“The Wild Muse Nature Writing Prize isn’t only about revealing the power of being in right relationship with the natural world, it’s also a means to inspire those who might have lost their way.”
I’ve never regretted a walk in nature – though sometimes I might not be ‘in the mood’, which is when I most need to get out! The feeling I have, returning from a stroll, or a longer hike, is one of calm satisfaction; a sense of the world put to right; a new flow of ideas.
‘Sometimes a tree tells you more than can be read in books,’ Carl Jung wrote to a colleague in 1947.
I’ve experienced this too; felt branches reaching into my chest to loosen my laced-up heart; heard soothing words whispered at my ear, which have changed the course of my life.
I know I’m not the only one who enjoys a fruitful relationship with the Earth, which is why I wanted to create a nature writing prize that celebrated the stories of others who have been touched or guided by the natural world in some way.
If you've found comfort in the moss-covered branches of a tree, felt a connection to the elements when you’re out jogging, experienced a timely insight at the top of a hill, or found determination while witnessing a rainstorm, please share your experiences!
The Wild Muse Nature Writing Prize isn’t only about revealing the power of being in right relationship with the natural world, it’s also a means to inspire those who might have lost their way.
The sculptor and land artist Andy Goldsworthy said, ‘We often forget that we are nature. Nature is not something separate from us. So that when we say we’ve lost our connection to nature, we’ve lost our connection to ourselves.’
This loss of connection can cause us to perceive ourselves as a static image. Because of this, we might focus on perceived flaws in our appearance, overlooking incredible things about us such as the way our cells communicate with each other through chemical signals, every second!
Our disconnection can manifest as an inability to see ourselves in any way other than our roles: caregiver, student, spouse, teacher. As a result, we can feel a sense of being ‘behind’ or inadequate because we haven't met with external standards, and yet INTERNALLY we can perform a complex cascade of events to stop bleeding if a blood vessel is injured!
When we forget we ARE nature, we lose sight of ourselves as a magical, biological process.
We’re made up of gazillions of organic activities, such as sweating to reduce temperature, digesting food, instinctively responding to stimuli like noise, or light, absorbing oxygen. These processes are essential for us to live and yet what is our relationship to them, to our aliveness, to our inner truth?
It's easy to be distracted from nature and our nature by the busyness of life, which is why I wanted to give people a reason to refocus their attention.
There was a point in my life when I felt I didn’t have time to acknowledge the exhaustion I felt. I certainly wasn’t gratefully seeing this fatigue as a natural impulse asking me to grow in a new direction! The fact was, I was too busy with deadlines and, in all honesty, scared to slow down. It’s common to view our feelings as inconvenient. We might even be judging ourselves based on an inability to suppress or control our emotions.
But in overlooking our internal weather, we miss so many vital signals.
I wanted to find a creative and collaborative way to address this loss of connection, because my feeling is that it’s not really working out well for us.
Perhaps you’d agree we’re becoming more and more lonely as a species?
More and more isolated and stressed.
More and more inclined to overlook our physical surroundings, which hurts the Earth – and those who live upon it – and maintains our disconnected existence.
The Oxford Dictionary defines nature as the phenomena of the physical world collectively, including plants, animals, the landscape, and other features and products of the earth, as opposed to humans or human creations.
The Wild Muse Nature Writing Prize is an invitation to write ourselves back into nature, back into our nature, by calling for pieces that reflect nature’s wisdom and healing.
Wild Muse Nature Writing Prize Details
From March 15th the prize will be inviting personal stories, articles, anecdotes and essays of a maxium of 2,000 words that explore your relationship to the natural world – whether you're an experienced writer, nature lover or someone who enjoys writing about their experiences and reflections.
Your piece might recount a healing journey in which nature played a leading role. It could be a meditative sketch that details the deep calm you feel in water, or when watching birds in flight. Perhaps you want to offer insights inspired by wildflowers. Alternatively, you might showcase the profound lessons we can learn from observing the slow stretch of clouds across the sky.
What has the natural world whispered in your ear, delivered to your heart?
I’ll be judging the prize alongside literary agent Sarah Williams, director of the Sophie Hicks Agency.
The winner will receive £750
Second place will be awarded £300
Third place will receive £150
Enjoy a free workshop to unlock your creative potential
To support those of you interested in entering the prize, new subscribers will be able to enjoy a free space in my online workshop – Journaling, Breathwork & Nature Healing to transform your Creative Process. Just check your welcome email for the discount code.
The workshops will be taking place on the last Thursday of each month at 6.30pm (UK time), and are designed to help you craft the best submission possible, by providing guidance on how to tap into creative flow, heal emotional blocks, and uncover your magic by fostering your relationship with nature's elements.
There is more information on the prize on my wesbite. There will also be a series of interviews over the next several months with nature writers, agents and healing practitioners to inspire you.
You’ll be able to watch these on my YouTube channel.
I can’t wait to witness the profound insights and experiences that will emerge from your submissions. Let's celebrate the healing power and wisdom of nature together!
As always, wishing you creative contentment.
Gabriela, tree goddess.
Offerings
DO YOU WANT TO BOOST YOUR CREATIVITY AND REDISCOVER YOUR MAGIC?
Sign up for my latest online workshop - new subsribers go free by using the code in your welcome email.
ARE YOU WRITING A MEMOIR?
Watch my latest interview on YouTube with Nicole Treska as we dive into the challenges of structuring your story. Her memoir ‘Wonderland’ is forthcoming from Simon and Schuster.