I used to be a prolific blogger. In my early 20s, I blogged about going to college, studying abroad, birdwatching, traveling, hiking, my years as an intern and a park ranger in Alaska. My life was so transient, so adventurous, so nomadic, it was the best way for me to both share my experiences with friends and family back home, and also to make sense of the experiences I was having for myself. It was a way to synthesize my life, to exercise the meaning-making part of my brain as I grew and developed into adulthood.

The internet changed a lot in those years. So did I.  I stopped writing as much. I lamented at times that my life had simply become less interesting, as I settled down in the Pacific Northwest and poured my energy into friendships and relationships and building a career that honored my values and life goals. These things are harder to write about than adventuring in the Arctic or plotting out my next destination.

For me, writing requires space. It requires time, and reflection, and aloneness. The fact that I haven’t had much of these things in recent years is, in one way, a testiment to how full my life is. The time I would normally spend writing out my thoughts, instead I spend talking them out with my partner or friends or family.

I think social media changed the way I share my life online, too. Social media algorithms favor short snippets and 3-second clips, over long-form writing and text-based storytelling. Despite the fact that I’m very much a visual artist, specializing in video and photography, I am still a firm believer in the power of writing.

And so here I go starting a blog again, to once again bring movement and expression to the meaning-making part of my brain that I can’t always reach through other creative avenues.

Just as nature has her seasons, so too do our lives. I think some of the most difficult reckoning we do at times is that of accepting the change of seasons and learning to embrace what comes next.

I’m learning to put down roots.

Although last year I got to live the Alaskan summer dream one more time, this year I’ve embraced the fact that, for now at least, my story is here in Oregon. It’s on this homestead where I’ve been living the last 3 years, and where we’ve decided to settle down for the next little bit. And I’ve come to realize that even though my story is a little different from what it used to be, it’s no less worthy of telling.

So, welcome to my new blog.

I’ll still write about my travels and explorations when they happen, but I’ll also tell you about what it’s like to live on a rural homestead in the Oregon Coast Range, while working as a freelancer and a small business owner. I’ll tell you about watching summer turn to fall, and fall into winter through the dancing of the mushrooms and whisper of the trees. I’ll share with you the trials and tribulations of trying to grow a garden and store its harvest for the winter, and tending to our forest in the summertime.

I hope you’ll join me on the journey.