3 Essential Skills for Cultivating Awareness
Guest Post
by Chris Gilmour
“Whether your interest is harvesting wild plants for food and medicine, hunting to feed your family, or being better prepared for the potentially challenging times ahead, cultivating natural awareness and a deep understanding of ecology will give you a serious edge.”
“Navigating the fog of chaos requires a compass that is true. It’s why being WildFed is about more than just a meal” — Daniel Vitalis
I read that quote on the WildFed Instagram account and knew this was my signal to reach out for a conversation. One, because many of us have been witnessing and feeling the chaos of the modern world lately. And two, the past 20-years of my life have been dedicated to learning the language of nature so it can be my compass in both hard times and good.
Many people, myself included, cherish our time in the outdoors. Yet modern recreation, hunting, foraging and holistic experiences in nature are often quite a different relational context to what our ancestors once lived — a time when all our needs came from our bioregion. And our need to survive pushed humans to levels of skill and awareness almost unfathomable by many who enjoy the outdoors today.
Indeed, modern people have pushed new boundaries in the outdoors with incredible skill, but these current skills are very different, and many are unaware of what we once knew and how it could inform our lives.
It wasn’t until my early twenties that I discovered I had been moving through the woods like a tourist and an adventurer. I realized how attuned and aware an animal had to be to survive and that even with all my experience, my human potential for awareness in the woods was far greater than I ever could have imagined.
My wife and I once undertook an expedition into the desert to better understand survival in that eco-system. After days without seeing any sign of water, our observation of an abundance of insects in the area told us something was up. And watching them lick the sand gave us the idea to dig the hole. It filled within an hour even though the surface sand appeared dry to our eyes.
The history and story of the land are written in the formations of geological features, shapes of tree’s trunk and branches, and the tracks and signs wildlife leave behind. At the same time, the future is being talked about.
Fox trail
Nature has a language, and reading it used to be a fundamental part of being human and WildFed.
Insects and birds speak daily of the changing seasons and tomorrow’s weather. Who needs a weather app?
Birds speak of predators on the landscape and where the next meal for a hunter and forager may be.
The cone crops on trees speak of shifting climatic trends and next year’s wildlife populations.
Today’s species composition tells us what the forest wildlife populations may look like three years from now and whether the hunting and foraging will be profitable or not.
Whether your interest is harvesting wild plants for food and medicine, hunting to feed your family, or being better prepared for the potentially challenging times ahead, cultivating natural awareness and a deep understanding of ecology will give you a serious edge.
Deer sign
Learning to be WildFed presents an opportunity to tap into something deep and ancient, to know the human potential in nature. From there, we can use this knowledge as all other wild species do to survive and even thrive in a world full of threats, challenges, opportunities and immense beauty.
But, spending time in the woods to pursue food alone does not guarantee this level of awareness will be cultivated. We don’t know what we don’t know, and sometimes we do not hear or see things until they are pointed out to us.
Regardless of where you are on your journey of natural awareness and being WildFed, I would like to suggest three areas of ecology to supplement your learning and push your natural awareness. Going deep with these just may unleash your human potential in nature and life in ways you did not know were possible.
Learning to Interpret the stories left behind in wildlife tracks.
Tracking is not just about identifying and giving names to lifeless prints on the ground. Tracking provides us with a glimpse into the intricate details of the lives of incredibly efficient wild animals. It shows us how they survive and thrive in the rugged landscape and teaches us to know the land through their awareness and perspective to help expand our own.
Learning to Interpret the language of the birds.
Birding by ear is such a great skill set, but it is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the sounds birds make. When a bird makes a noise, there is a reason. They are speaking of predators, changing weather, approaching people and more. Next time you hear a robin, ask yourself, “what is it saying and why?” and observe deeply how it’s voice dances with the rest of the story of life.
Learning to navigate by nature’s signs and clues.
Sun, wind and water are some of the most significant influencers in any eco-system. As a result, they shape the landscape and the species that live there subtly and obviously. Learn to tell which way north is without a compass can take you down and an incredible discovery path. The sun and stars are only two of literally hundreds of natural clues telling us which way to go.
Bear tracks
This is such a deep topic, and we have barely scratched the surface in this blog post. If you are intrigued and ready to go deeper into the path of cultivating natural awareness and looking to nature as your compass, you may be interested in these next steps:
Listen to Episode 58 of The WildFed Podcast, where Daniel and I deep dive into this topic. We discuss the application of wildlife tracking and natural awareness in the modern world. We also dive into how these skills and being WildFed can become a compass to help us navigate a world that often feels chaotic.
Check out the online course, Nature’s Forgotten Language. This is a training I created to help people learn to read and interpret the tracks, signs and sounds of the natural world and better understand their regions’ ecology. Enter code “WILDFED” for 20% off enrollment.
Try “Day 1, “Think Like A Survival Expert” to Survive the Storms. Although not directly nature related, Survive the Storms is an eCourse around being better prepared in this chaotic world. Lesson One dives into cultivating awareness in disaster scenarios and everyday life. You can try Day 1 for free, and if you would like to take the full course, enter coupon code “WILDFED” for 20% off.
About Chris Gilmour
Chris Gilmour is a modern-day homesteader & hunter-gatherer, forager, certified wildlife tracker and wilderness survival guide.
He's the founder of Changing World where he consults and trains organizations in emergency preparedness/response, nature awareness and self-reliance. His wild food business — Wild Muskoka Botanicals — produces artisan wild foods and cocktail mixers. He also teaches two eCourses — Nature’s Forgotten Language and Survive the Storms. Find him at his blog, Changing World.