I've always been a city guy, always lived in an apartment, surrounded by a sea of houses, crisscrossed by twisting congested roads, always in the middle of so-called civilization. City life is hurried life, and I grew up thriving in it, loving being in the center of it all, with access to the latest and the greatest. Or at least I thought so.

When I moved to the Midwest, I was exposed to small-town living for the first time. I was surprised to find out how much I liked it, how much being in a small community surrounded by farms and woods, where people earnestly greeted each other on the street, and life seemed to flow just a little slower, affected me for the better.

I'm back to living in suburbia, but my past experiences, becoming a father, and the hobbies I have engaged in lately, have changed me. My priorities have shifted towards improving my quality of life, and achieving better mental and physical health, and changing life habits that can leave the world just a little bit better when I'm gone. This to me is simple living, and I not only want it, I need it.

Getting back into hiking over the last year, making an intentional effort to connect with nature whenever possible, has made me a better person, and shown me that society has sold me a lie that there is only one way to live in the modern world. While I follow YouTube creators that chronicle their lives in off-grid cabins in the middle of the woods (and as delightful as that sounds to me), they are outliers. Adopting that lifestyle is not practical for my family, but there are lessons that I can bring back to urban society to work towards achieving the simplest life I can within my circumstances.

I want to fiercely protect the boundaries between my work and family time. I want to go hiking at city parks, local greenways, and the occasional remote trail, by myself or with my family, to remind myself that I was made to move, to exist outdoors, to be a part of nature. I want to grow more of my food, be it a single tomato plant or a small selection of vegetables, and shop as local as I can from real farmers. I want to switch to more natural products, maybe even make some myself. And I want to do this living in suburbia, where I still have to deal with urban crowding, traffic congestion, and gestures at the world everything else going on. And I'm willing to bet so are you.

That's what DanielHighmoon.com is all about: connecting with nature, seeking a simple lifestyle, while living in the modern world. Whether through essays, videos, or podcasts, I hope that my journey inspires you to make changes as well, however small they may be. Together, one baby step at a time, we can achieve the life we want and deserve.