In Pursuit of Wildness

Finding wilderness is a challenge these days, but finding wildness is possible anywhere. 
On International Day of Forests 2016 I found wildness in the central part of Singapore at LaSalle College of the Arts setting up my self-made tent called House of Wild Wood Woman. For the day I was immersed in the big, lush tropical forest.
Never stop dreaming :-)

Teach Me Tiger

We love wild things and everything wild, but do we really dare to embrace it? And do we want it? Or should it rather be stuffed behind glass or securely (dis)placed in zoos? It seems like our own wildness is so suppressed these days, that it is forced to express itself in other ways, e.g. today's fashion dictates "wild cats" in fabric print, shoes, clothes etc.
Here is a selection from my wardrobe set free for a while in the Singaporean jungle:

 

 

 

 

However, I must admit, I was really pleased, when I recently became aware that there is some kind of wildness left in the nearby, where I currently live. The Malayan tiger and other magnificent animals have been captured by one of Rimba's photo traps in Kenyir Wildlife Corridor, Terengganu, West Malaysia. - "Dear Tiger. Did you say "cheese"?" I hope not, but rather: "Meeeeeeeeeaaat".

Can we please have some more tigers and wild animals in the forests (and some more forests to accommodate them)? Then we don't have to constantly compensate with various superimposed, wildly tame disguises!

"In wildness is the preservation of the world" (from Henry David Thoreau's: "Walking".

Photos: top: from Bukit Timah Nature Reserve's Visitor Centre, bottom: Rimba.

Let it be, let it be

...for a man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.

Thoreau (source: Walden; or, Life in the Woods" 1854)

World Wide Visitors

 

Like Henry Thoreau and Anne la Bastille I have three chairs in my House of WildWoodWoman, one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.

"When visitors came in larger and unexpected numbers there was but the third chair for them all, but they generally economized the room by standing up. It is surprising how many great men and women a small house will contain" (quoted passage from Walden; or, Life in the Woods ).

In Århus one visitor helped me tune my newly obtained violin, which I bought, because I can NOT play the violin. I tried playing it once, and I got this euphoric feeling you sometimes get, when you walk into unknown land.

 

When I had been out for a while and returned to my cabin, I was often met by signs of visitors, who had enjoyed themselves. Sometimes things were left behind, but except for one visitor, nobody was light-fingered.

I liked that, and I also appreciated all the writings and drawings made by visitors in my guest book.

Many of the visitors gave thanks for the shelter.

You are very welcome!

Going home

I have embarked on a new project this summer. I am making my own Hermitage, House of WildWoodWoman, Recluse Refuge, Museum of Natural Histories or Thoreau Tabernacle. You name it!

I am inspired by Anne la Bastille and Henry Thoreau but contrary to their cabins, mine is mobile. I want to be free to explore Wilderness - the inner as well as the outer. Wish me luck!......

Coming soon to a forest near you.

But first I am heading westward to become a pioneer settler.