S7 / E8: Softening into surrender
Hello and welcome to the Wildheart Podcast, a series of conversations for those seeking the wild within. Join us as we rewild words, concepts and ideas…
In today’s episode we chat about softening into surrender, and what a rewilded version of the word ‘surrender’ might look like.
Why ‘surrender’ feels relevant right now
We are preparing to move into the darkness of autumn as we navigate the waning half of the year
There is a drifting quality of summer and the need to sometimes go with the flow when life and summer’s fullness feels like a lot
Our personal lives at the moment - lots of things out of our control
Life behind the scenes at The Wild Academy - things have not necessarily been going to plan!
What ‘surrender’ actually means
There are two sides to the story, as always:
Surrender as loss of agency and control by force → disempowering
Surrender as a kind of acceptance and gentle homecoming? Something kind and replenishing; a choice to let ourselves be with what is. This is still an active and intentional process, not a passive relinquishing → empowering
How we talk about ‘surrender’ at the Academy
Softening - like sinking into a warm bath - but at the same time, sharpening - being present; a kind of mindful awareness
Acceptance, letting go, going with the flow (water, rivers, the tide coming in or going out…) - perhaps even becoming the water?
The lesson of surrender can be seen in many other natural processes - unseasonal weather (especially rain / grey days in summer), the setting sun, falling leaves in autumn, the days getting darker in winter, the phases of the moon or the menstrual cycle
How rewilding the word ‘surrender’ can have an impact
It can help us to reframe the dominant narratives around ‘giving up’ / ‘failing’ / ‘losing’
It can help us to feel like we’re not swimming against the tide, which is draining
Mitigates the anxiety that comes from trying to fight/struggle against forces beyond our control (e.g. uncertainty)
Encourages us to take back control in a healthy way to some degree - in a strange way, the awareness that we can’t control a situation can give back a small feeling of agency
We think about surrendering as ‘giving back’ rather than ‘giving up’ (i.e. asking ourselves ‘what can I give back to myself in this situation?’ rather than ‘what am I giving up / what is being taken from me?’)
ACADEMY OFFERINGS AND UPDATES
That’s it for this summer season! We’ll be back in August with a three-part mini-series, starting on Wednesday 7th. These conversations are going to have a more personal focus - we’ll be interviewing each other, and sharing a bit about our plans for The Wild Academy for autumn and beyond. Then our regular autumn season will begin Wednesday 28th August.