The Beginning

Like many people, for a long time I have had this kind of wistful internal longing to pack it all up and move to a remote little cabin or cottage in the middle of nowhere. Surrounded by trees and mountains, peace and quiet, maybe a dog or two. Somewhere where I can hike and spend time in nature, create things, learn about herbs and plants, do whatever I want to do. Somewhere I feel connected to the land and where I glow with strength and inner health.

It's a lovely fantasy, however the reality is that this is not what my life currently looks like. I am 35, I live in suburban London with my mother and two lurchers, and I have a full time admin office job with a 45min drive commute each way. I spend most evenings after work watching TV, eating a lot of processed meals and collapsing into bed before 10pm. I have many interests but I spend very little time on them, even at weekends.

For a few years I have struggled internally with this disconnect between the fantasy and the reality. It felt like it had to be one or the other - if I couldn't have the fully rural fantasy life then I was just stuck in urban reality with very little wildness or creativity in my days.

About a month ago I had a realisation...what if I could bring more wildness into my daily life, exactly as it is now? More nature, more creativity, more joy and more holistic things? What if I could bring elements of the fantasy into the reality?

I have had this website My Spinning Arrow since 2024, when I was offering Human Design Chart readings. I no longer offer readings, but this realisation gave me the idea to turn my site into a place where I could document myself adding small wild moments into my everyday life, and potentially inspiring other people in a similar position as me to do the same. I would use Instagram for daily stories and weekly round up posts of small moments, and I would use this blog to write longer, more in depth posts about my journey and things I was learning along the way.

I started this around two weeks ago, and honestly it's been a mixed beginning. For the first few days I was heavily focusing on Instagram stories, posting many times a day. I quickly realised that this was having the opposite effect that I wanted - I was spending more time on my phone than before, constantly looking for new things to post, when the whole point was to spend less time in front of screens and more time in nature and on creative and joyful pursuits.

Then last week I wasn't feeling great and it all went out of the window a bit. I took very few photos, and I didn't post anything or write anything. At first I felt a little like I'd failed already after just a week, but after some reflection I understood that maybe that was ok. Maybe it was ok to be a little inconsistent, to post and write when I actually have something to share instead of forcing it just because I think I should.

Today is Monday and tomorrow is the July New Moon. I woke up this morning feeling re-invigorated and re-inspired to take photos of small things in my day today - my living room floor yoga practice, a butterfly in the garden, some blackberries starting to ripen near my workplace, a quick video of myself walking through the woods with the dogs after work. And then this evening I felt like I was finally ready to write my first blog post about this journey (and here it is!).

I hope you have enjoyed reading about the beginning of this journey of small wild moments in an ordinary life. I am excited to see where this takes me and I would love to hear about any of your little moments along the way :)

Emily