Radical & Revolutionary: Looking to Nature for the Answers Often these days, when I tune in to news reports or listen to the ongoing hum of our culture, I find myself overwhelmed. Everywhere we look we are presented with challenges. They surround us in the world in the form of climate change, inequity, social injustices. They fill up our inner lives with doubts about our self-worth, fitting in, and having enough. We look down at our phones and check in with Google to try to find the answers, to heal ourselves and the world in which we live. What if Read more

An Ode to the Appalachian Trail I’m preparing for my ninth year of section hiking the Appalachian Trail, or the AT as it is commonly referred to by the hiking community. As I assemble various bags of oatmeal, snacks, and dehydrated meals, and attempt to stuff my sleeping bag and tent into my cavernous backpack, I am both contemplative and grateful. I stand by the statement that the AT has changed my life. I owe so much of who I am today to the challenges, triumphs, and camaraderie that I have experienced by walking along this four foot wide path Read more

Three Gifts: How spending time in the natural world impacts our well-being So many voices that enter my world these days are expressing the same basic sentiment: spending time in the natural world has a positive impact on our lives and well-being. I experience this myself, whether I’m sitting on my porch listening to birds, walking around the block looking for signs of spring, or hiking in the mountains inhaling the scent of the balsam trees. Being outside calms me, helps me to sort through my thoughts, and just generally brings on feelings of happiness and contentment. I’m curious about Read more

Challenge accepted, a first step to hiking the Appalachian Trail The summer before my 40th birthday I decided to attempt a 105-mile hiking trip on the Appalachian Trail. The Appalachian Trail is 2,190 miles long. With an average of 2,000 steps/mile, that’s approximately 4.4 million steps. A little daunting and overwhelming to say the least.  I often feel the same way about the rest of this wide, wonderful, crazy world we live in. There are a lot of struggles and issues being experienced by all living things, human and non-human alike. When I scroll through the never-ending newsreel of catastrophes, Read more