Meet
Tara
Connecting with Nature And Animals, My Happy Place
Growing up, I spent a lot of time outdoors. Nature was a safe space for me, away from the dysfunction of my family. My parents, a long-haul pilot and an air hostess, were away from home a lot, and we would often have nannies taking care of us for weeks at a time.
"Connecting with animals made me happy, as did diving into encyclopedias to learn everything I could about the universe and its planets and stars."
I was a sensitive child, and by the age of 10 my family situation had become overwhelming. I just wanted to be numb. To protect myself, I started disconnecting from my feelings, losing touch with myself and my intuition.
Having stumbled through school, I left at age 16 with just a few O’ Levels and little idea of what I wanted to do with my life. At home, I’d loved building things – I remember one snowy winter taking pride in creating an enormous igloo in our back garden.
Buildings,
Warships & Witches
In my twenties, this creative impulse led me into a career in design and construction. With courage, hard work and support from mentors and bosses who saw my potential, I worked my way up the corporate ladder to director level, working all over Europe. In my thirties, I moved into military shipbuilding and ended up as operations director, leading a team of 1500.
During my 26 years in these male-dominated industries, I continued to be disconnected from my deeper self but did use my intuition in my day-to-day work. This led to an uncomfortable but rather amusing moment, in a corporate boardroom in my mid-thirties, when I found myself pointed at by a colleague and accused of being ‘a witch’! My ability to just know things had helped me do my job, but it also set me apart from others.
This was the moment I realised I didn’t belong in the corporate world. I wanted the freedom to be me without apology. I went into therapy to start working through the traumas that had disconnected me from my authentic self.
By my early forties, I had started running my own companies – first as a business coach, then as the founder of an organic dog food brand. But it was a trip to Norway in my late forties that finally brought me home to myself.
Meeting
The Wolves
On a holiday to Norway in 2019, I fulfilled a lifelong dream. I had always been fascinated by wolves, without really knowing why. Our trip included typical Arctic Circle tourist trips such as the northern lights and husky sledging, but I was most looking forward to visiting the wolf sanctuary.
It was minus 18 degrees, and I was with my husband and a zoologist, up to our knees in snow … and waiting. I had woken up that morning excited and emotional, knowing in my bones that today was the day.
It was a small pack of six or seven. The alpha male approached first, coming down the hill to meet us. I was mesmerised, and my mind was utterly still. Intuitively, I knew that being in ‘neutral mind’ would help the wolves feel safe to come closer.
Then, I witnessed the extraordinary communication between the alpha male and other wolves. He gave the signal to the alpha female to come down first and I watched the pair circling each other and ‘kissing’. He then called the middle pack down to join us, and lastly, the omega male.
After the wolves had mingled amongst us a good while, they gave us the greatest gift before leaving: howling in unison as they stood around us.
Their presence and pure energy were incredible. I felt so connected and hopelessly in love – like my soul had come home! Awakened and energised by this magical encounter, I made a commitment to begin reconnecting to my authentic self and my intuition.
And there were more changes to come. Not only did 2020 bring the arrival of the COVID pandemic, but also the sad passing of my Mum, which helped me finally let go of the debilitating co-dependency I experienced in our relationship.
I could hear the whisper of my heart repeatedly asking:
If not now, then when?
In 2021, I relocated with my family from Derbyshire to Oxfordshire to begin a new chapter, and also turned 50! By 2022, I had started up a brand new business, with The Animal Element as the foundation.
On my journey, I’ve discovered that connecting with our intuition is key to aligning with our purpose and finding our joy.
My purpose now is to share the wisdom of animals, to help connect us with our senses, the seasons and our circadian rhythms.