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You are here: Home / Uncategorized / Rewild Your Life Challenge

Rewild Your Life Challenge

January 1, 2017 By Becca Leave a Comment

A post came across my newsfeed that just spoke to me. It was from We Are Wildness University and it was advertising a 30 day challenge to reconnect with nature. I love a challenge and we ALL need to reconnect with nature more so I decided to take it a step further and blog about our 30 days to hold ourselves accountable. 
The challenge is relatively simple: spend 30 minutes a day in nature. I paid the extra $ for the full course which provides specific tasks to accomplish each day. To be honest, 30 minutes is a big chunk of our “free time” each day and it truly will be a challenge for us, so check back day to see how we are doing!

I will be putting the most recent posts on top, so scroll down to read about our challenge from day 1!

Day 22: Wild Food

Have you ever picked wild raspberries or gathered black walnuts? Gathering wild foods can make for some awesome childhood memories however, this activity seems to have gone by the wayside. Learning about our food, its origin, how it grows, how to harvest, etc. is a great way to connect with nature. It’s also a great way to connect with family, friends or even an instructor, as you have to learn the art of foraging from an experienced person who knows exactly what they are looking for and when to look for it. Start with some of the safest and easiest to identify foods like: blackberries, chesnuts, paw paw fruit, hazelnuts, dandelion leaves, elderberries, persimmons, wild strawberries, mulberries and blueberries to name a few. You can even take a class on foraging. Doing this challenge in January makes for slim pickins’ when it comes to wild food though, so we may have to come back to this one in the Summer.

Day 21: Rundering

Running+Wandering=Rundering
This one may not be for everyone (maybe not even me?) as it is a bit more vigorous but it sort of takes me back to my childhood. The challenge is to cover more ground and see more of nature at a faster pace. Start out by walking and then increase your speed to a run or jog. Feel free to stop and admire anything you see that interests you along the way. This is a different take on exercise and would be great for people like me that would be completely bored with running around the neighborhood or going to the gym. I just can’t motivate myself to do those things, but rundering? I think it may just be the answer to my exercise needs that I’ve been looking for! Hopefully I don’t trip on a log and end up in the ER, haha!

Day 20: Air

Have you ever been congested while sick and thought to yourself  “I’ll never take breathing for granted ever again!”? And what about the quality of the air that we breathe? There are many places in the world where the air is full of toxic pollution and the people don’t have access to clean air. One of the greatest joys in life is taking in a deep breathe a fresh, crisp, clean air and I too, often take the ability to do so for granted. When we venture in to the woods, I often feel more alive breathing in the damp forest air and I LOVE opening the windows in our house when the weather allows it. Today’s challenge is to allow yourself to be more aware of the air around you. Is it humid? Is it dry? Does it have a scent?

We took a walk at Bombay Hook on a foggy morning and the air felt so good against our faces. Crisp. Fresh. Clean.

Day 19: Rewilding Your Home

I love this idea!  Here are 5 ways you can bring nature in to your home:
1. Add more plant life
2. Decorate with objects from nature
3. Be wildlife friendly
4. Bring the seasons inside
5.Bring more natural light in to your home

So #proud of all the #shells he found! #obx #outerbanks #seashells #beachcomber
A photo posted by TheBuckit (@greenbean951) on Sep 4, 2016 at 2:36pm PDT

When we were at the beach over the summer, D collected a huge amount of beautiful seashells that washed ashore after a hurricane. We found a glass jar to display them in so we could enjoy them indoors and I play to do the same with the treasures we find in nature! I’m off to search for the perfect container…

Day 18: Take a Hike!

Now THIS is one we can definitely do. According to We are Wildness University, “studies have shown that hiking outside contributes to improved mental and emotional health.” That is 100% true for me. During the week, it’s tough to go far for a hike and luckily we don’t have to. We just head to “our” lake and walk through the woods. This time of year is actually best because a lot of the underbrush has died down and it’s easier to navigate. My favorite place to go is this point where you are surrounded by water on 3 sides. Such a beautiful view and we just so happened to catch the sunset while we were there.
#rewildyourlife #delagram #sunset #de365 #lake #pond #igdelaware #outdoorde #naturede #getoutside #goplaces
A photo posted by Becca Snow (@thebuckitblog) on Jan 19, 2017 at 4:05pm PST

 

Day 17: Trail Sit

People watching fascinates me and today’s task is to find a trail that is frequented by hikers, hide in the woods and watch as they go by. Study the humans and their behavior as you would study any other animal. Unfortunately, we don’t have any trails near us that are frequented. Also, this task is geared towards individuals rather than families. Most of these tasks I am trying to accomplish as a family of 4 and I don’t think we would be very inconspicuous in the woods, haha.

Day 16: Sleep Under the Stars

By sleep under the stars, they actually means under the stars. Not in a tent. Not in a cabin. Um…it’s winter… Sorry but even I’m not that hardcore. I do think when it gets warmer the boys would LOVE going camping. We will definitely make it a point to take them this year.

Day 15: Becoming Animal

Today’s task is to let go of your human mind and let your primal side take over. We are to crawl on the ground and feel the earth between our fingers. To be honest, I have a hard time with this one. I think it’s a fun task for the boys to try though.

Day 14: Reciprocity

This is such a fascinating and beautiful concept. Reciprocity in nature is what makes the world go round so to speak. Here is the example given by We are Wildness University that perfectly describes it:

“Breathing shows us one of the best examples of reciprocity in nature. We breathe in oxygen. While in the lungs, carbon from our body bonds to the oxygen and when we exhale, carbon dioxide comes out. Plants breathe in this carbon dioxide, and break the carbon away, using it to grow. In turn, they release oxygen. To keep life going, we pump these gasses back and forth between one another, keeping ourselves alive and inextricably linking our lives together: two sides of a process who cannot live without the other. “

So what does this mean for us? How else can we reciprocate? My interpretation of this task is to give back to nature by planting more of the native trees and plants we need to survive. Humans as a whole tend to destroy and disrespect what has been provided to us. Lets do our part to counteract that. To bring balance. We might not be able to keep up, but we can certainly try!

Day 13: Helping Nature

This one deserved its own blog post: We Can Do Better

Day 12: Mindfulness in Nature

Staying present and ignoring the hustle and bustle of life while you are in nature is easier said than done. This is something we need to really practice on a daily basis. I am guilty of letting my mind wander to other things while out on a hike, but doing so takes away from the connection to nature and takes you out of the present to the past or future. This world is SO much bigger than us and our piles of laundry, deadlines at work and list of chores. It is incredibly important for us to be mindful of this and appreciate what’s going on around us. From the tiniest ant on a rock to the largest sequoia tree in the forest, each has a purpose and is special in its own way.

Day 11: Sink Into the Earth

 

As an exercise in practicing stillness we are to lay on the ground (naked if possible…) and in doing so find a deeper connection with nature.  Hubby and I did this challenge without the kids, as they are not really in to being still. We didn’t fare to well. I get bored easily and would much rather be walking around exploring so although we did as we were supposed to and laid on the ground, it was short lived. We did however take a nice walk through the woods by the lake, making some discoveries along the way!

 

 Day 10: A Deeper Look

I’ll come back to this one…

Day 8: Touch & Day 9: Water

 For Day 8 we are to “become our sense of touch” by sitting still and feeling without touching our surroundings.  Of course we are also supposed to actually touch our surroundings and feel all the different textures and sensations, just as we did in our recent blog post to Pemberton Historical Park. Because I am behind on my tasks for the challenge I combined days 8&9. We are super fortunate to have a lake in our backyard so my adventure buddy for the night and I went in to the woods, picked a log facing the water and sat for a bit.

 

For Day 9, we are to find “wild water” and just be near it. Something about being near water in nature brings a sense of peace and like I always say in my blogs “where there’s water, there are animals.” Every single time. Being a bird nerd, I love hearing all the sounds of the geese, ducks and herons on the lake, even though it is partially frozen over currently. If you sit still in one place long enough, the small songbirds tend to begin trust you as they flit around in the shrubs and rustle in the leaves. It is always a goal of mine to find “wild water” so Day 9’s challenge was a perfect fit in to my life.

It was clear that we were not the first to use that log as a resting place since the most recent snow…
Buttttt…I have to be completely honest with you, as usual. We haven’t been getting our 30 minutes in every day. It is MUCH harder than it seems when you are a family with two working parents and two busy boys. Yesterday I had to stop at the store after work and by the time I got home, it was dark and FREEZING. Today I barely made it outside (as evidenced by the blue hue in the photos) after picking the boys up from daycare, dropping them off at home and picking up a bird for the rescue. The next two days are supposed to be unseasonably warm so I am hoping to make up for lost time!

Day 7: Wander

Now this one I try to do as often as possible and it can be family friendly. I love to wander Bombay Hook with no time limit. AND it can be family friendly. It’s even more fun when you’ve got the place to yourself and the only footprints were left by paws and claws…

Day 6: Solitude

Ha! That’s a good one. The only time I experience solitude is…never? This one is really tough to accomplish for a working mom. There is no way I am able to get 30 solid minutes of time alone, but if I add up the 5 minute intervals I tried to get, it counts right? I am going to try REALLY hard this week to accomplish this and I will update if I can do it!

Day 5: Go Barefoot 

If you lived in Florida this one might not be that difficult, but it’s near freezing here and about to snow so this took some willpower. I’m not gonna lie, this one was more like 30 seconds instead of 30 minutes… Don’t get me wrong, I love going barefoot and almost never wore shoes as a kid but in my old age, I found it hard to step on the cold concrete porch, brick sidewalk, and asphalt driveway before we got to the grass. Brrrrrrrrrr.

Day 4: Look Up 

I promise I looked up before it got dark, the problem was that it was while I was driving for two hours. We finally got a clear day with beautiful clouds and I spent all my free time in the car so this is the only photo I could take once we got to our destination. I love the concept of just laying on the ground and staring at the sky for awhile though. So relaxing! 

Day 3: Slow Down

 Okay so this is pretty impossible for me. As much as I’d LOVE to accomplish this at some point, slowing down is a luxury for me. I work full time and commute two hours a day, so when I come home I only have a little over an hour to play with the boys, make dinner, do laundry, clean up the tornado the boys leave behind everywhere they go, etc. before its bath and then bed time. By the time they’re asleep, I am so wiped out!

 
Getting outside for this challenge really does force my body to relax. It hard to be stressed when you’re in nature. Day 3 produced more rainy, dreary, gloomy weather so we walked over to one of the retention ponds in our neighborhood to visit the ducks and then walked back home through the woods. Along the way, we found a camouflaged slug, beautiful moss patches and some cool tree obstacles. I’ll have to keep working on slowing down. That’s a tough one!

Day Two: Listen

Day two’s instruction was to sit still, blindfold yourself and just listen. Unfortunately, the husband was working so I was by myself with the boys on a dreary, wet day. As a mom, you never really get to sit still, and it’s not a good idea to not have eyes on them at all times so we had to rework the challenge to fit our needs. As much as I didn’t feel like going out in the rain, it wasn’t downpouring or anything so I bundled us all up, grabbed the umbrella and rain boots and headed to Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge.
We hiked a trail we’ve done 20 times before, but still managed to find a “secret path” that we’d never seen before that brought us out to a private view of the water and allowed the boys to trudge through the mud and put those new boots to use. Once we hopped back in the jeep, we drove around for an hour checking out all the birds including but not limited to six bald eagles, blue herons, swans, snow geese and ducks galore.  We were able to fulfill our challenge for the day by listening to the variety of noises the birds were making. It was a great morning together!

Day One: Free Yourself

The first step in this challenge is to free yourself from all preconceived notions on how the challenge will go. Additionally, we are to “give ourselves permission.” Permission to look weird to others, act differently, find a part of ourselves that was hiding away. Personally, I am giving myself permission to let go of some of the household drudgery in order to complete our challenges. I full expect to have laundry stacked to the ceiling by the time we are done with this, haha!
Since day one is also New Year’s Day, we decided to do a “First Day Hike” with some new friends at Brandywine Creek State Park. We spent way more than 30 minutes outside today and had a great 2 mile hike in northern DE! Read more about our adventure here.

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I am a farmer's wife and working mom of two spirited boys. Being in nature is our happy place. The Bucket chronicles our adventures on the Delmarva peninsula and beyond. We love to safely explore, touch and learn while finding and appreciating beauty in everything. Read More…

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