The Bones of Awareness: Becoming Who You Already Are

You already know more than you think you do. That’s the quiet revelation at the heart of The Bones of Awareness: Becoming Who You Already Are, an episode of Dear Grandchildren: A Tracker’s Tale that invites us back into the wild intelligence of our senses.

From the moment we take our first breath, we’re wired to notice—movement, sound, mood, and change. But modern life dulls those instincts. In this episode, Michael Douglas shows us how to reawaken them. Through bird language, topography, body posture, and even mosquito patterns, we begin to see that our surroundings are always speaking—we’ve just forgotten how to listen.

This isn’t about blissed-out meditation or tracking for sport. It’s about reclaiming the perceptual toolkit that once kept our ancestors alive—and now has the power to help us truly thrive. Michael reframes awareness as a form of preparedness, but also as a path to joy, gratitude, and clarity. When we tune in to our environment at this depth, we're not just surviving—we’re belonging.

There’s wisdom here in the smallest acts: planting sassafras for memory, offering birdseed to a child in distress, noting how soil type tells you where to sleep—or not. These are not random tips. They are ancestral skills rooted in relationship, deeply practical yet deeply reverent.

Through the lens of the scout, we learn that invisibility is not erasure—it’s presence at a different octave. And in learning to move with the land, we remember what it feels like to truly be of it.

Listen to the full episode and begin tracking not just the land—but yourself.