A major in midwifery, a minor in rewilding....

So lately I've toyed with the idea of leaving school to educate myself on the ways of the wilderness; to "rewild" myself, as some say, to learn to be feral, to live a truly green lifestyle and all of that..you know, the classic romantic (or not so romantic,) vision of living in a wigwam or tepee or something, hunting deer, fishing, gathering wild dandelion greens, mushrooms, berries, etc...

I've already made friends with people who can (and do,) teach me many of these things, in fact, one of my house mates is an expert mushroom-hunter, and in one afternoon she taught me more then I probably would have learned from the average college class on mushrooms! And I have neighbors who are all about buying a piece of land and living off of it, hunter-gatherer style, and they are teaching me many amazing things! As I read more and more about civilization, it seems clear to me that we are rapidly moving in a downward spiral; as gas becomes more and more expensive and more and more truckers can't afford to ship food all over the country, and the price of everything goes up at alarming rates, obviously the lifestyle we held dear will not hold together much longer. Some call this theory "peak oil," I call it common sense. So I was considering leaving midwifery school for the free school of "learn it from your neighbors while ya can..."

But then I realized many of the things I am learning at the moment in midwifery school are too valuable to the hunter-gatherer in me to abandon; I am just about to take Plant Medicine I for example; and we are making saurkaurt in our Microbiology class, and what good is a tribe without at least one member who knows how to suture well and how to heal someone using plants and massage and acupressure? And not only that, but how to get a baby out of someone who is stuck at the shoulders? Or how to flip a breech baby in the womb, how to stop a hemorrhage? I believe this education is just as valuable as the beekeeping and permaculture skills I'm picking up from the neighbors, or mushroom hunting from my roommate.

So I've decided to rewild myself while going to college; to consider it a major in midwifery with a minor in rewilding! I've decided, in fact, to look at every aspect of my life as an educational game; while nannying today, I was taking "baby sign language 101," and "behavior of the young toddler," later, I taught myself "budgeting 101," then "basic beekeeping," then I had reading assignments from my self-designed, "rewilding basics." When you begin to look at your life as a series of opportunities for self-improvement and growth, several things happen. First, you value your time more, so you only use your time in ways which will continue your "education." Second, life begins to take on a more playful, game-like quality and you begin to enjoy things more; when you are wondering every second "what can I learn from this experience?," life itself becomes richer and more meaningful.

Love ya,
Carrot
by the way, I owe this way of looking at the world to my dear friend Holly, who also happens to be my personal jewelry-maker and hair cutter, among other things...she once said "don't hold down a job you can't learn something from..." I extended that to "don't hold down a job you can't learn something from and that isn't ethical..." This really narrows the kinds of jobs you consider, which is actually pretty awesome...lately I've been only doing childcare and adult care...

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