Our Manifesto
There is a place beyond the noise where the masks come off and the truth of being human can finally breathe. Wilding Hollow is that place. Not a movement to conquer or a workshop to fix, but a living circle, a clearing in the wild, where people return to what is real.
Here, we remember that strength is not dominance but presence. Courage is not bravado but vulnerability. Belonging is not earned but reclaimed through honesty and care. We come to shed the conditioning that made us hard and rediscover the integrity that makes us whole.
We honor life in all its dimensions, beginnings, endings, and cycles. On our quiet 100 plus acres, humans learn from the land through a regenerative teaching farm, participating in systems that give back to the earth. Our natural burial sanctuary is part of this larger work. It is a sacred space where ecological responsibility and social justice meet, reminding us that how we live and how we return to the earth are inseparable.
We speak, we listen, we pause. We learn to inhabit silence again, to trust the wisdom that rises from stillness, and to stand together in our humanness. This is the work of re-wilding, not escaping the world, but returning to it awake, fully, and wholly.
Wilding Hollow
A clearing for humans to return, to remember, and to become.
Vision Statement
At Wilding Hollow, we envision a world where humans live in congruence with themselves, with one another, and with the natural world. Inspired by the Farley Center’s ecological stewardship and the Highlander Center’s history of movement building, institutions dedicated to land care and social justice, we believe true leadership begins with self-awareness and flourishes through collective liberation.
Through our circles, immersive learning, and hands-on experiences, from tending the soil to inhabiting the silence of our Walden-inspired huts, we offer a space to reconnect with the wild intelligence of the heart. We unlearn what no longer serves us. We cultivate the courage to live deeply, responsibly, and in rhythm with the earth.
Core Values
- •Presence: Meeting each moment fully and listening deeply as an act of justice
- •Integrity: Living aligned in thought, word, and action
- •Compassion: Leading with empathy and embracing both light and shadow
- •Belonging: Welcoming difference and cultivating the wholeness of the collective
- •Regeneration: Acting in ways that restore the land, community, and spirit
- •Nature as Teacher: Honoring the natural world as our mirror, guide, and final home
The Landscape of Our Work
The Great Loom
Our indoor gathering space and open-concept community kitchen serve as the heart of the school. Like a loom weaving separate threads into a single, resilient fabric, this is where we break bread, share stories, and integrate the diverse experiences of our community into a collective whole.
The Walden Huts
Eight simple, ecological dwellings tucked into the edges of the wild. Reminiscent of Thoreau’s cabin, these huts are constructed from sustainable materials such as hempcrete and rammed earth. They offer a sanctuary for the solitude and essential living required to find one's true north.
The Steward’s Hearth
Onsite housing for our Land and Place Director. This is not a center of orchestration, but of presence. By inhabiting the land throughout its cycles, the Director serves as a rooted witness and an anchor of stewardship, ensuring leadership remains in constant dialogue with the soil.
Regenerative Teaching Farm
A living classroom for sustainable agriculture and ecological stewardship. Here, we practice the skills of "power-with" the land, growing food that nourishes both the body and the spirit.
Natural Burial Sanctuary
A sacred, sustainable space where social justice and ecological care meet. It is a profound teacher of the death-positive movement, offering a final act of stewardship and a return to the earth’s natural cycles.
The Invitation: Seeking Visionary Partners
Wilding Hollow is a nascent movement taking root in land, community, and care. We seek partners who recognize that human healing and land restoration are the same work.
- The Land: Access to 100 plus acres of diverse landscape, including fields, woods, and water, to establish a permanent legacy
- The Capital: Funding partners and foundations to support construction of The Great Loom, Walden Huts, and the Steward’s Hearth
- The Community: A collaborative network of co-creators, from land stewards to social justice organizers, ready to help build a cultural clearing that endures.