Barbara Doane, Wild Operations

Brief Bio: In 2025, I joined the Center for Wild Spirituality to support wild operations. It is an honor to work with Victoria and the CWS team to support your journey through Seminary of the Wild Earth. In addition to my work with the Center, I am an entrepreneurial doula, writer, career coach, textile artist and fur mamma. 

As the founder of Find Your Frolic, I help emerging entrepreneurs birth their ideas out into the world. I offer one-on-one coaching and mentoring as well as a group mastermind called the Enchanted Entrepreneur Circle. We meet once a month on the new moon to discuss the energies at play and how they are calling us to step into our soul purpose. This is a unique way of business building that regenerates instead of depletes the soul. 

Tell us a bit about who you are and how you came to this work.

After reaching a significant career milestone in the corporate world, I was left feeling empty and wanting more. In the summer of 2022, I found myself on a trip to Scotland. As any decent Outlander fan would do, I went on a quest to find “the stones” the main character time traveled through. Our tour led us to Clava Cairns among other hot spots depicted in the television show. Once we arrived, I forgot about the show. The energy at this 4,000-year-old ceremonial burial ground was so spectacular and alluring I didn’t want to leave. I felt drawn in like a moth to a flame.

I experienced a level of happiness and belonging that was unexplainable. I was absolutely in awe as I wandered around and tried my very best to contain my strange reaction to this place. As I placed my hands on one very large stone that captivated my attention, a tingling sensation went up through my hands to my arms. I was speechless and a little freaked out. I quickly let go. For the next hour or so the tingling remained. The stones had a message for me. I needed to learn more about spirituality and its deep connection to nature.

With that encounter, something had shifted deep inside me. I went to local bookstores as soon as the tour ended. I frantically searched the internet. My readings led me to Church of the Wild. The more I studied, the more I began to let go of old ways of being in the world that no longer served me. I had a death to striving and rebirth to true belonging. My life has been forever shifted thanks to a special stone in Scotland and Seminary of the Wild Earth. 

Share a bit about the lands who raised you, and how your own connection with the natural world has influenced your path? 

I spent my childhood in the Catskill Mountains of New York state. It was a wonderful and safe place to grow up. There was endless entertainment on our farm in the country. Summer days were filled with warm breezes, blue skies and crows cawing in the distance.I loved the sound of the wind moving through the leaves as the branches swayed. My grandmother taught me to listen to the wind. She also taught me to notice which way the leaves turned when the wind blew. If the leaves turned backwards rain was coming. 

My grandmother was a magical woman. She and I would go on long walks. She would quiz me on the names of the wild things that grew by the side of the road as we wandered. She brought magic to everyday life. She introduced me to fireflies and flying squirrels. She told me that fairies danced on toadstools and drew pictures on my windows in the frost while I slept. She was the first one that taught me about the sacredness of all beings. She is the reason I have always felt more at home and closer to God outside than in any building.  For that I am forever grateful. 

Why do you believe a practice of spiritual connection with the earth is important for our time?

I believe a new way of working in the world is being ushered in. We are realizing the old systems no longer serve us. We want and deserve a new way of being that doesn't compromise our soul. There is a way to live in balance that honors the whole person and still pays the bills. It starts with rewilding our ways of being human, rethinking business and putting the planet over profit. It is through deep listening and reverence for the earth that we find a way of being in the world that is regenerative and sustainable for future generations. 

In your experience, what are some of the barriers or challenges individuals or communities face in developing a deeper connection with nature?

Our hustle culture has taught us that being busy is a badge of honor. It encourages us to compare our imperfect selves to a perfectly curated image of something we should aspire to be. We exile parts of ourselves to fit in. Consumerism convinces us that we can fill the hole we have in our hearts with more stuff. All of this leads to a deep spiritual crisis of disconnection. The only way back to belonging is through nature and by welcoming all parts of ourselves back home, especially the imperfect bits. 

What practices (big or small) can help heal our disconnection from the natural world?

I start my day by stepping outside to offer a prayer of thanksgiving. This simple practice helps me feel more grounded in gratitude. Any amount of time outside spent in silence just listening to and observing the natural world will help heal the soul. 

What are you looking forward to offering as a team member here?

I am deeply honored to support this sacred conversation. This container is needed now more than ever. I am grateful to play a small part by supporting participants on their journey through Seminary of the Wild Earth. 

Can you share a story of a meaningful encounter with the Holy Wild personally?

When I began my studies in Seminary of the Wild Earth, we were encouraged to belong to place. Learning how to belong to place is entirely different than going outside for exercise, to catch up on the latest podcast or even just take a break for some fresh air. This was an invitation to build relationships with particular trees, flowers, birds and other beings by going on a wander.

This is how I met Jasper. Jasper is a mighty Maple tree that lives on the edge of a parking lot near the entrance to one of the trails. This tree has been around for a long time. He has seen much in his days. He’s a survivor.

He has continued to thrive despite the pavement that covers many of his roots. He continues to sprout new growth in an effort to stand up straight even though that means it will inevitably be hacked back to the quick in fear of a limb interfering with a nearby powerline.

More than once I’ve pulled smashed beer cans from between his limbs and picked up carelessly discarded wrappers near his trunk. And even after all that abuse from humans, this particular Maple tree still wanted to build a relationship with this particular human.

Like any relationship, a relationship with a tree is built over time. I centered a lot of my wanders around this tree. Sometimes I would lean on him and tell him things. Other times I would just place my hand on his bark and listen for any wisdom he might have to share.

After a few months I distinctly heard, “I am Jasper.” come up from that still, deep place within that knows things as clearly as if I had heard it come from a human voice. From that moment on Jasper and I have been on a first name basis.

I consider Jasper to be a friend and confidant. I always say hello even if it’s a quick wave as I run by. What I notice when I spend time with Jasper is that my breathing slows when I place my hand on his bark. I’m sure there is something science-y about that, but to me it doesn’t matter. It is just another sign that nature is good for your health and wellbeing.