Two Reasons We are Drawn to Wild Places

One reason we’re drawn so powerfully to wild places is because of the way they restore a healthy sense of perspective about who we are in the world.

The physical act of hiking up a steep mountain trail, snowshoeing through deep powder, or paddling into a hard headwind ‘resets’ us. It puts us into contact with elemental forces in the world that are simply not impressed by who we think we are or what we’ve done in the world. They are unmoved by the size of our ambitions; deaf to the protest of our egos. Encountering these forces in the natural world invariably leaves us broken, humbled and gasping in a way that feels strangely gratifying. We are diminished, ‘brought down to size’ – and secretly, glad of it.

But time spent in wild places doesn’t just right-size the ego in relation to the universe. It also teaches us deep truths about change.

“Nature holds up a mirror so we can see more clearly the ongoing processes of growth, renewal, and transformation in our lives,” says Mary Ann Brussat.

The cycles of decay and rebirth we see in the forests around us teach us not to fear the end of one form of identity in the world, but rather to welcome it as a precursor of a newer, more vibrant one. Our Selves are always ‘selving’, says Jungian psychologist James Hollis – never static, always in the process of becoming something new.

Explore who and what you are in the midst of becoming. Contact Adrian about his walk-and-talk counselling services in Vancouver today.