Animas Prime
Reclaim the Tapestry of Existence: Rediscover Your Wild Self, Reconnect with Nature, and Restore Balance to Our Planet"
As I witness the epic pink sunrise cresting over the towering 14,000-foot peaks, a sight that my humble camper has the privilege to face, my heart swells with a poignant blend of joy and despair. The earth, with its spirits of the wild and the whispering elements, speaks a language of beauty that can stir the soul to tears. And so, amidst the graceful dance of prairie sunflowers in the wind, I find my eyes moistened with the pain of daily heartbreak for the state of our home planet.
To feel deeply is the essence of our human experience, and in this moment, surrounded by such unspeakable beauty, I am acutely aware of the delicate balance we tread. It is a choice, always a choice, to open our hearts to the full spectrum of this world’s whispers. Ignoring the creeping shadows of pain and suffering may grant a temporary respite, but it edges us closer to a precipice of delusion and denial. We must face these truths with courage, for in them lies the path to both understanding and, ultimately, redemption.
The Amnesia of Our Planet’s Destruction
It's an overwhelming task to face the daily heartbreak wrought by our neglect, as the land we love buckles under the strain of our forgetfulness. We wander, half-asleep, through a world slipping silently towards ruin, our collective amnesia shielding us from the grim reality that unfolds each day. It’s a formidable ordeal to bear. If you do not feel your heart strain with sorrow each morning for the state of our Earth, then your forgetfulness has deep roots; you are sleepwalking through a life fringed with shadows. Indeed, fatigue grips us all—it is the body's plea for respite when the scale of disaster outpaces the spirit's capacity to endure.
The planet is a living organism, breathing, pulsing with life as it has for millennia. But we, its so-called stewards, have forgotten something crucial—we’ve forgotten how to take care of our home. The signs of this neglect are everywhere, painted across the landscape in hues of despair and decay. The nightmare is not just looming on the horizon; it is already upon us.
We’ve treated our home with the carelessness of hoarders, burying ourselves under the weight of our own waste. The rivers and streams, once the lifeblood of the earth, now carry the poison of our neglect. The air, which once filled our lungs with vitality, is tainted with the residue of our relentless pursuit of progress. The land, which once provided us with sustenance, is scarred by the tools of our ambition, left barren and lifeless.
This is our apocalypse. A slow, creeping death that we have brought upon ourselves. No more fresh vegetables and fruits grown in rich, fertile soil. No more clean, mineral-rich water to quench our deepest thirst. No more quiet moments in the embrace of nature, where solitude and peace once reigned. The stars, once our guides, are obscured by the veil of our own making, their light dimmed by the glow of our screens and the haze of our excess.
The disconnection from the world around us has become the theme of our era. We’ve built walls between ourselves and the earth, isolating in a cocoon of technology that promises connection but delivers only further dissociation. We justify this by telling ourselves that this is the natural order, that our devices and screens are the keys to an easier, more connected life. But deep down, we know this is a lie. Our minds, in their rationality, have deceived us, leading us further away from the truth that our souls long to embrace.
I look at the world and see a landscape of loss—a loss of connection, of simplicity, of the very essence of what it means to be human. The nightmare is not just the end of times, but the end of ourselves as we truly are. We’ve complicated our lives to the point where we are spinning in circles, trying to keep up with the demands of a world we’ve built, but no longer understand. We are lost, disconnected from the land, from each other, and from our own souls.
But in this darkness, there is a glimmer of hope. It’s the hope that keeps me here, writing these words, when the temptation to disappear into the wilderness and live a quiet, off-grid life is strong. It’s the hope that we can remember who we are, that we can reconnect with everything wild and untamed within us. That we can reclaim our feral nature, the part of us that knows how to live in harmony with the land, the part of us that understands that we are not separate from nature, but an intrinsic part of it.
Animas Prime: The New Way Forward
This hope, this vision of a new way of being, is what I call Animas Prime. It is the return to a way of living that recognizes the ecosphere, the living, breathing world that surrounds us, as central to our existence. It is a shift from the anthropocentrism that has dominated our thinking for so long—a belief that humans are the pinnacle of creation, separate from and superior to all other forms of life—to an ecocentric view that understands the interconnectedness of all things.
In Animas Prime, we do not see ourselves as rulers of the earth, but as its caretakers, its companions. We recognize that the earth is alive, that it has a spirit, and that we are just one part of the vastness of life that it sustains. This is not just a romantic ideal; it is a practical reality that we must embrace if we are to survive.
The myth that has driven us for so long—the myth of progress, of endless growth, of domination over nature—has led us to the brink of disaster. We’ve been steeped in it so long that we don’t realize how bad it is. But look at our spirits. Look at our children’s mental health. Look at all the depression and anxiety. These are all signs of imbalance. But there is another myth, one that we have forgotten, that can guide us back to the path of harmony. It is the myth of the wild human, the feral spirit that lives within each of us, the part of us that knows how to live in balance with the world around us.
Animas Prime is about reconnecting with this wildness, about remembering that we are not just minds, but bodies and spirits, deeply intertwined with the earth. It is about recognizing that the mind, in its rationality, can lie to us, can lead us down paths that seem logical but are ultimately destructive. The anima, the irrational, instinctual part of us, is what can guide us back to the truth.
In this new/very old way of being, we learn to listen to the earth, to the spirits of the land, the water, the air, and the fire. We learn to see the world not just as a collection of resources to be exploited, but as a community of beings, each with its own role to play, each deserving of respect and care. We learn to live in a way that is not about taking, but about giving, about nurturing the world that nurtures us.
We find joy in the simple things—growing our own food, breathing fresh air, drinking clean water, spending time in quiet contemplation under the stars. We labor for our sustenance, not as a burden, but as a way of reconnecting with the earth, of grounding ourselves in the reality of our existence. We build communities that are not based on competition and consumption, but on cooperation and care.
In Animas Prime, we reclaim our humanity by reclaiming our connection to the earth. We understand that to be human is not to be separate from nature, but to be a part of it, to be a steward of the land, a protector of the wild places that still remain. We remember that our souls are nourished by the spirits of the earth, and that when we honor those spirits, we find peace within ourselves.
The Vision: A World in Harmony
The vision of Animas Prime is a world where humans live in harmony with the earth, where the nightmare of environmental destruction is replaced by a new story—one of renewal, of restoration, of balance. In this world, the scars we have inflicted on the land are healed, not by magic, but by the concerted efforts of people who have remembered their place in the world.
In this world, the rivers run clear again, the air is clean, and the soil is rich with life. The animals, once driven to the brink of extinction, return to their rightful places in the ecosystem. The forests grow tall and strong, the oceans teem with life, and the deserts bloom with the resilience of plants that have adapted to the harshest of conditions.
Human communities are more connected to the land. We live in ways that are sustainable, that do not deplete the earth’s resources, but instead work in concert with the natural cycles of growth and decay. We build our homes with materials that do not harm the environment, we power our lives with energy that comes from the sun, the wind, and the water. We eat food that is grown locally, in harmony with the seasons, and we waste little.
But more than the physical changes, the greatest transformation is within ourselves. We are no longer driven by the desire for more, for endless growth and consumption. Instead, we are content with enough—with having what we need, and sharing the rest. We find fulfillment not in material possessions, but in relationships, in community, in our connection to the elements, plants, insects, animals, and to each other. We find the miraculous in the mundane and no longer need to feed the dopaminergic drive exacerbated by The Shimmer.
We honor the spirits of the land, the water, the air, and the fire. We understand that they are not just metaphors, but real forces that shape our world, that respond to our actions. We live in a state of gratitude, knowing that every breath we take, every bite of food we eat, is a gift from the earth. And in return, we give back, tending the land, protecting the waters, honoring the balance that sustains us all.
The vision of Animas Prime is not a utopia, not a perfect world free of struggle and pain. But it is a world where we have remembered our place in the tapestry of existance, where we live with humility and grace, where we understand that our actions have consequences, not just for ourselves, but for the entire planet.
In this world, we are awake. We see the world as it truly is, not as a resource to be exploited, but as a living, breathing entity, filled with spirits, with life, with beauty. We understand that to harm anything is to harm ourselves, and to care for the earth is to care for our own souls.
This is the story we are creating with Animas Prime. It is a story of hope, of renewal, of remembering. It is the story of a future where we live in harmony with the earth, where we have reclaimed our true selves, where we are once again wild, feral, and free.
And so, we move forward, not with fear, but with determination. We know that the path is not easy, that the challenges are great, but we also know that it is the only path that will lead us back to ourselves, back to the earth, back to the world we were always meant to live in. This is the story we are writing, the belief that will guide us into a new era of harmony, balance, and peace.
Side effects of reading this blog may include (but not limited to) quitting school/job, throwing phone in trash, driving to woods and leaving keys with the car, never to be seen or heard from again.
Wonderful read that takes a highly romantic concept and makes it feel so close with the proper care.