We were lucky to catch up with David Debonis recently and have shared our conversation below.

David, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

As we closed the distance between the Jeep and the tree line, our breathing stabilized in a steady and comfortable pace. The evergreen trees were becoming fewer and further between, glowing in the white hue of our headlamps. At this point, it was about 3 a.m. After a few hundred yards of trekking up, the pines promptly shrunk to waist high, and gusts of frozen wind began to pour against us.

We all stood in awe and scanned our eyes across the mystical silhouettes of grand mountain peaks that stood solemn against the dark navy-blue sky. The moon was smack dab in the center of the view and gleamed like a spherical crystal casting a bone-gray light across the entire tundra. I could clearly see the rocks, brush, and alpine grass that crawled all the way to the peak of Mt. Elbert, which towered over us with intense intimidation.

We had set out on this expedition with one goal—to watch the sun rise from the highest point in Colorado. There we were, and it appeared to be a lightyear away. “How the heck are we going to make it up there?” Braden asked with his eyes still glued to the monstrous and distant peak. We hesitated, turned off our headlamps, then trekked on in the gentle glow of the harvest moon.

It was 2016 when I experienced climbing Mt. Elbert under the full Harvest Moon. I was only 17 years old. Still, to this day, it is one of the most memorable and deeply resonant experiences of my life. As we made our way up switchbacks that led us through fields of boulders and wind-bitten grass, I experienced a deep sense of connection and purpose. I wanted to spend my life in pursuit of this feeling of health, adventure, and connection.

As I grew older, I realized that I could align with these values in more aspects of life than climbing mountains. Any time spend mindfully in nature brought me an unmatched sense of alignment. As I moved into my adult life, I found solace in exercise, movement, healthy eating, and connecting with the elements.

At 20 years old, I began to eat a Paleo diet out of necessity; I was dealing with autoimmune issues (Celiac disease and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), and my research led me to begin eating a more ancestrally consistent diet. Through this experience, I began to realize that the times I felt most fulfilled and aligned were the times where my habits and behaviors were more closely aligned with the habits and behaviors of our ancestors. Movement, whole foods, sunlight, exercise, breath work, cold water swimming, and time spent in nature became staples in my routine.

At this time, I began to research evolutionary health patterns, and I learned more and more about ancestral health. Evolutionary biology offered many explanations for the types of health issues I had dealt with. As I continued down this path, I continued to feel more healthy, fulfilled, and connected.

At a certain point, I felt called to begin passing on what I had learned to others. I began working as a Personal Trainer and Health coach, and I began creating educational content about integrating an ancestrally consistent lifestyle into a modern world. This is where the Seeking Synthesis blog was born. On this site, I compose narratives, journalistic investigations, and research-backed articles about health, wellness, and the human experience.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a writer and educator, and I am deeply passionate about health, wellness, connection, and service. I founded the Seeking Synthesis Journal because I believe that an evolutionary approach to health and wellness literally saved my life, and I hope to help others that may need the resources I have found in my experience and research.

Today, I write articles and create videos about health and wellness through an evolutionary lens. I hope that my work can serve those who need it the most.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Alex Hormozi has been extremely influential in my entrepreneurial journey. About a year ago, I was struggling deeply with juggling too many projects. I was spread so thin between so many clients, so many businesses, and so many projects that I was barely able to dedicate any of my energy to any of them. Then I watched a video by Alex Hormozi. In this video, he explained that all of this lack of focus is what spreads entrepreneurs thin and makes them incapable of scaling. In this moment, I began to hone in on Seeking Synthesis.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

In August of 2020, I called my father in agonizing pain: “Hey man, I don’t think I can hike Mt. Yale tomorrow,” I said. “My stomach is killing me.” It was Friday, and we had made a plan to hike Mt. Yale the next day to finish off the hiking season.

However, I had spent the previous few days lying on the couch, staring at the popcorn ceiling of my apartment–gripping my lower right abdomen and moaning from the pain. In my teens and early 20s I had dealt with stomach issues, but nothing like this.

The following day, I was admitted to the ER for a ruptured appendix. I was treated for this appendicitis over the next month and a half before they finally completed the surgery. During this time, I was put through over 4 courses of powerful antibiotics. This was only a year after I had been put through 3-4 courses of antibiotics for a bad case of tonsilitis. Although these antibiotics surely saved my life, they also did a number on my microbiome.

My gut was destroyed.

I went back to work landscaping too soon after this incident, without any rehabilitation to my organs and my core. Then, one day when we were installing some 400lb sandstone pavers in a backyard, I herniated a disc in my back.

In only a few months, I had gone from being healthy, strong, and mobile to being almost completely incapacitated. I continued to go to the doctors seeking guidance and direction for my digestion and my chronic lower back pain, but I kept walking away with little to no answers.

Come August of 2021, I had to quit my job landscaping because my back pain became intolerable while working. At this time, I was lost. I could hardly stand up straight, nevertheless, go out and got another labor job. During this time I began to pursue health coaching, personal training, and health education. I started my blog back up, and I began to work in the Vitamin Department of a Health Foods store while I got back on my feet.

This was one of the most difficult years of my life, and yet I made it through, and came out healthier on the other end. I believe that health is the foundation stone to resilience, and it saved my life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://seekingsynthesis.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidjdebonis/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@davidjdebonis