From caveman to philosopher: How meditation changed my life

Cameron Harman is the founder and host of the Hermit Radio podcast.

For as long as I can remember I have always wondered what my place in life is. I certainly didn’t think I would be reading books about Buddha and different levels of consciousness. One thing was clear and that was my sense of duty and servitude. After high school, I joined the army as an infantry soldier. In December of 2011, my unit was deployed to Afghanistan to work with special operations groups to combat terrorism in the region. During my time there, I was blown up by a deep-buried IED (improvised explosive device) and was involved in a fifteen person mass casualty event. This would impact my life for many years to come.

My personality was best described as a “caveman” I was a bully, taking my anger out on everyone around me. Often I found myself confused as to why I was so irritable. At the snap of a finger, I would lose control and be in a rage until I could come back down. I embraced the fact that I had PTSD. All I wanted was to serve my country and be appreciated. Now I felt out of control and no one could understand me, let alone understand myself. Fast forward to 2017, I left the army and freedom was at hand. Foolishly I thought if I just got out of the army my problems would fix themselves, alas, they continued to torment me. The difference was time, I was free to explore my thoughts and emotions in a way that I could dissect them and understand them.

A deep desire started to brew inside me, I felt like this was just an obstacle and I could overcome it. My first step was meditation, I learned how to calm my mind. Most importantly it was the beginning of a partnership with my mind. My mind needed to be nurtured from my past traumas, much like a child it just needed some love. After learning how to meditate for ten minutes I wondered what would happen in meditation that lasted an hour. Deeper and deeper I went inside myself and started to rewire my thinking process. Shifting my mind to a whole new way of thinking, loving, and uplifting thoughts instead of the same old tune of doom and gloom.

My mind started to have more room to think clearly and find my real self. Old things I enjoyed like reading started to become fun again. Book after book about gurus and the marvelous things they could say and do. I knew what they were saying was true because I was starting to experience the wonder of life like these higher beings described. At my job, the strangest encounters with people would occur. A handful of people have just come up to me and tell me their entire life story like it was some kind of mission. After they finish talking they feel a sense of relief and one woman even stated she didn’t know why she had to tell me all of these things but felt better that she did.

Life had become so vibrant and colorful, I could see the beauty in every situation. Every interaction with people was an opportunity to learn and work on me. My goal was to become the best version of myself, to be a light for others to follow.

Hermit Radio is my podcast that I started to share the information and my new way of thinking for those who are seeking peace. I had no idea how far of a reach I would have. Months after starting my podcast had reached people in countries all over the world. People I have never met would reach out to me to tell me how wonderful my words were and that it truly did help them. Never had my purpose in life become more clear, the service I felt so deep in my youth was meant for this. To help people and share my experiences with others, so that they too can find freedom and create a partnership with their minds.