I pictured big things: traveling the country—the world, maybe—sharing everything I had learned from a lifetime outside and bringing people along with me. But instead of heading down the activist road, I stayed home, completely overwhelmed by the enormity of our collective need and the limits of my singular voice.

Like so many, I had seen too much apathy toward the pains of this world… too much direct action to harm our planet and its creatures, and I could not parse out how to respond. Instead of leading a call for change, I stopped doing... anything.

I needed something to wake me up—to make me uncomfortable enough to search for my center and find some clarity.

I needed to go camping.

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Several times every year, my friends and I set up our sleeping bags and lawn chairs in one of Minnesota’s glorious state parks—simply for the experience of easing into the land and its inherent gifts of healing.

Last summer, I stepped into a visitor center filled with educational posters and artifacts. With the smell of old wood and the sound of rustling leaves, a wave of treasured childhood memories came to mind: Girl Scout hikes, Great Lakes beaches, and Upper Peninsula farmer’s markets. I found myself wondering how many people get a chance to experience the joy offered by a nature-filled life, and how many people understand the impact such a life can have on one’s perspective on humanity, as a whole.

Over the course of that weekend, I began forming a workable vision for Kinfeather: a community-driven story lab, grounded in the practical study of human ecology and lifted by the creative energy of the environmental arts.

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Listen: I believe that when we understand what heals the Earth, we understand what heals us. When we understand what heals us, we understand what heals others. And when we understand what heals others, we understand the very roots of peace.

When we get outside, we get better.

So let’s come together, however we are and wherever we are, to share our personal perspectives and insights about the planet and its creatures—then share them through the vast array of creative tools available to us in this time.

If we inspire one person to head toward a better world and a brighter future, that would be awesome.

But what if we inspire more? That could change everything!

Namaste, friends. Be kind. Live green. Find beauty.

I promise; it’s out there somewhere.