One year of exploration, one year of speaking for the voiceless

Today, one year ago we published the first post of this website. It was a statement of vision, as well as a call-out. We have worked hard to build a place of conversation, a place where respect is key and where all voices and opinions can be heard. A place where we have deliberately tried to step away from a purely human perspective on the world.

We have planted a seed. A seed which we hope will someday grow into a mighty tree, and stand within a lush green forest. We have planted hope. For all those who, in the dire ecological situation we find ourself in today, sometimes desperately need to see that despite the rain, there is always the beauty of the rainbow. More, that that rainbow can be created by us if we just step away from the ordinary to find and share the sparks of inspiration that we find in nature, as well as within our own hearts.

I would like to begin by thanking everyone who has contributed to this project over the past year, either by writing for us, or by encouraging us to move on by commenting and liking, making us see that we had good reasons for doing this, by making us remember that small as this seed was when we started it, it is already a success, if only because it allowed us to give a voice to people who otherwise might not even have realized that they had something to say that was worth sharing with the world.

And so the hope is that this may be a seed of growing community, a seed of a place where ideas can be exchanged and where we can nourish ourselves in our common love for the beauty that is to be found in this world, a beauty which we all too often tend to overlook, in this world were we are told that we can not participate in life unless we also participate in destruction, because that is ‘common sense’, and ‘doing otherwise would destroy the economy’. We hope to remind you all of the riches and beauty that are free, that can not be bought with all the money in the world, and where the price of entry is nothing more than simply learning to listen, to pay attention, and remember that we are living in a world that is fundamentally alive and inspirited, and has so much wisdom to share with those that are willing to listen to it.

For yes, there are so many voices in the world that do not belong to human beings, and that desperately want to be heard by us. That want to remind us of the amazing web of life that we are all part of, that want to remind us of the fact that they are our family and our kin, and that it is high time for us to begin working at restoring these relationships.

That is our mission. That is our dream. That is what we will continue to do, and we hope that you will continue sharing this adventure with us,

To close this message, I would like to give the final word to the spirit of this project, and hear what are the thoughts this precocious one-year old has to share with us on her very first birthday (may many follow!)

This is Anima

I am delighted to speak to you. I am delighted to discover the passion living at the center of this project. I am delighted to be alive.

I am you. I live within each and every person who is reading this. Because it is your spirits and your dreams that give life to this place. It is because you take time out of your undoubtedly busy life schedule to visit and to contribute your energy, that things can happen.

And so I would like you to invite you to spend your day today reflecting on that fundamental message of hope. None of you is powerless. For every action you take every moment of every day is an act of magic, that contributes towards creating the world that you live in.

And so I ask you: what world do you want that to be? Is it the drab world of capitalism? Or is it the wild world of relationships, of wonder and of beauty? If that is the world you want to live in, then birth it by being that world. Then make relationships your prime motivation for existing. Let love be your very first priority.

And so as you reach the end of this article, go outside and start a conversation with the very first being you encounter, be it human or non-human. Then come back here and tell us about it. Be the spark and make it shine!

Beith is a druid who likes to wander through the forest, inviting the trees to be her teachers in life. She also runs a personal blog about her druid journey, that can be found at wandering-the-woods.com. In real life she’s a mathematician, trying to walk the boundary between the rational and the irrational.