003: My answers to questions about "rewilding yourself," being highly sensitive + empathic, rawness of being + more.

Intro Song = "Arcane". Outro Song = "Firebrand". Both by Kevin MacLeod. Available under Creative Commons Attribution License.

Five call-in questions from Fenesha Hubbard:

Q1:  What are some tips to turn our yard into paradise?

A1:  A wonderful, free resource and great "gateway" to permaculture/regenerative design is ---> www.geofflawton.com.  Urban dwellers, in particular, will benefit from video #3 "Abundant Urban Gardens."

Q2:  Please define "rewilding."

A2:  The literal definition of "rewilding" is: the restoration of an area of land to its natural, uncultivated state; reinstaing the role of keystone species to human society where the expression of this role appears lacking.

My metaphorical/internal use of the words is:  an invitation to remember that we are a gloriously complex interconnected network of systems that work together; an opportunity to reverse the effects of what happened to us in this over-industrialization; a unification of who we are.

Rewilding is a state of mind that says, "I know who I am in essence, and I know that it is not an artificial, plywood manufactured fake kind of assembly line knock-off."  It is the opposite of the prevailing mechanistic view of life.  It is rawness of being, which I liken to a lion's roar.

Q3:  How do I know if someone has heightened sensitivity?

A3:  I talk about heightened sensitivity -- or high perception -- in two ways.  One way is body-based sensitivity, thoroughly explained in Dr. Elaine Aron's The Highly Sensitive Person.  20-25% of all living organisms are born with Sensory Processing Sensitivity, which means having a nervous system that is more refined and receptive.  Imagine some or all of  your five physical senses being "amped up."  Gifts and challenges accompany this trait.  A free, 27-question self-test can be found at www.hsperson.com/pages/test.htm.

The second, less common form of heightened sensitivity is empathic sensitivity, which
goes beyond physicality.  Meta-body.  It is a subtle, nuanced ability to feel as if another.
Empaths can experience the felt state of another, and often benefit from learning how to master their boundaries and manage their energetic well-being.  One of my favorite related resources is Rose Rosetree's Empowered By Empathy.

Q4:  Please share the Victor Lebow citation/quote from Episode 1.

A4:   Here is Lebow's 1955 strategy for hyper-consumption, which our culture has enthusiastically adopted... with much of the world following our example.

Tune in next week for my answer to question 5 about alternatives to hyper-consumption.