“How did we get here?” is a question I’ve asked myself at pivotal moments throughout this chapter of my life — in the dressing room at REI before my first trek across Catalina Island, in the doctor’s office when I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, at the top of Tumanguya, and in more moments than I can count since 2018.

If you’re here, you’re part of that answer. As we prepare to open the doors to the Reciprocity Rx™ Community Challenge, I’m asking it again.

In 2018, I was standing at the dock in Two Harbors, my phone coming back to life after five days of hiking my feelings across Catalina Island. Notifications started pouring in: texts, emails, voicemails, Instagram, and just like that, the world I had stepped away from was asking for my attention again.

*June 7, 2018 — we woke up at Parson’s Landing, our last stop on the Trans-Catalina Trail. I knew this island had changed me, but I had no idea what would happen in the years that followed.*

I remember opening Instagram and sending a message to the Catalina Island Conservancy. I told them the island had changed my life not once, but twice, and I asked a simple question: How can I help?

Looking back, that question was a fork in the road.

It would have been easy to take what I had just experienced and turn it into content, to chase growth, to try to make something of that moment in a way that would have been recognizable in the world I came from. But something about that felt incomplete. What I had experienced on that island didn’t feel like something to package. It felt like something to understand, something to honor, and eventually, something to give back to.

At the time, I didn’t have the language for any of this. All I knew was what I could feel in my body. Moving felt good in a way that was both new and familiar. I noticed that I wasn’t as twitchy about checking my phone, especially on our day off in Little Harbor. Time on the beach felt different, less about how I looked and more about how I felt in my body. The trail itself felt familiar because I had done it before, but I was experiencing it through a completely different lens. And by the end of the hike, something had shifted in a way I couldn’t ignore. I didn’t just love the island, I wanted to understand it and I wanted to protect it so that other people could have access to the same experience.

That simple question, how can I help?, became the throughline for everything that followed.

*About halfway through our first day of a 220-mile adventure around Chicago, highlighting the importance of access to nearby nature.*

In 2021, we launched our #TakeAHikeDiabetes campaign and as a community we hiked more than 54,000 miles for awareness, prevention, and management. What started as a personal story became something collective, something that invited other people into the experience of moving their bodies and reconnecting with themselves in the process.

In 2022, we expanded into stewardship, making volunteering a primary pillar of our work. We began collaborating with parks at the national, state, and local level, not only raising money for their nonprofit partners but also showing up for mission-critical volunteer projects. At the same time, we were developing curriculum that helped people connect more deeply to place, drawing parallels between the landscapes we were caring for and the internal landscapes we were navigating.

In Sequoia National Park, we removed invasive species and talked about invasive thoughts and limiting beliefs, using meadow restoration as a reflection of the healing happening within us. In Grand Staircase-Escalante, we remediated graffiti in the slot canyons and explored what it means to remember that everything is connected, that every grain of pink desert sand is a relative. In Glacier, we looked at the changing of the seasons and what it means to move through transition. In Redwood, the forest taught us about interdependence and reciprocal resilience, showing us what it looks like to be supported and to support in return.

Some of our projects from over the years in Sequoia National Park, Yosemite National Park, Redwood National Park, Virgin Islands National Park, Biscayne National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.

Over time, it became clear that the land wasn’t just a setting for these experiences. It was an active participant. It was teaching us how to live.

Along the way, my life changed in ways that are both measurable and hard to fully explain. The panic attacks that used to take me out once or twice a day became less frequent, eventually reducing to just a handful each year. The diabetes diagnosis that started this journey reversed, and I’ve been able to manage it without medication since 2019. These are the kinds of changes that show up in data, in lab results, in the language of medicine.

But there’s another layer to it that feels just as important.

Building a life that makes space for time outside didn’t just improve my health. It gave my life a sense of purpose and meaning that I didn’t know I was missing. Reconnecting with the natural world helped me reconnect with myself, and from that place, everything else started to shift.

I come from a marketing background, and I’ve been sharing my life online for more than twenty years. From AOL chatrooms to Xanga, MySpace to Facebook, my own blog to Instagram, books, and communities like this one, I’ve had a front-row seat to how the internet has evolved and what it rewards. I’ve watched the rise of influencers and the ways attention has become tied to visibility, appearance, and consumption.

For a long time, I’ve been wondering when that would change. When the pendulum would swing toward something that feels more aligned with what actually matters. I’ve had countless conversations with friends and colleagues about this, often feeling like we were waiting for something to shift, trusting that eventually it would.

At the same time, we’re living through a moment where so many of the systems we rely on are showing their cracks. We’re more connected than ever, and yet we’re constantly confronted with division, harm, and a level of noise that can feel overwhelming. The things that rise to the surface aren’t always the things that help us feel grounded, connected, or hopeful.

So I keep coming back to a different question.

What if we didn’t wait for the shift?

What if we chose it?

What if we intentionally directed our time and attention toward something that is rooted in care, in connection, in something that feels real?

Our time and our attention are among the most valuable resources we have. The way we spend them shapes not only our individual lives, but the world we participate in. When we start to reclaim those resources and direct them toward something meaningful, something grounded, something that gives back, we begin to create change in a way that feels tangible.

I don’t have all the answers. There are days when it feels like too much, when the weight of everything happening in the world is hard to hold. But for the first time in a long time, I feel a sense of hope that isn’t tied to everything being okay. It’s rooted in what I’ve experienced, in what I’ve seen happen when people reconnect with the natural world, with each other, and with themselves.

That’s where this comes from.

Yes, I want you to spend time outside. There is research that shows that even 120 minutes a week can support physical, mental, and emotional well-being, and I’ve experienced that in my own life in ways that go far beyond the numbers. Yes, I want you to volunteer, to give back to the places that support you, because I’ve seen how that act of care changes the way we relate to the world around us. And yes, I want to build something that can sustain this work and make it accessible to more people over time.

But more than anything, I want us to remember.

I want us to remember that we are part of the living world, not separate from it. I want us to remember that everything is interconnected, even when it doesn’t feel that way. And I want us to remember what it feels like to be real in a world that often pulls us toward something more artificial.

The Reciprocity Rx™ Community Challenge is an invitation to put that remembering into practice.

It’s a way to create something positive to move toward, something that feels both personal and collective, something that allows us to take action in a way that is grounded and accessible.

You can participate by spending time outside in whatever way is available to you, whether that’s hiking, walking, gardening, or simply sitting and noticing what’s around you. You can log your time, not as a measure of productivity, but as a way of paying attention. You can give back through volunteering, supporting public lands, community spaces, or the organizations doing this work. You can share what you’re experiencing, what you’re noticing, and how it’s changing the way you move through your life.

If you feel called to support financially, that helps us offer scholarships and expand access to this work, but it is not a requirement for participation. This is about showing up, in whatever way you can.

We’re starting this in a grassroots way. There’s no big brand campaign behind it, no polished rollout. We’re starting with our own hours, our own efforts, and inviting you to join us.

If this is anything like Take a Hike, Diabetes, I know what’s possible. I know we’re going to meet people who are doing incredible work in their communities. I know this will create connections that wouldn’t have existed otherwise. And I know that, in ways both small and significant, this will change lives.

I trust that this will find the people it’s meant to reach, and that it will meet you exactly where you are.

I hope you join us. I hope you participate in a way that feels sustainable for your life. And I hope that, over time, this shifts the way you think, the way you speak, and the way you show up, both for yourself and for the people and places you care about.

Because I’ve seen what’s possible when we choose to move in this direction.

And I believe it’s worth building together. 🌿

JOIN THE CHALLENGE TODAY!

We're keeping this as simple as possible.

Click here to register for the challenge, it's free to join.
Check your email and confirm your subscription. After that, you’re in! We’ll send gentle prompts and seasonal ideas your way to support you in getting outside and giving back to the people and places that sustain you.

That's it!

WAYS TO SUPPORT THE WORK

If you feel called to support this work more deeply, there are ways to do that, too. Support is not conditional on making a donation. Your presence here matters. The time you spend outside matters. The hours you give to your community matter. All of it counts. For those who are able to contribute financially, we’ve created a range of thank-you gifts that are meant to support your own practice while also helping expand access for others. It’s a way to deepen your relationship with this work while making it possible for someone else to begin their own.

$5/month: Forest Member
For less than a latte, you can help us keep the Reciprocity Rx Toolkit fee-free and the Collective running and accessible.

$25: Get Outside, Get Started
STICKER PACK + THANK YOU CARD: Featuring hand-drawn designs by community member and designer Gabby Etheridge. Add the magic of mountains, desert, water, open spaces, forests, and dark skies wherever you put your stickers!

$100: Deepen the Practice
SIGNED BOOK OR ONE JOURNAL: Support your own healing while supporting someone else’s with a signed copy of Hiking Your Feelings or a Reciprocity Rx™ Guided Journal (your choice).

$250: Full Landscape Series
FULL JOURNAL COLLECTION: Explore Different Landscapes, Different Medicines in your own rhythm with the complete Reciprocity Rx™ Guided Journal Landcapes collection (includes all six landscapes, bound into one book).

$500: Wear the Work
EXCLUSIVE COLLECTION WITH ILLUMINE: Wear a visible reminder of your commitment to people + planet with a buttery-soft Reciprocity Rx™ tee, or hoodie.

$1,000+ If you're interested in supporting our scholarship program, sponsoring an event, or co-creating something with us, we'd love to chat!

THANK YOU

Thank you for being here, and for the ways you continue to support this work. We’re officially opening the doors to the Reciprocity Rx™ Community Challenge on Earth Day, but it felt right to welcome you in early. This community has always been built by the people who show up with curiosity, care, and a willingness to try something different, and we’re grateful to begin this next chapter with you already here.

As you think about how you want to participate, consider where you might already have support. Does your employer offer volunteer time off (VTO), incentives for giving your time, or company-wide service initiatives? Are there opportunities through your church, school, or social groups to show up in this way?

If so, we’d love to be connected. Part of this challenge is shining a light on what’s already happening by capturing the hours, the effort, and the care that often goes unseen. We want to highlight the individuals, organizations, and companies who are showing up for their communities and contributing to something larger than themselves.

If you’re as excited about this as we are, we’d love your help in sharing it. You can amplify our posts on social media, invite your family, friends, and colleagues to join, or simply share why this matters to you. This has always been a community-led effort, and the way it grows is through people who feel something and choose to pass it on.

join the challenge