yourself in your own diverse way. Go to Ecovillage and Permaculture Training, go to Outward Bound Outdoor Leadership Training, go to Activist and Leadership Training (like that offered by Starhawk). The sky is the limit, and maybe you can even go beyond that if you like astronomy.

Think about training in digital entertainment, photography, gardening, natural building, earth activism, herbalism, massage, etc. one class/workshop at a time, rather that a four-year formal liberal arts education. Custom craft it wild-human style.

Be underground or be in the spotlight (like Julia Butterfly Hil). It's your life, so live it! Be the change you wish to see in the world. And remember the key points of wild humanism:

*refuse to be fully domesticated

*live in ways that are creative and innovative

*explore outside the bounds of mainstream dictates

*walk your talk with courage and beauty*aspire to rewild yourself and your life

*create personal empowerment for yourself and others you meet

*encourage cultural transformation with social acupuncture (conscious conversations) and with conscious choices in your daily and long term life

*cultivate connection with Spirit in your inner life. Learn to turn to and rely on the Creator as your Source of All Things.

*build grassroots community in your outer life, by organizing little events like music parties, food giveaways, letter writing campaigns, whatever will unite you with people of like mind and heart. Invite people to stay or camp with you, or do ride shares to meet people and go to events. Build grassroots community one person at a time, starting with yourself.

*endow yourself with a basic sense of joy that comes from knowing that you are a wild human, and you are beautiful, and we love you!