Wilderness Awareness Cool28thJanuary
What is a kindred spirit? I learned my definition from the sweet yet sincere story of Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. A kindred spirit is not necessarily someone exactly like you or an individual you'd even expect to be your bosom chum. It's those that possess a faith for life that letting us know we're not alone in the world.
Sometimes what we do at Trackers feels challenging. Are we simply weirdoes or hippies? Are we corporate tools taking traditions into a business that has no business being a business? Honestly, I question the value of who we are everyday. While I've personally been doing this for 17 years, Trackers has only been around for 5. We've grown so fast. It's difficult to understand our true impact.
Enter Wilderness Awareness School. Emily Gibson, a wearer of many hats at this traditional skills school in Duvall (Seattle), WA started emailing me a couple years back. She followed our newsletter and programs, pointing out when we were great and even once humbly letting me know when we were not so. At first I wondered what I was going to do with this. Our competition (we have very similar adult programs) were lauding our virtues and extending alms of friendship. For Trackers, a newer school trying to find their chops, it was mildly disconcerting.
But the more I stepped up to the conversation, the more I found a kindred spirit. Not only in Emily but in their entire crew of dedicated folk. Avoiding the "tragedy of the commons", little by little we decided to work together on a few simple items: a 2011 conference to help cultivate the growing movement of wilderness skills schools, Trackers Studios helped redo their website and next week we're hosting their students at our homestead to build rocket stoves, trap nutria, make bacon and forge broad head arrow points.
Yet from this collaboration I find more than simply good business. From their legacy I also began to better understand the value of what Trackers gives to our own community and village. Wilderness Awareness School has been around for over 25 years (they recently celebrated this anniversary). What I saw were truly happy people living in networked village where I personally could spend countless hours. They reached an important landmark in the measure of a Great Community; they've become a place where people feel useful while also feeling happy.
One of the things I appreciate about Wilderness Awareness School is their weight. Not in size, but in history. They've simply been around the block quite a few times. They've spent decades doing much more than existing to create an institution. Instead they held faith through long years as human people tried and strived to answer the question, "What truly makes a happy, healthy family connected to their land?"
And while there's many philosophies that lead that, it mostly comes from the caliber of people they entrust with that central fire. It's as simple and as eloquent as that. Not only have I found kindred spirits in these individuals, I've also seen a welcome future for what my own community could become.
Awesome programs from our competition;)...*
The Anake Outdoor School Similar to our Full-Time TrackersTEAMS Immersion program yet also very different. With a focus on caring for elders, singing a song of gorgeous tradition and seeing the land through the eyes of a Tracker, this year at Wilderness Awareness School is an opportunity to "step through the looking glass" and remake the village.
Upcoming Wilderness Awareness School Programs (in Seattle)...
Snow Tracking and Winter Survival ;Feb 5-7
Coyote Mentoring April 9-11
Wildlife Tracking Fundamentals May 7-9
*Please Note In no way are we paid for advertising for Wilderness Awareness School. We are offering these links as we sincerely feel they may be useful opportunities for our readers.
