Wild At Heart

In our unsustainable pursuit of global growth, faster technology and progress at all cost, we have alienated ourselves from the wild. We have divided “me in here” from “it out there”. We have trivialized our existence, reduced ourselves to mere consumers and disconnected from wild Nature. Our “ survival of the wealthiest” culture is leading us deeper into a world wrought with division, hate and war; devoid of living, breathing organic Life.

No pharmaceutical drug or amount of money can manage humankind’s increasing isolation, anxiety and loneliness, nor can government, guns or an armored heart make us feel safe and secure. Sadly, most of humankind continues to seek dominion over Nature even when it diminishes us to abusers, oppressors and slave owners. No longer connected to the wild, we view wilderness and its denizens as a commodity to be consumed, hoarded and traded in hopes of securing our place in a sterile world. 

Maybe, this is why we are so drawn to elephants, they remind us of our wild, intuitive and instinctive Self. In the wild, elephants do not live by a patriarchal, mechanistic paradigm. Elephants are deeply organic, nurturing, altruistic, intuitive and communicative. They feel the wild as the root of their being. They know their role in the story of the Universe, their place in the scheme of planets, stars, wind and wildflowers. They live and move in cooperation, collaboration and for the mutual good of all. They are wild in the truest sense of the word: original, innate, authentic, instinctive, deep-rooted and sensory. Elephant thoughts, feelings, and actions are exquisitely sensitive to their living world and to each other. They are indelibly weaved into the wild tapestry of land, soil, water, grass, insect, air and “other”. They are equally grounded in joy and grief, breath and death. Elephants do not throw bombs, spears or spit bullets. They do not gang up on other species to dismantle communities and claim land. They do not prey on others. Left alone, they are genuinely balanced, calm, joyful and reflective. Even in the face of man’s betrayal they forgive, though it is said they do not forget. Above all, elephants are free from calculation, manipulation and are wildly honest and unabashedly true to who they are.

~By Elephant Advocacy~

This stunning image is by photographer Federico Veronesi.