Wildness on tap

“Only tame birds have a longing. The wild ones just fly.” ― Elmer Diktonius

I think growing up through mid-life stages with a family is a bit like taming a wild bird.

Family obligations.
Roles and responsibilities of kinship.
Making a living, being a breadwinner.
Teaching, nurturing kids.
Working for employers.
Thinking, planning ahead.
More risk aversion.

I don’t speak of those negatively. But it’s just the nature of how it is. It takes over everything—your life, your mind, your priorities, your health even. It boxes you in. And those wild “just fly” instincts start to fade into memory. You start to have longing for that wildness.

It’s hard work trying to stay in touch with that wild, unfettered side of you, brimming with new ideas, optimism, trying radical new things on whim, crazy sort of creativity, even while you want to fulfil all those said duties out of love.

I don’t know how, but I suspect it’ll be the soul work to do for the next decade or so.

But this wolf scene in Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr Fox is hopeful. I raise my fist in solidarity to the inner wild wolf. In time, we’ll find a way to blend both.

Wildness, on tap.