About Shannon - Wake Up, Human

shannon m. wills | wake up, human

Shannon M. Wills is a writer and artist based in Denver, Colorado, working at the intersection of psychology, spirituality, and social justice. A dedicated student of the world’s mystical traditions, her passion lies in delving into life’s mysteries, mining them for wisdom to apply to our modern lives. She previously served as director of the Metta Center for Nonviolence, and co-founded Nonviolence Lab, a training organization for nonviolent philosophy and practice. Her current explorations center on nature connection, spiritual ecology, and indigenous European healing traditions. She recently launched Wake Up, Human, a project dedicated to “reawakening the native powers of the human being,” and the potential of those powers to build a more conscious, compassionate, and connected world.

Wake Up, Human:
from separation to wholeness

Wake Up, Human is rooted in the pain I feel at witnessing suffering, in myself and others, and my lifelong search to understand and heal my part of the great wounds of our planet. I believe that much of the pain we create in our inner and outer worlds is due to our having been separated from our native wisdom, through centuries of social and cultural conditioning. I also believe that by coming back into reconnection with
our true nature, we can begin to heal the divides in our society, our relationships, and our minds.

As an offering toward healing, in this project I explore the nature of our separation from our native wisdom, the sources of our separation, and the ways we can come back into wholeness, for the good of all life.

For more about my philosophy behind starting Wake Up, Human, Listen to the WUH podcast Episode 2 here.

A little about me:

I’ve been a student of various spiritual traditions for some 25 years, and the beginning point of my long student-ship was my desire to understand and transcend my own suffering. My journey in a sense has been nothing more than an attempt to heal my own trauma, both personal trauma and the trauma of living in a society that does not offer us a means to experience our fullness as human beings.

I started my exploration toward wholeness upon discovering the American Transcendentalists as a teenager, especially the work of naturalist philosopher Henry David Thoreau. My passions were sparked by the prospect of living a simple, compassionate life within (yet beyond) the mechanistic confines of the modern world.

Over the years I continued my exploration of the social mind and the psyche, as student of ancient and modern philosophy, history of religion, Buddhist teachings and meditation, yoga and Ayurveda, shamanism, Taoism, and Christian mysticism. I’ve also studied both the mystical and modern branches of psychology, earning my university degree in the latter. As a part of my studies in psychology, I completed an independent study in cross-cultural conflict resolution, exploring the ways that culture and language inform our values and our perceptions of reality. In short, my journey has been a meandering exploration into the core of the perennial philosophy.

In addition to my journey of spiritual study, I’ve been an activist for most of my life, most consistently as a passionate supporter of animal rights. I worked professionally in the field of animal welfare for years, earning my first degree in veterinary medicine. But heartbroken and angry, I turned to psychology when I came to understand that the disgraceful treatment of animals in our society is rooted in the disgraceful state of the human psyche. In order to heal our world, I knew, we’d need to heal our selves.

It’s my compassion for animals that planted the seeds in my own psyche that have led to this project. I pray we humans can find our way back into conversation with the non-human animals and the natural world, so that all beings may live full and dignified lives, free of unnecessary suffering and pain.

The gift: discovering nonviolence

I reached a culminating point in my search toward healing when I discovered the teachings of nonviolence, which combines activism, psychology, and spirituality in a unified, practical teaching.

Nonviolence taught me to channel my passion and heartbreak into work for good, to “express anger under discipline for maximum effect,” in the words of MLK, Jr., while refusing to contribute more pain or harm to the world.

On the heels of my work with conflict resolution, it was my great good fortune to be invited by Gandhian scholar, Professor Michael Nagler, to serve as director of Metta Center for Nonviolence in Berkeley, California. That position allowed me to grow as both activist and spiritual seeker, and strengthened my confidence as a leader. Upon leaving Metta, I co-founded Nonviolence Lab, a training organization for the philosophy and practice of nonviolence. Since that time my life’s work has been an effort to integrate spirituality and activism with practical tools for living, to ease suffering of mind, body, planet, and spirit.

I subscribe to the adage that “if spiritual people become active and activists become spiritual” we can find a healing and peace that is desperately needed in our world. I see this project, Wake Up, Human, as a culmination of my explorations thus far, and as a form of personal activism that I humbly offer toward healing the broken spirit of our world.

A note on cultural positioning:

I am an American woman, of white skin and European ancestry, born and raised in the land now called the United States. I live and work from that culturally-embedded perspective. I respect all traditions and cultures, and I attempt not to speak from anyone’s experience but my own.

Part of my work involves reconnecting with my own lost cultural heritage and earth-honoring ancestors, in order to become more whole in myself, and to avoid appropriating the cultures of others. This includes reclaiming myself as fully indigenous to this planet, no more or less deserving of life and voice than any other human or non-human being. I reach out to you in this same spirit of solidarity. Whatever stumbles or mistakes I might make in this attempt, I’m ever open to learn.

That said, I believe that oneness of spirit transcends the surface differences between us, and that it is to that place of oneness we must return if we want to heal together. We are all children of the same earth mother. And whatever our differences, I honor your spirit and call you my brother or sister in soul.

My wish for us all...

If I could change just one thing about the world, I would open our collective human eyes, as they used to be open, to the sacredness of life. I would reawaken us into the web of interbeing so we might take our place as stewards of our planetary home, rather than agents of its destruction.

If only our eyes could see across the veil into the otherworld, and our ears could hear the music of the stars. Then our senses might shudder and open wide, and our intuition come alive with wonder, and our minds and souls settle once again into mutual conversation with all the other forms of life around us. Then we might remember our place as a human tribe of sacred beings within the great web of life. And we might use our remembered powers to heal ourselves and others, to be a gift to our kindred and our kind.

I especially wish this for our leaders, because when the eyes of those in power are closed, when they can’t open their hearts and souls to live compassionately, it becomes much harder for the rest of us to do it. My sincere prayer is for all of us—all of us—to wake up.

My Wish for Us All

Will you join me?

In my life and work I’ve always been called to freedom and empowerment, and that continues today. The world needs people who are free thinkers and sovereign actors working for creative solutions. I continue my study and my activism, questioning the status quo and sharing that questioning with others. I’d like to share and learn from you too. Let’s wake up together.

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