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I think we’ve been on a subconscious navigation these past few weeks of my personal change journey.

Edition 30 was about slowing down, then we moved into rest and last week we explored ‘place’ (you can catch up here if you’ve missed anything).

It’s been a path of noticing what happens when we slow down enough to move with intention and intuition.

After a catch-up with my friend Mark Masters (we’re running a workshop on Wednesday), the theme that’s landed for me this week is belonging.

Our collaboration began because of the intersection of our work. It feels like it belongs together.

I care deeply about preparing the soil beneath the surface building the confidence, courage and compassion to live in alignment with our values and beliefs.

Mark’s work helps amplify those deep roots with the right people. Presence that comes from truth, not rush or hustle.

And the more we’ve been planning our work together, the more I can see that visibility is never the goal. Belonging is.

For years, I held back, unsure whether my voice mattered or how I’d be received. I was self censoring myself by worrying that sharing openly would make me feel exposed, misunderstood or ultimately, judged. It was a safety behaviour that was useful once but then it was holding me back. I’d outgrown the metaphorical plant pot of limiting beliefs that I’d built for myself.

I now share when I feel the urge and it seems to be resonating. My intuitive posts and writing come from curioisity and are landing with people. And that’s shown me something important - honesty creates connection.

The same thing happened after a talk I gave last week about ‘sustainable business’. Some of the audience probably expected me to talk about carbon accounting or electric vehicles. But instead, I spoke about love, my mum’s hippy principles and the wisdom of nature in business.

Afterwards, people came up to tell me it landed deeply with them. That meant everything to me. It felt like another step in healing loudly, which has become a steady thread in my work.

For the first time, I feel like I truly belong. In my work, in my collaborations and in myself.

I’m not performing or masking, I’m exploring.

And because of that, I feel like I’m finally belonging within the communities I’m part of too - the ones rooted in care, courage, regeneration and creativity.

I belong within myself so I can also belong with others too.

I love Brené Brown’s idea of being in the wilderness. That’s very freeing when I think of my earlier plant pot analogy - if belonging starts within, we have to be wild enough to stand in the wilderness.

At my talk last week, the moment that landed deeply was when I reminded everyone that nature isn’t outside of us, it’s inside all of us.

We are nature. And the idea that we can rewild ourselves and return to our natural instincts, rhythms and truth, opened something for people.

That’s been the heart of my collaboration with Kate at Four Acre Farm and building The Natural Network. We’ve been allowing this offering to find its own pace and shape.

Belonging isn’t a social construct, it’s a biological one. It’s what happens when we stop domesticating ourselves into obedience and remember our true, untamed nature.

To stand in the wilderness (the real one and the metaphorical one) you have to rewild yourself enough to survive it. Enough to trust your instincts again. Enough to listen to the internal signals your body has been whispering for years. Enough to belong to yourself so fully that you can belong anywhere without losing who you are.

This is what rewilded belonging looks like in practice to me:

1. Root first, rise second (like trees).
Anchor into self-belonging before trying to be understood or accepted.

2. Find your ecosystem (like plants choosing where they thrive).
You don’t have to fit everywhere, just in the places aligned with your nature.

3. Use your voice like birdsong.
Natural and honest. Not for performance but for the joy of connection.

4. Let resonance guide you (like mycelial networks choosing where to grow).
Community forms naturally when you show up as yourself.

5. Break open like a seed.
Vulnerability isn’t a breakdown, it’s how new forms of you emerge.

6. Honour your seasons.
There is no rush as belonging grows in cycles.

7. Rewild yourself.
Quieten the parts of you that were trained to be polite, small or convenient. Nourish the parts that are instinctive, curious, brave and alive.

An Invitation to Belong in the Wilderness

If everything I’ve shared - slowing down, rewilding yourself, belonging first to your own inner landscape resonates, you’re invited into a space that helps you embody it.

The Wintering: Event 3 in The Natural Network series

18th December. 3.30-5.30 at Four Acre Farm.

In a change to our regular half day gathering, we’re mixing things up for December. We’re shifting to the afternoon to allow us to welcome the dark. If you’ve been thinking of joining one of these gatherings then this could be the perfect time.

This will be a fireside moment to rest, reflect and rekindle your inner fire while the land does the same. If the idea of ‘rewilding yourself enough to stand in the wilderness’ speaks to you, this is a space where you’ll feel held in that process.

You’ll experience:

• A fireside circle for grounding and reflection

• Winter cake, warmth and real conversation

• Space to listen to yourself, to nature and to the season

• Gentle facilitation to bring clarity for what’s next

Tickets here

I hope you’ve enjoyed our exploration of the idea of belonging. I’d hate for any of us to feel lost so if you ever need any help with finding your way, then I’m always here to walk the path with you.

With compassion and curiosity,

Nick

Well that’s it for another week. But we don’t have to stop there.

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