Wildheart Club | an invitation to renew

Podcast notes and journal prompts for S9E5

Welcome to Wildheart Club! For those who enjoy our podcast, these posts include notes on each episode, alongside journal prompts to deepen your exploration of the words and themes we chat about.

Today’s post relates to Season 9, Episode 5: Renew. We recommend listening to the episode first, before exploring the notes and prompts below.

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This week’s notes

Why is the idea of renewal so relevant right now?

The approaching Winter Solstice represents the rebirth of the sun: the turning point of the shortest day, after which solar energy begins to wax once more, even if it’s imperceptibly at first. With this idea in mind, the tree we pair with December in our Rewilding Wheel framework is the birch, which - as one of the first trees to come back into leaf in the spring - is deeply connected with this theme of rejuvenation.

Similarly, we have the noticeable presence of evergreens throughout this month (whether in woodlands, where they maintain a sense of vibrancy against the backdrop of bare, deciduous branches, or in our homes in the form of wreaths and Christmas trees) and these are also a symbol of the continuation of life in the dark, and the perpetual turning of the cycle.

Thinking a bit further ahead to January, when the ‘new year, new you’ messaging begins to filter in, if we can start thinking about renewal on our own terms now, we can more easily avoid succumbing to societal pressure to change, and do things at our own pace instead.