#Wildness

Moving Toward Beauty: Answering the Wild Calling

Moving toward beauty also means learning its grammar of reciprocity. Oliver famously writes, “Attention is the beginning of devotion” (Upstream, 2016), suggesting that the world replies in proportion to our care. Her daily walks—echoed in poems like “The Summer Day” (House of Light, 1990)—show how close noticing yields unexpected clarity. As we attune to birdsong, weather, and the tilt of light, the environment ceases to be backdrop and becomes interlocutor. In turn, the ordinary glows, answering us with a steadier, humbler joy. [...]

To Be Whole. To Be Complete. Wildness Reminds Us What It Means to Be Human. — Terry Tempest Williams

Williams’ words also advocate for the protection of wild spaces. Culturally, wildness has long symbolized freedom and authenticity; ecologically, its preservation is vital for humanity’s survival. The modern conservation movement, inspired by writers like John Muir, often invokes such sentiments to highlight our reciprocal relationship with the wild. [...]

To be whole. To be complete. Wildness reminds us what it means to be human. — Terry Tempest Williams

By invoking wildness as necessary for being human, Williams prompts reflection on how civilization can distance us from our essence. This theme appears in Rousseau's *Discourse on Inequality* (1755), where social order is contrasted with the vigor and authenticity of untouched nature. [...]