What it Means to be Wild

(Best read while listening to this song.)

“Baby in our wildest moments, we could be the greatest, we could be the worst of all.”

There’s something magic in the thought of being wild. To do something so far outside of expectations that an epic adventure ensues. For a while I mimicked one of my favorite progressives by ending my blogs with the closing “for the wild,” as I loved the romanticism in the phrase; culminating entries that I hoped would inspire others to do something as “wild” as loving others in significant ways. What does it really mean though?

Listening to the song “Wildest Moments” by Jessie Ware allowed me to really reflect on this idea of being “wild” and how our wild moments can be something truly great, but could also end in catastrophe, which is where the magic lies…putting ourselves out there in a way that will either bring a great reward or a great failure, and too often we’d rather play it safe. It brings on echoes of this quote by Marianne Williamson known to many progressives:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Another great aspect of being “wild” is that you can’t quite define what it is to be wild. It’s not something definite. But my reason for writing this quick entry is because, at this giant crossroads in my life, I feel like I need to be wild in certain ways…and while I don’t know what those ways are now, when they present themselves I will and I will shoot to have some of my wildest moments and be my greatest.

for the wild,

andrew