It was a gut-wrenching moment. I was set to speak at the 50th anniversary of the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA), where I serve on the board and deeply believe in the cause. I’d prepared remarks about using MCEA as a powerful “carbon counterpoint” – donating to tackle the root causes of emissions, rather […]

“Something shifted during our last session.” That’s how my coaching client described it and I felt it too. I could practically see it happening, even through the tiny screens of zoom. Something brightened across her face, like how light changes when sun breaks through clouds.

Honestly, I think we both were a little startled by how […]

Solstice is a powerful teacher:
the trickster who invites you to go out sledding on a moon-less night.
Daring you to take a risk, to lean in,
to stay with what is uncertain and unseen.

She whispers in your ear as the sled starts to move,
“Your vision limits you here.
Your desperation to see keeps you from seeing.
In this place, […]

As we pushed our canoes into the river, the instructor said to me, “You [healthcare workers] are getting us through this pandemic and now you will teach us how to grieve.” My reflection from a recent wilderness retreat for healthcare workers.

We will teach you how to grieve.

A doctor once told me that in critical care […]

Within Swinging Distance

September brings a new set of changes and challenges, and a host of adaptations as we find our Weh in autumn with this pandemic.  What is settling in many of us is the recognition that managing this virus is a marathon, not a sprint.  The thing is, you train totally differently for those […]

It's easier to bring the not scary parts of yourself out into the world. To hope that the Wild parts of ourselves are the parts that we don't mind sharing.

Impermanence, a word, a feeling that has been sticking with me lately. The impermanence of life; of season, of weather, of joy, of distress, of successes, and of failures

Stepping into 2020 many of us are fraught with worries about what the future may hold. Here at The Wild Institute, we planned to start this year by talking about ways to deepen our skills of being Wildly Present.

Re-Wilding, in the world of conservation, means restoring an area of land to it's natural uncultivated state, particularly reintroducing species of plants or wild animals that have been driven out or exterminated.