More than a quarter century ago, Jean and I dreamed together, he from his unheated, unfinished cabin high in the Uinta mountains in the company of wolves, and I from within the thick concrete walls of a super-max prison in Colorado. The foundations of that dream were laid long before, with my love of a cat and his love of wolves, and probably even well before that.
We dreamed of a place where humans and wild animals could live in harmony and companionship, a place where we could share that vision and possibility with our fellow humans. For 25 years, we have worked towards making that vision real, a mission ever more urgent today. As one of our supporters wrote, “Thank you for reminding us, not of our connection with nature, but of us as an ‘insider’ with nature.”
It is a multifaceted vision, one that includes all the visceral, biological details of caring for rescued wild animals and the pain and joy involved; the numerous human-oriented complications of permits, politics, and insurances; and the challenge of organically building a sustainable organization that fits with cultural requirements but also follows the rhythms of nature. And then to create powerful and effective worldwide outreach towards creating a new, life-supporting paradigm for our relationship to nature.
Grounded in the reality of the living wild land on which we are located and the animals we care for, we continue to reach for the stars as we try to understand the nature of Life itself, of Love, of consciousness—all questions that have arisen naturally as we experienced mind-bending interactions with the wild ones.
In the course of our 25 years of existence we have developed a network of world-class scientists, artists, film makers, photographers, wildlife veterinarians, and philosophers. For years we struggled to be heard, but over time that began to change. Recently, we have given keynote presentations at international conferences in line-ups that include Nobel prize winners, and last summer, we were invited to give a presentation on animal ethics at Oxford University. These invitations were based on understanding the critical need for a profound change in how we see nature. The one we offer, arising from experiences with our bears, wolves, cougars, and other animals, is the practice of Reconnection Ecology®, which integrates heart, science, and spirituality—because that is what is needed to understand how nature works. The nature in which we are all (ideally joyfully) embedded.
This has been a long journey, full of trials, tribulations, sadness, joy, and triumphs and an ever-growing awareness of the companionship that connecting with other living beings brings. Throughout this anniversary year I look forward to sharing more details of that journey.
