Longing for the Wild
By Lynn Gray
In praise of Longing for the Wild:
Lynn Gray describes her book as an exploration of how to feel again. For me, "again" engenders a particular emotion. I'm a boy "again" discovering. I'm a native man "again." A participant in the great mystery. Reading this book is like listening to music. There's the same thrill of recognition. In the way a well-sung line can penetrate the stone veil of the heart. I need a song that can carry me through the gathering clouds. This book allows me to believe we humans have the inner resources to make the future into a great adventure. I wish I could make this book into a song. So everyone could get this feeling in three minutes. Maybe I will. - Walter McKee Andrus, Music Producer.
Recently I had the privilege of reading this book. I was deeply moved by its purity and its beauty. I was struck by Lynn's sensitivity. Her honesty. Her unpretentious style. There is lasting power to her story. Unlike so many novels and memoirs that quickly recede in memory. This one will stay with me for many years. In fact, it has influenced my vision of how I want to live. Arousing hopes and dreams. - Maria Espinosa - author Longing Dark Plums and Dying Unfinished and Winner of the American Book Award
Lynn's heart is the wheel that turns the story. And she writes with dignity, strength, and courage. - James Janko, author - Buffalo Boy and Geronimo and Winner of the American Book Award.
Longing for the Wild is an inspiring journey of reflection on the importance of the natural world and our inner connection to our wild spirit selves. - Leslie Morrison, author From Victim to Warrior: A Shamanic Tourney, and Wolves and Such: A Reverberating Saga.
About Longing for the Wild
Of course you don't know who I am, because I ran off the edge of the world in pursuit of my "natural" self. After wearing out several Land Rovers, I discovered the writings of Lynn Gray. Turns out the natural self was not carried away by a mythical warthog and can't be recovered by safari in the bush. The bush can tease you terribly, like an unrequited love, but the self lies in the self.
During most of our tenure on this planet, we needed to be attuned to nature. That is, to reality. In our mental storehouse of useful perceptions, there’s a large file cabinet full of strategies that aided our survival as members of the natural (real) world. If you do the math, you can appreciate .that this treasure trove that lies buried in our genetic memory is huge compared to the archives of the rules of the game we have overlaid on the world. A game, because it’s an artificial construct that is not sustainable. Not sustainable because we don’t have a life support system apart from nature. Nature that we’re abusing like a kid out in his father's car, speeding, on wet slippery pavement, at night, drunk. No blame. But kids need to grow up, by some miracle, before they run into a ditch.
Read Al Gore's book and see what’s in store for those who continue to wager against the house. Or, read Lynn's book and see the beauty that’s in store for those who have the heart to open up the treasure. See how life provides us with opportunities to change the program every time we’re stopped in our tracks by what seems like adversity. The hardware is perfect; we just change the doors that we open to choose the ones that open up our dreams of life lived in harmony with creation. No need to go back to the jungle. We’re exactly in the right place.
Walter McKee Andrus
Film and Music Producer,
13th Floor Elevators, Easter Everywhere
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