Rewilding my creativity
If you get stuck, sit by something moving in nature, like a stream of water, and you will get moving again, and many more nuggets of wisdom!
An 8 week online course, Rewilding Mythology, hosted by Sophie Strand, by Advaya.
“What would the world be, once bereft
Of wet and of wildness? Let them be left,
O let them be left, wildness and wet;
Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.”
I joined and attended this hugely inspiring, richly rewarding and creatively uplifting course that started by throwing participants in at the deep end of intellectual thought. The speakers said so much in each sentence, it was hard to follow at first. As I got used to the language and into the flow of thought, it began to stir the imagination, and frame many of my interests in ecologically connected ways. This course was about the now, how we got here and where we are headed, but ultimately motivating us to work out what to do about it.
“When you’re in the woods, follow the sound. See where it leads you. Hold up your hands, cup your ear, listen.”
- Josh Schrei, Week 2.
Politically radical, topics such as the science fiction of Ursula Le Guin, and other lesser known writers, merged with how we, as creatives, can approach our surroundings in new and ancient ways, and listen to what nature wants us to create. It was an interconnected, holistic and alternative whirlwind of where science meets spirituality, and where humans connect to the natural around and inside.
The speakers were artists of different disciplines, spoken, visual and musical, intellectuals, scientists and thinkers, mythologists and storytellers, talking about their own experiences of doing things differently in their own fields, giving plenty of ideas to participants and involving them in discussions with questions at the end of each session. Sophie Strand, the host and writer, eloquently and intelligently steered the talks in thought-provoking ways.