Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Ones Walk Away from Omelas" is a renowned short story exploring the moral complexities of utopian societies. It depicts a seemingly idyllic city where happiness is maintained at the cost of a single child's suffering. The story challenges readers to confront the ethical implications of societal structures and the compromises made in the pursuit of collective well-being. Le Guin's masterful use of allegory and her exploration of profound moral dilemmas have made this story a staple of literature courses and a source of ongoing discussion about ethics and social responsibility. The story's enduring power lies in its ability to provoke thought and challenge readers to examine their own values and beliefs.
In this book, Sarah Wilson embarks on a three-year soul's journey, hiking around the world to find a path through the complexities of climate change, the pandemic, racial inequalities, and our disconnection from what truly matters. Drawing on science, literature, philosophy, and the wisdom of leading experts, Wilson provides a blueprint for living a wilder, more connected life. She advocates for 'wild practices' such as embracing discomfort, breaking the cycle of mindless consumption, and reconnecting with nature and others. The book is a call to action, encouraging readers to step outside the zeitgeist and find a more joyful and sustainable existence.
This week’s guest will “shock you into noticing the world differently.”
The glorious Bayo Akomolafe is a Nigerian-born Yoruba poet, author and teacher at universities and institutions across the UK, the US, Canada and India. He has also won the 2021 New Thought Walden Award which honours empowering spiritual ideas and philosophies that change lives and make our planet a better place. Bayo uses “trickster philosophy” and intense metaphors to present truly wild – but intuitively sound - ways to cope with the complex, existential challenges that we face.
This is a madly challenging conversation and we touch on relaxing into our entanglement with the world, and how to be a fugitive. Bayo invites us to abandon "solutionism" and to ask different questions: What is climate collapse asking of us? What if the way we’re responding to the crisis is part of the crisis? What if the “answer” is to join the chaos and give in to nature?
Bayo is a sage for our times and I truly encourage everyone to experience his wild mind and words…and to learn how to become a fugitive!
You can connect with Bayo via his website and Twitter
Here is the poem I ask Bayo to read out
And here is the essay What Climate Collapse Asks of Us
He references Ursula K Le Guin’s book The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
If you need to know a bit more about me… head to my "about" page
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Wild with Sarah Wilson 
