Reclaiming Abundance
What we've forgotten about prosperity, and what the old-growth forest remembers for us.
Join the Wild Wealth Collective - beginning next week!
The Wild Wealth Collective starts next week, and I invite you to join us as we explore principles and practices of natural abundance and learn to recognize the wealth that is within you and all around you. Together, we'll move beyond scarcity and limited ideas of wealth into a richer understanding of prosperity that honors all forms of abundance.
In this 12-week journey, you'll:
Rediscover your birthright of natural abundance
Learn to recognize and cultivate Wild Wealth in yourself and your daily life
Connect with a community of kindred spirits seeking a richer experience of prosperity
I hope you’ll join us, but in the meantime, please enjoy this piece and the meditation on the old-growth forest that follows.
The two forests.
Our modern definition of wealth is fundamentally incomplete. On some level, we all know our balance sheets and investment portfolios lack something vital. How do we access the richer, wilder form of abundance we've nearly forgotten?
Outside Corvallis, a little town in Oregon, lies a remarkable teaching forest managed by the local university: the MacDonald Forest. When you first step onto the particular trail I’m thinking of, you enter a carefully replanted area that was once clear-cut. Neat rows of pine trees stand in organized formation. There is very little undergrowth or bird song. This is a forest designed for productivity and efficiency.
It's pleasant enough, and if you've never experienced an old-growth forest, you might not recognize what's missing. Perhaps you'll feel a subtle dissatisfaction or wonder why all the trees are identical, leaving you slightly unsettled without understanding why.
The transition is magic.
But then you reach a transition point on the trail. As you cross this threshold into the old-growth forest, the transformation is immediate and profound. The air becomes heavier and sweeter. Bird and insect songs create a joyful symphony. Moss and lichen drape from trees of various species and ages - a celebration of diversity, beauty, and natural richness.
This contrast strikes me as a powerful metaphor. Our capitalist structures have narrowed our vision to believe that, like the clear-cut forest, abundance means only one thing. Financial accumulation is the only form of wealth that matters in the clear-cut world of capitalist society. Deep down, we sense we've lost something fundamental - we know that true prosperity extends far beyond money. But when life is uncertain and we feel the grip of scarcity, it’s easy to forget those deep roots of true prosperity.
Wild Wealth is a remembrance.
Abundance is the birthright of all living systems, and you are a living system within a greater living ecosystem. This prosperity runs deeper and wider than any bank account. It's a homecoming to the innate abundance you carry simply because you're alive - the wealth that flows in, through, and around us in the world.
We forget this truth when we're caught in the scarcity narrative that drives our economic system. We dismiss it when our focus on financial security blinds us to these natural forms of abundance available to nourish and sustain us, providing support when life's seas grow rough.
I've created a meditation to help you experience this forest and the rich ecosystem of Wild Wealth. While I hope someday you'll visit this holy place with your feet on the actual earth, this is my offering to help you feel the wisdom, beauty, and hope of the old-growth forest - where you belong, where we all belong.
I’d love to hear your thoughts. What do you remember about your Wild Wealth when you are in the old growth forest in your mind’s eye?