Why We Need The Wild

The Value of Wilderness Immersion for Climate Leaders

Over the past few years, I’ve watched an accelerating flow of friends & colleagues move into climate tech. As it becomes ever more clear how dire our planet’s circumstances are, and climate-focused companies gain traction and publicity, the sector and community are exploding. I started working in climate tech in 2016, and I love this growth - we need everyone we can get, contributing however they can, to find our way through the ecological crises facing us.

However, I also see that we’re all primarily operating from the same paradigm that’s contributed to creating this crisis of disconnection with the Earth - speed, screens, meetings, slides, to-do lists, and schedules. Zoom calls, office chairs, linear thinking, linear time.

As a native of this worldview and experience, I understand the pressure to participate in this way and the benefits of structure. I’m not advocating for a complete abdication of the Google Calendar world - rather, I propose that intentional retreat to the wilderness in community is critical for maintaining motivation and inspiration for those working on the climate crisis.

Wildness vs. Domestication

My professional story is…atypical. A couple of years as a software engineer, then a stint as a wilderness guide for Outward Bound, then a year as a Chief of Staff, back to guiding in Patagonia…I oscillate between the office and the wilderness. I crave the clarity, simplicity, and intensity of long periods spent in the wild, and I relish the promise of building scalable technologies and solutions to our myriad ecological crises.

Recently, I was in a meeting filled with colleagues working in climate tech. I know them well - I can clearly recall an individual conversation with each face on the screen in which we’d shared the depth of our concern for the health of our planet and the desire to create more balance between humanity and the natural world. Yet, as we each sat in this meeting, each of us within both a box on a screen and a box of a room, I could feel our collective disconnection from the world of roots and leaves and wind.

I admire all those who are choosing to dedicate their professional skills towards projects to bring ecological balance. I’ve met so many people who’ve heard the call and have a deep-seated commitment to using the tools of our modern world to serve nature. Yet I see a similar story across many of those I know on this path - we’ve chosen to dedicate our lives to climate work, but we spend our days sitting in front of a screen.

We viscerally feel the impact our sprawling civilization is having on our biosphere, but we operate almost entirely within that same civilized, linear, scheduled paradigm. We are professionally pursuing ecological balance without living in direct relationship with those ecologies.

We love wildness, but we’ve domesticated ourselves.

The Alchemy of the Wild

In my work guiding in the wilderness from Patagonia to Alaska, I’ve seen the impact that intentional time in the wild can have on our psyche. We’re designed to live in packs, on the land. Humans evolved as social creatures, living in what we’d now call “wilderness” but at the time was simply “the world”. There’s a particular alchemy that happens in the wild that deepens connections with ourselves, our human community, and the more-than-human world.

We return with a renewed sense of clarity about our role in the great saga of our times, and the way in which we will choose to live our days. In the unhurried moments of backcountry living we find deep connection with our comrades. And most importantly, we return with our hearts and minds opened by the complexity, power, and wisdom of the more-than-human community - and a collective sense of what role our “custodial species” might have to offer this living world.

I borrow the term “the more-than-human world” from David Abram, and choose to use it because it places humanity within the context of the surrounding lifeworlds of this planet, rather than separating us as something apart from “nature”. Wilderness immersion is a key way to deepen our relationship with the biological systems upon which we depend.

Regardless of the degree to which any of us currently feel a close relationship to wilderness, we all need to regularly refill our well of inspiration. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to deepen that connection while in the full flow of a fast-paced life. Particularly for those of us that feel a connection to nature which drives our climate tech work, immersion in the wilderness can help us return to living in personal ecological balance while working to restore the balance of our larger systems.

Physical vs. Abstract

A couple of years ago, I was guiding a group of MBA students with Chulengo Expeditions in Alaska, and we got a typical Alaska experience - 5 days of almost continuous rain and 45-degree mist. We didn’t see Denali, which theoretically was looming above us throughout the trip, and we spent much of our collective capacity figuring out how to stay dry in the perpetual damp. We dealt with howling windstorms that broke tent poles, constant mud that would unexpectedly swallow feet to the ankle, and terrible visibility. Objectively, it was rough. However, sitting under the tarps cooking dinner one evening, I looked around and saw deep and genuine smiles on each of the faces surrounding me - the easy comfort that comes from feeling rooted in the physical, rather than the abstract.

I know so many people working on deeply inspiring climate projects, but for most of us our day-to-day experience is the same - words, screens, meetings, slides, to-do lists, and schedules. We operate primarily in abstraction, rather than in the direct experience of the physical world. I think this is a big part of why cooking, gardening, pottery, and other crafts of the physical are such popular antidotes to this perpetual abstraction.

When we close the laptop, put away the phone, and bring our attention to the physical world, we’re reminded of the actual pace of life, the subjective nature of time, and the reality of our own belonging on this miraculous planet. Immersion in the wilderness is an antidote to abstraction.

Time Dilation

The wilderness dilates time. Try spending one hour sitting quietly or walking peacefully in a wild or wild-ish place, and notice your experience of that time. It stretches on, languid and rich with texture. Three days in the wilderness feels like weeks in the fast-paced world of knowledge work.

I love guiding in the mountains to drop into a collective sense of timelessness, to let each activity move at its own pace, to find a relaxation of the need to get to the next thing. We return with a new perspective on the fullness of our lives, and an expanded capacity to remain present.

Begin With One Step

You may not be able to disappear tomorrow on a multi-day wilderness adventure (nor can I). But each of us can begin to integrate wildness into our lives right now.

1. Go for a wander, rather than a hike. A hike has a destination, while a wander doesn’t. A wander leaves us open to following intuition, and letting go of paces, milestones, and even the intention to “exercise”. We move non-linearly, perhaps lingering with in a certain spot, singing to the surrounding trees, or following our nose. This style of movement is very similar to what the Japanese call “forest bathing”.
   
   

2. Soles to the earth. I find one of the most direct ways to remind our bodies of the pace and intelligence of the natural world is to place our bare feet on the earth. You can walk, bounce, or simply stand and feel the direct connection of sole to soil that is shockingly rare these days.
   
   

3. Play with perspective. Become entranced with a single foot of soil, snow, or plant life, then zoom out and drop in to the immense complexity surrounding you in every moment. Check out this short video to explore deeper.

Diving Deeper

Through my coaching and guiding practices, I offer pathways towards integrated wildness.

This summer, I’ll be offering retreats designed specifically for climate leaders. The next climate leaders retreat will be June 23-26 in Colorado - to learn more about this and other upcoming events (including in California and elsewhere in the country), check out my wilderness immersions and join my newsletter community below to get the latest news.

My 1-1 coaching practice is designed for those who seek more aliveness, clarity, and impact - through a coaching partnership with me, clients become more at home in this world; ready to offer their energy to the people, projects, and vision that most energize them. If you’re curious to learn more about coaching, schedule an exploration call.

Return to the Wild World

We all need both small daily doses and periodic longer immersions in the wild world. We need to interact with the physical world and drop into a slower, richer experience of time. We need to deepen our relationship with ourselves, our human community, and the more-than-human world. Particularly for those of us who have chosen to dedicate our careers to the climate crisis, extended retreat to wilderness brings the clarity, connection, and inspiration needed to show up most fully in our lives. 

A big thank you to Evan Carr, Deirdre Francks, Banks Benitez, and Michael Cazayoux for the editing support for this piece.