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“I will lead you on a trail from noise, hurry, and stress to real inner peace and quiet”. Wild Places by George Madison (Matt) Potts explores the transformative power of nature to help men find healing, rest, and purpose. Matt shows a new way to live and a path to get there. In this special book, he shows us that Wild Places are a place of healing for our hearts, minds, bodies, and souls.

Over and over again, he asks us to be intentional in our journey into Wild Places. Through stories and practical advice, he guides readers to discover their own Wild Places. He offers insights on how to reconnect with their unique gifts and to embrace a rhythm of rest, recreation, and renewal.

This beautiful book delves into the healing of emotional wounds, particularly the father wound. It emphasizes the importance of listening, forgiveness, and personal growth. Matt, an experienced outdoorsman and former professional backpacking guide, encourages readers to embark on their own journeys to Wild Places to find peace and return as their best selves. Finally, and perhaps best of all, Matt says, “the sacred rhythm is to go, rest, heal, return, and repeat”.

I REALLY enjoyed this book. Wild Places is a great reminder that we don’t always need more information—we need more space to think, reflect, and reset. Matt does a great job sharing real stories and lessons that show how getting outside and slowing down can make a real difference in how we live and lead our lives.

There is no doubt in my mind that we live in the “noisiest” time in the history of the world. The noise is astounding, both in the physical world of trucks, planes, and motorcycles, and also in the internal world of cell phones and the increasingly false voices on the internet.

How do we find peace, as men, pulled in so many directions at the same time? Matt, an experienced outdoorsman, makes a strong case that the natural world is one of the few places that men can find respite and healing from the craziness of this life. He writes in Chapter 12, “Our world is full of brokenness, noise, hurry, and stress. We hunger for inner peace. I encourage you not to remain in the chaos and noise but to step on a path towards peace, restoration, and wholeness.” He then stresses that the Wild Places are where we can seek and find this healing.

As an outdoorsman, Matt has found the peace and healing that he has needed on backpacking, fishing, and hunting trips. He describes how a man can take the lessons learned in the backcountry and bring them home to produce healing and wholeness in our everyday lives.

He mixes in many of his own backcountry stories and experiences with practical advice for survival in our lives, both at home and in the Wild Places.  He covers numerous topics, such as listening, forgiveness, enjoyment of life, marriage, peace, and healing.

I found his writing to be powerful in the chapter on “The Father Wound”, where he discusses the trauma that many men carry due to a lack of strong fathering in their lives. He then follows this with a chapter on healthy examples of fathering gleaned from the Bible and from his own life.

I highly recommend this book for men of all ages, especially those with a love of the outdoors. There is sound wisdom here from a man who has lived an authentic and fruitful life!

The timing of this book could not be better. As more people become aware of how noisy the world has become, having a guide like Matt Potts to lead us into Wild Places—places of rest, perspective, and deeper connection—is a gift. Grounded in his own experiences, Wild Places offers both practical and inspiring ways to reconnect with the outdoors and, in doing so, ourselves. Matt’s passion for the natural world and its restorative power comes through on every page. A must-read for anyone feeling the weight of modern life and curious about what becomes possible when you step outside it.