“A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct…”  –from “Manual of Maud’Dib” by Princess Irulan…the book of DUNE.

It’s been over twenty years ago since I first became fascinated with wilderness survival. I think it’s only right that a printed book set it all in motion. Written by Tom Brown, tracker and survivalist extraordinaire, the book introduced me to a world I found intriguing and in many ways surreal.

As I read (no, devoured) every book Tom Brown wrote, all my childhood years of obsessively reading everything I could find about Native American culture suddenly made sense as it merged with what I learned from his teachings.
Then add in years of martial arts training & competing and you find me where I am today.  Many of the day-to-day disciplines I’ve incorporated into my life and work stem from the knowledge I’ve learned through the years.

So now you know the “beginning”– but not the “balance” part.
The flip side of the coin is that I am an artist, a right-brained random thinker–sentimental dream chaser and slightly obsessive-compulsive about organizing things. In other words, I have the same challenges, fears and struggles you have. We may even share some of the same hopes and dreams. We probably just approach each circumstance differently.

And to me, that’s what survival is all about. It’s not just knowing how to survive the elements of Mother Nature…it’s about learning how to survive everyday situations, as well.

It’s about learning how to adapt to whatever gets thrown our way. It’s about staying strong by finding inspiration in even the most mundane.

These are the topics I want to share with you. And I hope you will share your experiences and comments with everyone here, as well.

We’ll talk about surviving all kinds of situations in today’s world. We may occasionally shed a tear…but surely we will laugh, too. And mostly, we’ll inspire each other.