I don’t watch a lot of TV but I really look forward to watching New Lives in the Wild with Ben Fogle.
In each episode the stories are totally unique but there’s always an underlying desire from the individuals to create and live a life of meaning often at the most fundamental level. Their stories and the storytelling is mesmerising.
Ben connects authentically with the sense of adventure and he almost seems to live vicariously through the immersions that he has. He joins the dots with ease and perfectly sums up what he sees with simplicity. He brings the story to life and without his magic it wouldn’t be half as interesting, despite the often outrageously offbeat lives being lived.
The theory goes every great story needs a start, middle and an end. Well I don’t recall any of these stories having an end and thank goodness for that! It’s better for us to believe that the dreams and aspirations of these individuals continue, although of course we know really that their lives will continue to adapt and change just like ours do.
Some of the starts, the triggers for people to take the radical steps to make a new life have included getting out of the rat race, wanting to create a rich experience for their children, having a health emergency that made them reassess, never feeling at ease with the typical life…
Their middles seem to always include being present, thankful, creative, adventurous, resilient, courageous, overcoming adversity and being kind to thy neighbours, animals and the planet…
They have a plan and purpose but they don’t seem to have a destination as such. They are living for the moment in a meaningful way. Most of us wouldn’t dream of creating a life like these - in the wild- but we can create a life more like this in a spiritual and practical sense - in suburbia.
Life is fleeting, sometimes sadly cut short by things totally out of your control. Control what you can: live in the moment, be thankful, be curious, slow down, don’t hide behind excuses as to why you can’t, don’t fall into the consumerism trap, visit an elderly neighbour, be thankful for the sunshine today and be nice to animals.
Three cheers to those wild living folk and thanks Ben Fogle!
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