Synopses & Reviews
Reclaiming the Wild Soul takes us on a journey into Earths five great landscapes deserts, forests, oceans and rivers, mountains, and grasslands as aspects of our deeper, wilder selves. Where the inner and outer worlds meet we discover our own true nature mirrored in the Earth's wild beauty and fierce challenges.
A powerful archetypal model for transformation, the soulscapes” return us to a primal terrain rich in knowing, healing, and wholeness. To guide our path, each soulscape offers up wisdom in the form of soul qualities the modern world often undervalues and even undermines. We see how deserts model simplicity and silence, how forests help us make peace with uncertainty, how rivers and oceans reveal the power of flow, how mountains inspire our highest purpose, and how grasslands teach us about giving back.
Weaving personal story with poetry, imagery, and explorations, Reclaiming the Wild Soul is simultaneously self-help and a courageous call to action. It is written for all those disillusioned with our hyper-paced, high-tech world, who decry what we are doing to the Earth, who feel the tug of their own wild souls longing for discovery and mystery a new, yet ancient, way of being human.
Review
Mary Reynolds Thompson explores 'the breath of wildness,' the reality of kinship that exists just beyond the reach of our senses or at least our most familiar senses. She has rolled up her sleeves and commenced what Thomas Berry called the Great Work of the 21st century: reconnecting to the rest of the natural world, for meaning. For soul.” Richard Louv,
The Nature Principle and
Last Child in the WoodsMary Reynolds Thompson's book works simple magic to bind our broken souls back into full-round rapport with the more-than-human terrain. And as the land restores our sanity, we're empowered to work with new clarity to replenish the many-voiced vitality of the animate Earth.” David Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous, Becoming Animal
Synopsis
Every spiritual journey is at its heart a quest for wholeness. We long to feel a part of the vast and unfolding mystery of life. We yearn to feel alive, engaged. We are seeking our place and purpose. But how do we proceed? How do we remember who we are? What path will carry us home?
In Reclaiming the Wild Soul, Mary Reynolds Thompson maps a journey into the wild environs of the soul through five archetypal landscapes: deserts, forests, oceans and rivers, mountains, and grasslands. What she calls soulscapes,” for they are the merging of inner and outer naturethe meeting place of self and Earth. As you enter their depths, you will awaken the metaphors of the landscapes within you and lay claim to the wild wisdom and power at the core of your being.
About the Author
Mary Reynolds Thompson is a certified life coach and facilitator of poetry and journal therapy. Mary is the founder of "Write the Damn Book" and the creator of the Write the Damn Book coaching process. She serves on the faculty of the Therapeutic Writing Institute and the Council for the International Association for Journal Writers. She lives in Novato, CA.
Lorraine Anderson grew up on a free-range chicken ranch in Cupertino, CA, in the days when the Santa Clara Valley was still known as the Valley of Heart's Delight. (It's now known as Silicon Valley.) She freelances as a writer and editor and teaches writing as an adjunct professor at Linn-Benton Community College in Corvallis, OR.
Table of Contents
Contents
Foreword
Preface: My Own Wild Soul Story
Introduction: The Journey of the Soulscapes
Part 1: Deserts
1. Silence
2. Thirst
3. Simplicity
4. Clarity
5. Emptiness
6. Impermanence
Part 2: Forests
7. Mystery
8. Wisdom
9. Uniqueness
10. Shadow
11. Rootedness
12. Emergence
Part 3: Oceans and Rivers
13. Originality
14. Depth
15. Flow
16. Expressiveness
17. Ebb and Flow
18. Desire
19. Balance
20. Generosity
Part 4: Mountains
21. Solidity
22. Extremity
23. Mindfulness
24. Perspective
25. Humility
26. Friction
27. Influence
Part 5: Grasslands
28. Belonging
29. Sensuality
30. Resilience
31. Freedom
32. Beauty
33. Openness
What Next? Walking the Wild Edge
Additional Resources
Acknowledgments
About the Author
About the Artist
Notes