Woman in the Wilderness: My Story of Love, Survival and Self-Discovery

Product Information

The woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God, to be nourished there for 1,260 days. I took his hand and looked out at the valley and forest all around us. Peter had read all of the old newspapers and magazines in the hut from cover to cover Whilst Miriam’s act of living as a nomad isn’t radical in a global context, for a privileged, middle class, urbanised individual to choose that lifestyle is definitely a radical decision. The woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God, to be fed there for 1,260 days.

That was the last thing I wanted to do. Nothing meant boredom, the dreaded void, horrible emptiness. Nothing was the unknown and I had discovered I was afraid of it - this was the fear I would have to face in the many weeks to come. We all think we’re getting somewhere, that we’re making progress, but we’re in fact just struggling to keep our spot on the treadmill. People have become like sheep. SheepleWe had been living in the mountains for nearly two months now, but it felt like an eternity. During those first two weeks I had been so bored, but the wilderness had forced me to yield and gradually, day by day and week by week, time had slowed down. I'm not sure if I'm skeptical or envious or busy rolling my eyes or getting cringey or fangirling or... It’s a kind of permanent yearning, but it also gives me the energy to keep aiming for an ever-moving goalpost.’ I told her about the day I had seen the chamois and realised that real beauty lies in being not becoming. It had made perfect sense in the wilderness, but I now saw that in civilisation everything was about comparison.

any action derived from guilt usually just creates more confusion and distortion. It never solves conflict Miriam Lancewood is attractive, energetic, tough and eloquent - and just 34 when her memoir was published in 2017 . She had a story to tell and people who heard her wanted more. Hence, she was commissioned (I presume by Allen & Unwin) to write a memoir of her nomadic exploits in the rugged, wilderness of New Zealand’s South Island with her partner, Peter, old enough to be a father-figure. Miriam Lancewood is a young Dutch woman living a primitive, nomadic life in the heart of New Zealand’s mountains with her New Zealand husband Peter. She lives simply in a tent or hut and survives by hunting wild animals, foraging edible plants and using minimal supplies. For seven years, they lived this way, through all seasons, often cold, hungry and isolated in the bush. She loves her life and feels free, connected to the land and happy. And the woman fled to the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God where she would I realised that my experience of nature had begun to change. I was tuned in to the rhythm of the forest, river and mountains. Beauty had become more apparent and intense. When I looked at the mountains, I saw not only their outward shapes, but also colours and moods. And slowly, over the weeks and months, I smelled the subtle breeze, the perfume of the forest and the approaching rain. I noticed changing clouds and delicate colours in the sky. (c)Well, I feel transformed,’ I said. ‘I feel super energetic! Because of the long sleeps, or maybe the power of the mountains—who knows? Perhaps all nature can do is give energy, so that the mind can find a way to transform itself.’ Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. It seems Miriam is not the only woman to think that women are missing out. Her book is coming out in Britain this month but is already published in Holland, where it’s become a small sensation. “Women write to me and say, ‘You inspired me,’” she tells me. “They’re amazed that it’s possible to live this primitive life; but they’re afraid: ‘What’s out there?’”