About me

I’ve always enjoyed being outside. I spent my early years vacationing at my grandparent’s cottage in central Wisconsin, surrounded by lofty pines and sandy soil with shiny quartz and granite rocks, swimming and fishing in a beautiful lake and gazing at amazing star-lit night skies. My mom had various tents and campers over my early teen years, making for some happy and fun memories.

I recall seeing a book about Forest Bathing many years ago at some store like LL Bean or REI. I thought, “‘Forest bathing’? I can’t imagine sitting in a bathtub in the middle of the woods!” I don’t remember if I even looked through the book. Fast forward to 2024; I was not able to spend as much time outdoors as I would’ve liked, as I was needed at home to help tend to my ailing mother-in-law. During that time, I received a series of emails from the county Forest Preserve District near me with links to articles about the healing qualities of being in nature; interesting intersection that spoke to me in a deep way.

I have worked in the healthcare field for most of my life, with the last 30+ years in physical rehabilitation and a nearly as long spell with Emergency Services. Also, I have long had an interest in food, nutrition and alternative medicine. The Standard American Diet and the unbelievable reliance on Big pHarma has, in my opinion, been a huge detriment to our collective health and well being. I understand the benefits and advances in medicine, but I have become increasingly cynical, especially since 2020 and the pandemic response.

Also important to me is my faith. I was raised in a Christian home but didn’t develop a deeper faith until facing a personal challenge in my life in the late 90’s. I prayed hard for strength, wisdom and courage: that answered prayer opened a door for me to make good on my promise to do what ever God put in my way. That calling turned out to be working with the high school kids at my church. Terrifying! My own daughter had just finished high school and I didn’t care much for that age group. But, during the few years I spent hanging out in the church basement for weekly meetings and going on a couple of mission trips with those kids, I found myself actively seeking God’s presence in my life. I have faced a lot of challenges and hardships since then, including sudden and traumatic deaths, painful betrayals and heartaches. But in all of those trials, I felt and still feel comfort knowing Jesus as my Rock and my Redeemer.

Those paths have now lead me to this journey.

My desire is to blend Forest Bathing with Devotion. This blessing of creation is ours to enjoy and to care for. There is not much doubt in my mind that what we see around us in nature is not just the result of some Big Bang; there is so much complexity and diversity! Throughout the ages, man has developed religions of many sorts in order to communicate with something or someone outside of the limited view of humankind. As far as I know, only one “religion” offered Someone to come and commune with us, to provide a direct line to a creator, The Creator.