Find Your Howl

Jonathon Flaum tells two stories in his article, Find Your Howl. The first is about a wolf named Mumon, who is raised in captivity and released back into the wild as an adult red wolf. Back in the wild where he and the other wolves belong, they find that there seems to be something missing, keeping them from truly becoming wolves. They have lost the ability to howl. Without a howl, there could be no leader and without leadership, the pack was doomed. Desperate to find the connection they were missing, Mumon struck off on his own.

He walked and walked until he became so hungry that he could nearly not go on. That was when he came across a deer and his instincts kicked in and he killed the deer and ate it. Immediately he began feeling the energy from the deer surge through him, and he started running across the countryside, transforming from the captivity-raised wolf he once was to a full-fledged wild wolf. His journey finally led him to a human, who shot him. As he lay there bleeding he heard the drumbeat and saw people dancing around a fire, dressed as red wolves. At this point, Mumon raised his head... and howled. Then the vision fell away and he saw the people were really the other wolves in his pack, joining in with his howl. And thus, the wolves had re-discovered their howl.


The point Jonathon Flaum is trying to make is that we must make sacrifices in life, step outside our comfort zones and spend time in self-reflection to truly discover ourselves. It can be exhausting, terrifying, and may take a very long time, but this is the only way to discover our "one-of-a-kind voice." We can't just ignore the "cages" put around us, but fight through them like Mumon does.

This is an example of my own "Howl."
The volume was a little weak when I recorded it so bear with me.