THE ROOT OF IT ALL

Photo courtesy of:  Hannah Rose Gray Photography — Photo courtesy of: Hannah Rose Gray Photography

Since I can remember it was " GO! get out side" we would hear as kids not knowing at the time the role the outdoors would play for me and my future to come. Rather it was usually my mother's means to get noisy kids out of her hair for a little while. Being forced to play out of the house, we would end up in the willow tree's behind our first house, and the dense lush forests surrounding our second home. It was here my imagination ran wild. Playing hide and seek, endless wandering and other silly games. Even at an early age i felt connected to those surroundings and life in a different way. I was deeply rooted to the land just like the Maple and Oak trees that lined the soft dirt of the trails i learned to run on. It wasn't till much much later i would finally connect the dots. It was in this other world away from television, people, and societal pressures that I began to find comfort and peace. I found myself day dreaming about those before me that lived on the land and what life was like way before we ever had the modern luxuries we see today. When life was maybe, more simple. These very moments were the foresight to my future and what inspired me for a true longing for connection, truth and to pursue something bigger.

I began craving the unknown, adventure, the lush forest landscape that poked out of my tiny little state, and the vast wide open spaces that left an urge for exploration after my visits to the Southwest. In between two homes as a child, both parents moving into a new house every few years, being bullied at school, all the while in and out of toxic relationships, only resulted in feeling more lost and alone. Typically one would feel displaced as i often did. Moving out on my own at eighteen I began looking for a place to call my home, my sanctuary, to find peace and feel grounded. I left New England, moved across states and lived with new strangers. Some unhealthy acquaintances, i was still missing belonging and peace wherever i lived. What i did find was my continuous search for something more permanent and grounding, that feeling alone pushed me into the woods, into the desert, and into wilderness. I realized I had all I wanted and needed right in front of me. In the outdoors I was broken down, challenged and re-centered. Nothing else mattered, I dreamed about what it would be like to just get rid of everything, everyone and move out into the country, living off the land with out a worry in the world, no one to bring me down and completely detach to the burdens and pressures of modern day society.

No matter what was going on in my life if I could get away and get outside I felt an instant refreshing feeling, a feeling of peace. The groundedness I was yearning for when doing anything else. Early on I formed this relationship with "Nature" and was so grateful for all that it had shown me. Without the Natural world I would be lost, not knowing my true inner strength and what I was actually capable of. Little by little I began to heal and grow in my connection to myself The more time i spent "out there" running or biking the more my admiration and respect grew for the beautiful places that provided me so much. Later I went on to pursue an Environmental Studies degree, and now feel that I am where I'm meant to be. That it is my humanly duty and responsibility to protect these wild places and to give back. To protect my real mentor and sanctuary, Mother Nature. My mission now, is to live a more mindful and environmentally conscious life-style, and bring awareness to our current Environmental Crisis. While proving that even in today's progressive and busy lives that it can be possible to reduce our waste and impacts, and with even the littlest of individual efforts we can live a more nourishing & productive life for a sustainable future.