| As some of you may already know, this last Friday (August 16, 2024) saw the passing of the world-renowned tracker and wilderness survival teacher, Tom Brown, Jr. I am forever grateful for what I have learned from him, and from the lineage of Earth connection teachings that he moved forward with such care and focus. It is ultimately because of Tom’s lifetime of dedication to walking his vision, and his efforts in passing forward what he learned, that Conscious Nature exists in the first place. It was a comment Tom made during one of his classes over a decade ago that led to the genesis of Conscious Nature. During The Power of Story class, Tom off-handedly said, “Maybe some day, someone will write a book about the brain that shows how science backs up all of these ancient teachings.” That challenge stayed with me. A few years later, I felt called to write about my journeys into nature connection and meditation, and to share principles and tools that could help others in their journeys, too, while exploring how modern brain science aligns with ancient mentoring wisdom. Tom’s challenge immediately popped back into my mind. Thus, the vision for the Conscious Nature book was born. Without a doubt, I count Tom’s teachings (or, as he would say, Grandfather Stalking Wolf’s teachings) as one of the biggest ongoing influences in my life. I first discovered the art of tracking at the age of 15, when I read Tom’s book, The Vision; the skills and philosophy he shared gave me a path to connect with the Earth that I’d been seeking for so long. Importantly, Tom’s teaching helped me connect to the passion within myself for helping others to discover greater meaning, purpose, and healing through supporting their own connections with Nature and Vision. This passion led me from apprenticing at a wilderness school, and into a degree focused on mentoring and wildlife tracking. Afterwards, the journey brought me across the country to learn and work alongside Tom’s first student, Jon Young. All of this was just the beginning of a 25-year journey in sharing these skills with others around the world. Through Jon’s transmission of the lineage, I’ve come to appreciate many nuances of the mentoring approach that Tom has passed forward, and its extreme relevance for supporting well-being in the modern experience. Looking back on that trail of Vision, I can see clearly how Tom lit that fire in me so early on through the stories and skills that he shared in his classes and books. The fact that he reached so many thousands of others’ lives in equally profound ways points towards the dedication and sincerity he walked with each day of his life. In the long string of tracks Tom left behind, we see indicators of what it means to fully live a Vision, and the positive change it is possible to create when we say Yes to what really matters in our hearts and lives. Thank you, Tom, and may the wind be always at your back. In Nature,Josh Lane |
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