Nature and the Pursuit of Life: Learning to “Live Awake”

I was cruising along a ridge that divides a swamp in Antrim County, Michigan. The weather was a gorgeous 60 plus degree day with a sky so clear it was like staring into the Caribbean on an upward angle. It was what my mother calls a northern Michigan “world-class day” and that is no exaggeration, it was one of those special spring moments in northern Michigan. I was on a quest for the ever elusive black morel mushroom and I was in my zone, hunting in a state of deep concentration. Through years of practice and concentration, I have trained my vision to do super human like things in my ability to differentiate shapes, colors, movement, and frankly my favorite thing to hunt morel mushrooms! As I moved along at a fast pace, I was catching visions of so many different objects and varying types of nature while keeping pace. As I turned to the south, out of the corner of my left eye I saw a massive ash tree hidden behind some pines and cedar trees roughly 300 yards from where I stood.

“I have walked this ridge many times before, yet I never noticed that amazing ash tree,” I thought to myself. As I walked up to the lone ash tree, I was overjoyed to find its surroundings we’re covered in a bumper crop of nearly 100 black morels, the best crop of black morels I have found still to this day.

I found another dozen or so mushrooms hunting that afternoon but I couldn’t believe this ash tree experience. I was so proud of myself for having spotted that tree and was blown away how my intuition told me “go to it” and trust that my awareness had led me to such an experience. As I hiked back to my house I thought to myself how freaking cool that moment had been and how amazingly “awake” I was. I was totally out-of-body on that hike and my consciousness was so alive, it just felt damn good to be so “awake”. As I sat down on my couch I went deep into thought about what occurred earlier. I thought “man, what if I could learn to live my whole life this awake?” I would certainly stop myself from losing my temper in hostile situations, I would be more prepared, and more successful, I figured. I then thought about how sadly “asleep” too many people are in their lives and how little they extract from and give back to the world.

Over the next several years I would experiment with this theory of being conscious or being awake and I’ll be damned if things didn’t start coming to me easier. The more I watched, the more I was out-of-body instead of stuck in my damn mind, the more things seemed to flow together. I applied this to business, to friendships, to family, to intimate relationships and it just kept working. I was 30 years old that day and I still remind myself of this need on a regular basis, but man I feel so blessed to have this gift as I believe that in some ways this energy is making the world a better place and that feels damn good.

The next time you feel yourself ready to lose your temper, ready to snap, get above it and “watch”. The person who is “awake” sees far more than the person who is “asleep”. Oh and after this deep thought go and get your butt in the woods and become immersed in it and be woken up or you’ll miss too much in life.

David Farbman

The only thing typical about my life is the non-typical nature that I appear to live in. I firmly believe in the natural order of the world, and I find that this belief helps to navigate me through life, business, and relationships, resonating with my soul. I am in flow with nature and the universe in this way. I blog in an effort to pass on a message about the connections between nature, hunting, and life. Within that realm lies an authentic, clearer path to universal connectivity that I try to live in. The answers to many of our desired outcomes can be found there. My desired outcome is to successfully pass on the ideas, wisdom, and karma that come to me because of my connection with nature and the universe. As this script unfolds in my life, I want to share and help others while adding to the greater good of the world. Many people claim this, but I truly mean it and I bring it into action every day I am on this earth--or at least I sure try. I learned to hike, camp, canoe, horseback ride, fish, and sling arrows at a very young age. A spiritual connection with the outdoors came to me as a little boy and the power of this connection has greatly increased over my lifetime. As a hyper-active person since birth, nature has always settled me down and focused me in while helping me tap into thoughts and ideas that exist within the ether. By thinking, feeling and then willing something to happen after first opening our minds and our vision in a neutral state, we can achieve that which is otherwise unthinkable. I turned 40 years old last October and this past year has served as my catalyst year to promote change. I am in a process of self-actualization as I try to live present in each moment of each day. As part of this process, certain feelings must be turned into actions and done so with complete authenticity. I often write thoughts that come to me and in turn help others--and I believe the greatest return in life is to successfully give. I founded Outdoor Hub in 2007 along with a talented bunch of people and together we created something special. For as long as I can remember I have dreamed of doing something that would help to grow the outdoors and grow hunting--earning it the respect it deserves amongst those who choose not to hunt. I am so excited to be on this journey and I invite you into the field, to climb up a tree, to crawl through the swamps and be one with nature together. Thank you for joining me, the hunt is on...