Domestication

Definition. The process of taming an animal to keep as a pet, or on a farm. -Oxford Dictionary

Domestication is a term that gets thrown around a lot. We domesticated aurochs into cows, we domesticated wolves into dogs, we turned einkorn into a super productive grain that is hardly recognizable to its' wild progenitors. The part that is often missed or left out, id that we domesticated ourselves along the way. Humans (takers) were once wild strong creatures. We had keen senses, and quick bodies.

The lifestyle of the modern taker culture human is so far removed from our nature, that we have to actively change the way that our minds work in order to accept it. We dull our senses with drugs and alcohol. We spend hours a day staring at screens. We get our dopamine from likes and shares. Our food is largely poison, our water is polluted, our air causes cancer. We spend more time working than being with our friends and families (if you even have time at all for friends and family). We do all of this in order to hide the fact that we could be doing so much better. We could be free.

The way is not back. we cannot go back to nomadic hunter gatherers. (Well, some of us could, but not me.) I believe that the answer is a linear forward path. There will be twists and turns. There will be learning and mistakes. We can start right here and right now, right where we are, and we can decide to be better and do better. Obviously ancestral skills like friction fire, foraging, and tracking intersect with rewilding a lot, but rewilding is not ancestral skill. Rewilding is the idea that our ancestors knew something that we have forgotten. They knew how to live in relationship. Relationship with a community, With the land, and with our other than human brothers and sisters.

We can take this idea and roll with it. We can prioritize our communities and our connection to nature. One of the ways that many rewilders connect more meaningfully with nature is through the practice of ancestral skills. All of our ancestors were nomadic Hunter gatherers at some point. When we get our food from nature, we see the real value of the land. This can be accomplished through foraging, Hunting, and fishing to supplement your diet. When we make the things we need without own hands, we learn to value things, and to let them go because natural made goods are biodegradable. This can be accomplished through Basketry, knitting, Sewing, Crochet, Spinning, etc. We can also practice ancestral social skills. We can pull our weight, not for money or recognition, but because we see the value in helping our community and being a part of the solution rather than working only for our own betterment. Egalitarianism is a key component of a better future. All people are equal and deserving of respect and dignity.

For now, I'll leave it at that. More to come