From: Darren D. MacDonald, thenorthbaybay.ca staff
NORTH BAY – Addiction is a thing that North Bay knows all too well. Nearly 22% of Canadians meet the criteria for substance abuse, but not all such stories end in disaster. Many, including North Bay’s own Jacob Hakeem, have managed to turn their lives around.
Like many, Hakeem had a porn addiction. It consumed every waking hour.
“I knew it was getting bad, but it felt too good to stop,” relates Hakeem. “It was like clockwork on my days off. But I knew I hit rock bottom when at work, I just casually loaded up some of the ball-slappiest porn I could find. I wasn’t turned on, it was just something to watch.”
“I was fired on the spot.”
“Then, everyone in the building filed a restraining order against me, so not only was I not allowed near the building, I’m still not able to live, like, actually in town.”
While at first it seemed like an extreme punishment, it was the catalyst that would turn Hakeem’s life around. While trying to walk back home he got lost in the woods.
“Normally, when you go missing for a span of days a loved one or workmate would report you missing… Well thanks to my porn addiction, I had neither.”
Lost in the Woods
Hakeem was stuck in the woods for a week. There, he had nothing to eat except some berries, half a pine cone, and a deer he took down with his bare hands.
“I remember seeing Bear Grylls saying that you have to drink your pee in situations like that, but I didn’t think I could stomach it, so I diluted it with water from a lake I found.”
It was on Day 5 when Hakeem discovered bird watching. He says he recognized the sounds of two birds mating and it caught his attention. From there, he started keeping track of the different birds he saw on a notepad he brought.
“I knew this is what people did, like as a legit hobby, and I think it kept me sane. After I found my way back home, I started Googling the birds and according to the North American Bird Watching Guide Book, they were quite the find. Without even trying, I was good at something. That had never happened to me before.”
Rising Hard
After getting registered, Hakeem quickly rose in the Ontario Bird Watchers ranks. Then the Canadian ranks.
Next thing he knew he was attending worldwide bird watching conventions, and giving speeches on how to spot the mating rituals of some of the most rare Canadian birds.
“Like, if you see hear chirps with ending upward inflections, you’re looking at a pair of Kirtland’s Warblers,” explains Hakeem. “If you hear lots of hoots and hollars, you know you’re watching a pair of Whooping Cranes.”
A Happy Ending
Thanks to bird watching, Jason has kicked his porn addiction and has become an inspirational figure for hundreds across the globe.
“People think it’s a gift, but the time and effort put in to knowing the mating rituals of every bird in Canada has become my life. I’ve worked for it.”
“I encourage anyone with a passion to not take it for granted. Take the time, take that passion, and turn it into an expertise – and then you, like me, can be a master at spotting birds f%#king.”