My Howl

Finding Your Howl - Johnathan Flaum


Summary of Part 1:
“There were only 14 remaining red wolves in the wild in the 1970s.”

The story in part one follows a red wolf by the name of Mumon, and the spiritual journey in which he partakes to find his “howl.”
Back in the 1970’s, inn an effort to protect the few, wild red wolves from the brink of extinction, the remaining population was placed into captivity. Years later, the pack was released. While captivity had kept the wolves safe, and their return to the wild seemed seamless, in reality there still existed one major flaw. The wolves had forgotten how to howl. As a result, their pack had no leader, no guidance, and organized direction.
Because of all this, Mumon decides to go off and find his howl in the hopes of saving his pack. Searching throw the dark, shrouded woods, he hoped to find what he yearned for. While he did not know exactly the sound in which he sought, he knew that once he heard his howl he would recognize it.
Suddenly, Mumon comes across a deer. In his hunger, he begins to chase the deer, only to be stopped when he hears the deer begin to speak. The deer asks how the wolf knew to hunt him, to which Mumon responded that he didn’t know why or how, but just that he knew it was what he was supposed to do. After talking Mumon chases the deer again, eventually catching up to the deer and devouring.
As time passes, a crow approaches to Mumon and notices the shame in his appearance. Though Mumon is both sad and ashamed over what he’s done, the crow tells him not to be ashamed. While he may feel sorrow for the deer’s death, there should be no shame in his actions as they were natural to him.
Upon ending his conversation with the crow, Mumon stands alone. Suddenly, with the energy and spirit of the deer coursing through him , Mumon began to run.
As he ran, he eventually came upon a farmer, gun poised. Staring down the barrel, Mumon hears the howl of the gun blast before dying, just as the deer.
Upon death, Mumon fell deep into the center of the earth, drawn by the burning fire, drum beats, and chanting of a red wolf costumed tribe. Passing into the flames, he came back into himself, and realized that the tribe he had seen dancing and playing music around the flame were, in fact, his own pack. Mumon began to howl, as did the other members of his pack, in full force. The red wolf had taken back its howl.

In my opinion, this story is all about finding your true self, your true voice. Like the red wolves, most of us are raised in “captivity.” Whether you apply this term to our lives at home, the way our educational system is structured, or simply how we grow up, the childhood of the average individual in modern society is fairly protected. As children, we’re far too often told what to think, how to think, and even where to think. Only by finally leaving the nest do we every truly discover who we are.
Mumon goes through a few trials in his pursuit of finding his voice. He travels out on his own, he takes actions that seem natural to him, but he later regrets, overcomes self-deprecation, faces destruction, and eventually comes out of his trial triumphant, secure in his howl. By making these sacrifices, he finds out who he naturally is, and is able to achieve the goal he set out to accomplish by bringing the howl back to his pack.


Below is the selection I made for my “Howl,” and the explanation for why I chose it to represent my “voice” and who I am.


Quote:
First Corinthians

Explanation:
Explanation 1

Explanation 2

*Note: I apologize if this is not the ideal way to imbed audio, but I see no tabs above, and this was the best I could do. It said to read the quote aloud and that this was an Audio assignment, but there weren't any instructions outside of that. Please let me know if there's any way I can fix this, and the proper way to do so.