Welcome to The Wild Leap
Introducing a new monthly journal reflecting on the watery world of change and what it takes to liberate our work and lives, one leap at a time
Have you ever wondered why so many of us feel stuck in lives we didn’t fully sign up to? In a world in which more than 70% of the world’s workforce feels disengaged (Gallup, 2023), that’s a lot of miserable people accepting drudgery as the status quo.
We’re homo sapiens - we need to get wise.
On one level, we could say it’s not our fault - it’s our conditioning. We could blame our parents and families, our socio-economic backgrounds, or the system.
On another level, it’s up to us. Change is possible. If we choose to, we can challenge the scripts we live by, do the work, and jump into the life we want - with both feet.
I’m here for it. Are you?
Image: View through the arch at Durdle Door, Dorset.
I’m writing The Wild Leap to help others who are on the cusp of a transition but also to document elements of my own change journey. This year I quit a high-flying City-based career to begin a more family-oriented, nature-connected life in rural Dorset. I’m experiencing the highs and lows, happiness, and heartbreak that comes from leaving old things behind to start afresh. It’s not always easy - and definitely nothing like the ‘live, laugh, love’ BS we’re fed these days - but it remains hands down the best decision I ever made.
More on that in due course. Suffice it to say, I’d love you to sit next to me on this sunny ledge, as I reflect on the watery world of change and contemplate each new leap. I’ll keep the posts brief, and promise to always include a self-coaching question to get you started.
Self-coaching question: When was the last time you felt the fear, and did it anyway?
As a bit of inspiration, why not watch people confronting this very question? Ten Meter Tower is a documentary short by Swedish filmmakers Maximilien Van Aertryck and Axel Danielson. The filmmakers paid 67 people $30 to climb to the top of a ten-metre (33-foot) high dive for the first time all while being filmed. Would they jump? Would they be too scared? It’s a surprisingly riveting watch.
The filmmakers share with the New York Times:
In our films, which we often call studies, we want to portray human behavior, rather than tell our own stories about it. We hope the result is a series of meaningful references, in the form of moving images. “Ten Meter Tower” may take place in Sweden, but we think it elucidates something essentially human, that transcends culture and origins. Overcoming our most cautious impulses with bravery unites all humankind. It’s something that has shaped us through the ages.
Thank you for reading this first post from The Wild Leap. I’m happy you’re here, and hope you’ll stick around and share your own experiences with me too.