#wildspeak

So I own and maintain the pretty neglected website Wildspeak, which is a site dedicated to a list or dictionary of animal teachers (or animal guides, depending on the language you want to use. Or totems or spirit guides if you’re still confused, but I don’t use those words to talk about what I do.)

Wildspeak as a website is over 20 years old. It’s moved domains four times, I’ve always coded it myself in very basic HTML, and it’s always been lean on graphics and high on text. It started out even before Geocities, and then moved to Geocities, and then moved to another domain (long before Geocities shut down), and finally to another where it’s stayed ever since.

I do all the artwork myself, and I write all the information myself, and compile all the research. Some of the data is well over 10 years old, and outdated, though the animal meanings and symbolism largely stays the same.

It costs about $390- a year to maintain (if not a bit more), because a surprising number of people use it, and it adds up re: bandwidth.

This is actually part of my spiritual work or duty, so I pay that cost happily, because it’s part of my service to nature and the animal kingdom, and keeps me connected to the world around me. It also allows me to offer something potentially meaningful to other people who want to learn about animals. About 10 times I year I get emails and messages from people asking me what a certain animal ‘means’ if you encounter it in the wild. Sometimes I get messages thanking me. I’ve heard from folks from all walks of life, including - once - Michael Mando (I believe my art is still on his Instagram somewhere).

I’m behind on updating it with new animal teachers largely because I’m still thinking about recoding the database to be more mobile phone / OS friendly. It was built back in the days when people didn’t have laptops, and desktops were the only thing kind of out there. So it’s like a dinosaur, though it’s a dinosaur I love.

This fall I attended my first WildSpeak symposium by the International League of Conservation Photographers. This was two whole days of inspirational presentations by the most talented conservation photographers in the world. 

One of the best things about going to WildSpeak was getting to spend time with my Summit family. The Summit Workshops have been pushing their focus towards more conservation minded photography, so it was amazing to see such a strong presence of people that I know and love. 

WildSpeak takes place each November in Washington D.C., which is a place that up until now I had not had the pleasure of visiting. I took a few extra days to tour this beautiful city, which is somewhere I recommend every American visiting at least once in their lifetime.