How To Be Wild in a Concrete City

Rewilding our city souls so solutions can emerge…

Those of you who know my work, know that I strive for a new economy. An ecology-driven economy, in which people know how to live within the boundaries of our planet.

And I write about how to have fun in the process. Rewilding our lives, our homes, our love, our work, our friendships.

In this new economy, purpose will be master. We will know how to embrace diversity and we will find solutions that connect to each other and really help create a liveable future for all.

Well, today is my first day in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. And I wonder how people like you and me can rewild our souls in a concrete city like this. After all, lots of people live in such an environment every day.

We go to work in the morning, sit behind our laptops, have a bit of a lunch break, engage in small talk with our colleagues, travel home, play with our children, read a newspaper, have dinner, watch a bit of telly and go to sleep.

How can we become alive, really alive, when this is our life? How can we wake up, see that this is not what we are supposed to be doing with our precious lives, and do it differently? Well, let’s explore…

Kuala Lumpur is an Asian city as I imagine an Asian city to be. Wide, clean asphalt roads, tall, concrete buildings, and crowded markets with little stalls in which bored people are selling all kinds of cheap stuff.

There is green in Kuala Lumpur. But you cannot exactly call it wild nature. Although it is a better city than most. They even have a city jungle…

But what hurts my eye is that the city is surrounded with palm oil trees, planted in nice rows. Plantations with little biodiversity.

So, how can we rewild our souls in such an environment? Or in an even more asphalt and concrete-dominated city? How can we feel the call of nature to do something different with our lives?

To live it to the full… To feel our feelings, think our thoughts and be completely present in this moment?

Here are some ideas to experiment with. And don’t forget to have fun while playing…

Dance

1 The first time I visited an Asian city like this was years ago in Tokyo. And I got a really strong urge to break free. Free from the expectations to fit in. Break free from the mass of anonymous people around me. Be my own me. Completely.

So what did I do? I danced on the pavement. I just imagined some music in my head and started to move. Slow, small movements of my fingers first. A foot flexing, a leg stretching. It felt liberating.

Later on, when I gained courage, I let myself go for somewhat wilder moves. I just felt my own body and let it respond to the music in my head, the wind on my cheeks. Oblivious of other people staring, or not.

We always think other people are watching, judging us. But don’t be worried about that. People are too busy in their own heads to notice you. And if they do notice you, they might smile and tell about this funny lady later, over dinner.

And you may have lit a spark in their souls. Made them laugh, inspired them to let their own wild souls shine as well.

Gaia’s place

2 Find a tiny spot of nature and get to know it intimately. It can be a tree, a bush, a small bit of wasteland. Make sure it’s close to your front door, so you can go to it whenever you like, without taking too much effort.

When you are there, you will watch, smell, taste, hear, and feel the textures of all of nature present in this place. You will name the sparrow who is visiting and greet her warmly. You will trace slimy snail tracks with your finger, feel the dew drops on the moss.

You will feel the sun on your skin, or watch the reflected light of the moon and be mesmerized by her craters. You will hear the sound of the wind through your bush and feel the tiny feet of an ant crawling over your leg.

You might meditate here, you might ask questions, you might find answers. Just be. And let nature fill you and inform you.

Connect and smile

3 Every moment you are in the vicinity of another human being is an opportunity to connect. Whether you are in the row at the supermarket or nearly bumping into someone at the entrance of a shop.

You might look into their eyes. Be curious about them. Observe. Smile. Or maybe go a step further and talk to them. Ask them a question. Tell them something about you.

Once, I got an assignment to go into the street, talk to someone completely unknown, and make them tell us a secret. It went so far that we had to get the phone number of these people so the trainers could verify our story.

Scary! So very scary! In the end, I didn’t manage to get a phone number, I was too embarrassed to ask. But it definitely made me braver than I would normally have been. The result was that I had a great conversation with an old lady drinking coffee on a terrace.

And I told a waiter some secret of my own. I asked questions. Not in an interrogating manner, but curious questions, interested questions.

I looked into eyes, I smiled. I laughed out loud with people I didn’t know before. And it was fun!

People answered my questions willingly, enthusiastically! And I found out that many people are longing for this kind of contact. They are desperate for some real connection to light up their day. It was a real eyeopener for me!

Nowadays I am not so shy anymore. I think of what I can give by connecting to others. I think of what I can learn by listening closely, deeply. And I enjoy connecting…

So, how will this rewilding our souls help us create a better world? Create better cities? Help us find solutions for climate change?

Well, connecting to nature, to ourselves and to others will shape our world view. It will make us creative in a way beyond our imagination.

It will help us think of ways to live our lives to the full, to love unconditionally, and to innovate for real.

We might think of the solutions as described in this article in the Guardian. Don’t be fooled by the picture or the words ‘dumb’ and ‘low-tech’. This article contains some of the smartest solutions for cities I have ever heard of…

And most importantly of all, rewilding our souls will give us the courage and the strength to fill our lives with joy and love. Concrete city or not, let’s dance, let’s be with nature and let’s connect to each other. Life is worth the journey…

If you want to connect, you can find me on LinkedIn or Facebook. Or somewhere in my Gaia place, looking in wonder at the wall supporting the tiny curls of a fern unfolding…

Thank you, Mike, for understanding me and adding your calm, wise energy to my words.

Further reading

About me.

About systemic solutions