Our Community Philosophy
Our community philosophy
In the Trails to Empowerment community, we recognize the challenges faced in today’s world. Human society lives in an 80 year cycle of societal change as describe by Strauss–Howe and it’s been going on for thousands of years. The current cycle we are in is demonstrated by political and ecological distress, pandemics and civil riots, and is expected to continue until 2035.
We have chosen to create our environment based on our Six Principle Philosophy which provides an alternative approach to society’s current reality, accompanied by a 500 year plan to allow it to continue long into the future. Our environment meets our community’s needs, according to the laws of nature and we are active contributors to environmental stewardship, education and cultural preservation. Our community members constantly work on and refine their interests, goals and purpose and find fulfillment in contributing towards something bigger than themselves.
Our Six Principles are timeless concepts, which are studied, practised and implemented by everybody in our community. This philosophy is the foundation and guiding force for everything that we do, by learning from the past and looking ahead we can make meaningful change.
Read more about our philosophy below:
Is vs Choice
“Is versus Choice” helps us clarify that our community didn’t come about because it “just is” but that it, was consciously created through choices over the last century. Our current state is not accidental or inevitable, but rather the product of intentional decision-making, and we recognize the importance of educating new community members about this so they understand how our community became the way it is and they can be instrumental in continuing to grow and evolve it. This empowers them to be an active contributor, not just a passive receiver of the benefits. This is vital for the long term success of the community.
Internal and External Perception
Some common questions in our community are “Who are you?” “What’s your identity?” and “Are you aware of your environment?”. In conventional society, people often answer these questions in terms of external perception – I’m a young woman, I’m a social media influencer, I’m a volunteer at a wildlife rescue centre, I ran a marathon. But these are all subject to change – you will grow old, lose interest in social media, stop volunteering or no longer be able to run a marathon. Therefore, basing your identity on external factors is fragile and leaves you vulnerable to feeling lost and purposeless.
When we live a wilderness lifestyle, we realize the importance of basing our identity on internal factors that cannot be taken away by the loss of a job or the passing of time. In nature, it is our values, standards and principles that count. A grizzly bear doesn’t care about your number of followers on social media or that you are a mechanic. Internal factors such as autonomy, hard work, respecting the laws of nature and being flexible and adaptable are what allow us to survive in the wilderness. This creates a much stronger foundation for defining “who we are”.
The Hero's Journey
The Hero’s Journey, first defined by Joseph Campbell, is a framework of 12 steps that can apply to any story, and to anyone’s personal mental and physical journey, helping us understand our own cycles of change and development, including our journeys living the wilderness lifestyle. The early stages are the ordinary world, what makes someone want to change and what holds them back. Arriving at the ranch, our community members meet mentors who help them on their journey, they mentally commit to their journey and identify the mindsets that help or hinder them. They reaffirm their interests, goals and purpose before approaching their greatest challenge – such as becoming a guide or driving the bulldozer – and experience the rewards such as gaining confidence, becoming empowered or learning new skills. Then, their either return to their home, or continue growing and evolving at the ranch. Either way, they have experienced a transformation and can now return with the elixir, using their new-found knowledge and skills to inspire and empower others.
The Rewilded Mind
Having a rewilded mind means to get back to nature and wilderness, to rewild ourselves just as conservationists are working to rewild once-natural spaces. People living in an urban environment experience a disconnect between being surrounded by technology and concrete and (subconsciously or consciously) wanting to live the natural lifestyle our ancestors did for tens of thousands of years.
Many of today’s mental health issues can be linked to not spending enough time in nature, being over-stimulated by the wrong things such as social media notifications, instead of taking the time to learn about wild edibles to harvest from the land or identify animal tracks to become part of nature which creates a sense of belonging that is often lost in the city. This connection to nature makes us committed to conserving the environment we benefit from. We benefit from more time in nature. Nature benefits from our efforts to look after it.
The Consciousness Chart
The Consciousness Chart, as described by David Hawkins in his book Power vs Force, is a spectrum from least conscious to most conscious, describing all levels of human emotions. In the lower levels of the Consciousness Chart, emotions such as shame, fear, anger and pride are defined as a victim / abuser mentality. You either use other people to get what you want, or feel like you are a victim of other people or circumstances. The majority of people live here. In the middle levels of the Consciousness Chart, emotions such as courage, willingness and acceptance are characterized as self-empowerment. About 20% of the world’s population lives here. The highest levels of the chart, including love, joy, peace and enlightenment, are defined as self-realization and spiritual, only 4% of the population live here. In our community we are constantly becoming more conscious and aware of ourselves and our actions, using the Consciousness Chart as a tool to reflect on our progress or our current mindset.
Maslow's Hierarchy
IIn the ordinary world, although our community members needs for food, water, shelter and safety were being met, they felt something was missing. This inspired them to make a change to meet their higher level needs and reach their full potential. That’s why they embarked on a graduated program, a transformational journey in our wilderness community. Often, new members are initially challenged as they adapt to an unconventional approach that differs vastly from societal norms. However, these challenges are the stepping stones to reaching their full potential as they progress through Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
They begin by learning fundamental survival skills in the wilderness environment such as building fires, harvesting from nature and maintaining our creek water system. Safety needs such as bear safety and becoming more conscious and aware is the next stage. Now, they begin to feel a sense of belonging as they make their place in the community. Their successes generate a feeling of esteem and empowerment. Now they look to learn more about the natural world and become appreciative for it, meeting their cognitive and aesthetic needs. When they discover their unique talents and how they can contribute these to the bigger picture, such as empowering others and conserving the environment, they reach self-actualization and then transcendence, living their full potential.
The wilderness is the perfect teacher to help our community members progress through each of these stages as they learn that challenges aren’t negatives, but an opportunity to learn and grow. Our community of like-minded individuals, all working towards their own self-actualization, support each other on their journeys as they acquire valuable wilderness skills, develop new mindsets and give back to the environment, creating a cycle of positive impact and personal fulfillment.
Our Six Principles
In our Trails to Empowerment community, we live by our Six Principle Philosophy of Nature Connection, Nature Conservation, Personal Development, Self-Sufficiency, Empowerment and Consciousness and Awareness.
Living a wilderness lifestyle brings us close to nature, as humans have lived for tens of thousands of years. Because we live in this environment, we recognize our responsibility to conserve it into the future. Facing challenges in this environment give us the opportunity to grow and evolve, refining our interests, goals and purpose. We live a self-sufficient lifestyle, such as by harvesting food from the land or heating our ranch with firewood we have felled and split ourselves. Doing all of these wilderness activities creates a feeling of empowerment as we learn new skills and mindsets. Living close to nature also makes us more conscious of our surroundings as we need the environment for our survival.
Female Empowerment and an Empowerment Culture
As identified in Louann Brizendine’s book, The Female Brain, from eight weeks after conception, male and female brains begin to develop differently. While male babies get an increase of testosterone, lose some of the cells in the communication centre and grow more cells in the areas related to sex and aggression, female babies gain larger communication centres, allowing for better empathy, social cognition and verbal communication. In addition, women have the distinct ability to carry, birth and feed babies, allowing our species to continue. These abilities have historically been undervalued or minimized, such as by saying this is “all” that women are capable of.
Although men have a responsibility to learn how to manage their biological drives, women are equally responsible to harness their biological advantages to reach their full potential and develop their sense of self-worth. The women who join our community want to live a life that isn’t based on male validation or societal expectations. They want to harness their internal female potential.
Our community is built on a foundation of female empowerment and self-worth with strong internal values and doesn’t come at the expense of anybody else, including men. The men and women in our community are treated as equals who can work side by side, learning from each other, building an empowerment culture. The women in our community recognize that they can make a conscious decision to reach their full potential and be part of cultivating an alternative to society’s definition of what a woman is capable of and her value.
Lead Mare Principles
One of the ways we cultivate female empowerment is through the Lead Mare concept. A Lead Mare is an empowered female leader who leads by empowering others, not using power over others and based on horse leadership where one or more experienced lead mares lead the herd. The twenty Lead Mare qualities include conscious and aware, responsibility, commitment, flexible and adaptable and positivity. Just like lead mare horses, Lead Mare women each have their own unique styles of leadership.
A Lead Mare is clear on her interests, goals and purpose. Every woman has the ability to become a Lead Mare and it is never too late to start. Although the Lead Mare qualities focuses on women as leaders, there are many concepts that are universal to men and women, who are both needed to create an empowerment culture.
Intentional Work
Intentional work is a vastly different concept to society’s standard perception of work. An organization that practices intentional work seeks to empower its employees, facilitating opportunities for them to have greater responsibility and freedom than a standard work place. An employee who applies intentional work is clear on their interests, goals and purpose, both for their life and for their work. Their interests, goals and purpose align with that of the organization. This creates a synergy where the organization benefits from having motivated employees and the employees benefit through contributing to something meaningful and enjoying opportunities not found in a standard work environment.
5OO Year Plan
Our 500 year plan shows how our community philosophy and wilderness environment interrelate and how they will continue long into the future as part of a strong community through our interrelated business partners and our contribution to the bigger picture through conservation of the Chilcotin Ark of British Columbia, Canada.
The plan began in 1918 and so we are already over 100 years into it. We are a community of like-minded multi-generational people working into the future to study, practice and implement the Six Principles. Our goals for the next 395 years are:
- Use Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to assess our self-sufficiency, continuing to refine this to remove our need for societal or government systems
- Continue to expand on our personal development, refining and implementing our interests, goals and purpose
- Increase our consciousness and awareness of ourselves, others and the natural environment by using the consciousness chart as a measure of our growth, increasing our conscious level by 100 each century
- Expand our conservation efforts from the Chilcotin Ark to British Columbia, then North America and then internationally
- Continue spending time in nature to maximize our nature connection and so motivation to continue conserving it
- Continue developing our empowerment through expanding our knowledge and implementing a culture of empowerment
Gain FREE access to our Personal Development Course today!
All of our programs and courses with our training partner the Wilderness Training Academy are self-directed providing you with information, inspiration and self-reflection prompts for you to put into action.
Are you ready to gain free access to your Personal Development course?
You will:
- discover your interests, goals and purpose
- create a mission statement to live your life with purpose
- self reflect and be inspired to grow and evolve to be your best self
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