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Miles for Marshall: 5K Trail Run for Childhood Cancer
The Healthy Planet Magazine, July 2025
Life experiences – good, bad, and otherwise – shape who we are and how we view the world going forward. One joyful experience that comes to mind is when my son, Marshall, and I graced the cover of The Healthy Planet in July 2024. We had journeyed across the bi-state region highlighting must-see hiking trails and waterfalls. Another life experience unexpectedly hit just three short months after that issue printed, and we transitioned from navigating nature to navigating cancer treatments.
Soaring into September: Healthy Aging, Adventure, and LIVING
The Healthy Planet Magazine, September 2024
September was first recognized as Healthy Aging Month in 1992. While the intent behind the label was to inspire people to adopt a healthier lifestyle through dietary changes and physical activity, it also encouraged getting out and continuing to live a full life. The target audience was/is adults aged 45 and over, but is it ever too soon to embrace a healthy aging mindset and lead by example? Admittedly, I’m probably not the one to talk you off the ledge from eating that bag of Doritos or second piece of cheesecake, but when you ask about FUN family activities and adventures to keep you feeling young and alive – it’s my time to shine! So, how about it? Let’s “zip” into Healthy Aging Month!
Habits for Happiness: Research & Development Before 40
The Healthy Planet Magazine, August 2024
“What is it you think you’re missing?” That question was posed to me on occasions in years past. I never had a solid answer, which left me feeling further discounted and dejected. I wasn’t “missing” anything major or hugely materialistic; my basic human needs of food, water, and shelter were covered. Yet, there’s so much more to life than simply existing. As August marks a milestone for this writer, I often joke that it’ll be the 11th anniversary of my 29th birthday. The truth is, turning 40 isn’t so bad. I’m a believer that life starts at 40. Everything prior is simply research.
Getting Lost in Nature —Outdoor Adventures in the Bi-State
The Healthy Planet Magazine, July 2024
When is the last time someone told you to get lost… and meant it in a good way? Getting lost in nature not only provides countless health benefits for your physical body, but it also acts as a healing power to lighten your mood and nourish your soul. Pack the car and hit the road! Adventure in the form of towering cliffs, canyons, and cascading waterfalls is only a short drive from St. Louis. (Photo credit: Amanda Hinkle Photography)
Disconnect to Reconnect — Hiking in Northern Illinois
The Healthy Planet Magazine, April 2024
If we have MORE things, we’ll find MORE happiness. Right? That’s the ideology marketing experts sell us, and today’s world makes it all too easy for us adults, and our kids, to get caught up in that materialistic mindset. Call me sentimental, but experiences have always held more value than the latest trends in technology, clothes, or gadgets, and that’s a viewpoint I try to model for my son. With that in mind, and to escape that pressure, he and I planned a spur-of-the-moment trip to explore one of nature’s most endearing state parks in Northern Illinois.
Spreading Good Karma: It’s "Werth" it.
The Healthy Planet Magazine, March 2024
Good karma: the result of good deeds done to others. A seemingly common encounter at the check-out counter created a core memory within me I didn’t initially anticipate, yet it continues to surface nearly a year later. These learning lessons elevate ordinary moments into the extraordinary range.
Blessed to be Busy: Sitting Down to a Full Plate
The Healthy Planet Magazine, Jan 2024
“I think you’re a person who’s happiest and functions best when you have a full plate.” He wasn’t talking about holiday meal portions, but instead the figurative plate of projects and tasks we all sit down to at the table of life. At times, it is a plate continuously heaped with serving sizes which seem outside our capacity to finish. Is the plate too full? Did we take on more than we can chew? Before you wish for a lighter plate, remember… one day, you’re going to miss this.
Farm to Table: Meat You for Dinner
The Healthy Planet Magazine, Nov 2023
Do you know where your food comes from? And, not just “the grocery store.” How do we know the foods we buy to feed our families are quality? In this day and age of chemicals and preservatives, ambiguous marketing lingo and corporate greed, it is sometimes difficult to know exactly where our food originated… or, is it? That all depends on where you shop. The “farm to table” mindset offered by Mom-and-Pop businesses like Scott’s Processing is the breath of fresh air we needed to exhale a welcomed sigh of relief from the worry of meat packaging concerns.
Can Playing Hooky Be Healthy?
Blessing or a Lesson? How replacing curiosity with certainty leads to growth.
Can Playing Hooky Be Healthy?
The Healthy Planet Magazine, Sept 2023 -
Quality time with those we love is an investment in our emotional health. So often, it isn’t about the material things we give; it’s about the time together. You’ve heard the saying, Time is our most precious gift. When we gift someone our time, we are also gifting them something bigger; the affirmation they are a valued presence in our lives.
People Helping People
Blessing or a Lesson? How replacing curiosity with certainty leads to growth.
Can Playing Hooky Be Healthy?
The Healthy Planet Magazine, Aug 2023
How did August find us so quickly? With each lap around the sun, I try to do better about celebrating those around me. Instead of letting others simply assume we care, they will believe it when our actions show it. With that intention in mind, and since World Humanitarian Day is later this month on the 19th, let us talk about people helping people.
A Season of Enlightenment - Calm the triggers and grow a healthier mind.
Blessing or a Lesson? How replacing curiosity with certainty leads to growth.
Blessing or a Lesson? How replacing curiosity with certainty leads to growth.
The Healthy Planet Magazine, June 2023
The onset of a powerful season is quickly approaching as we turn the corner into June.
The summer solstice will occur on Wednesday the 21st, bringing with it longer hours of sunlight, warmth, and steady growth. What better time to nurture and evolve our minds than in this season of illumination.
Blessing or a Lesson? How replacing curiosity with certainty leads to growth.
Blessing or a Lesson? How replacing curiosity with certainty leads to growth.
Blessing or a Lesson? How replacing curiosity with certainty leads to growth.
The Healthy Planet Magazine, May 2023
When did we stop becoming curious about other people? When did we stop trying to use life’s teachings as a way to evolve ourselves? A popular podcast I listen to offered this perspective, “Certainty is the enemy of curiosity.” Everyone you encounter offers an opportunity to learn something about the wo
The Healthy Planet Magazine, May 2023
When did we stop becoming curious about other people? When did we stop trying to use life’s teachings as a way to evolve ourselves? A popular podcast I listen to offered this perspective, “Certainty is the enemy of curiosity.” Everyone you encounter offers an opportunity to learn something about the world, or about yourself. Valuable knowledge doesn’t always come from the pursuit of higher education, but instead from life experiences and the people we meet along the way. Will that curiosity unveil a blessing or a lesson? Maybe both.
Hiking Lesson: Relearning Healthy Habits
Setting Intentions, Letting Go of the "Should"
Hiking Lesson: Relearning Healthy Habits
The Healthy Planet Magazine, April 2023
Walking stick in hand and water nearing his knees, my son was not at all concerned about getting wet feet, as he was determined to forge his own path through the creek. With the world at your fingertips and the luxury of innocence on your side, everything seems achievable when you’re six. When exact
The Healthy Planet Magazine, April 2023
Walking stick in hand and water nearing his knees, my son was not at all concerned about getting wet feet, as he was determined to forge his own path through the creek. With the world at your fingertips and the luxury of innocence on your side, everything seems achievable when you’re six. When exactly is it we lose that larger-than-life imagination, that dreamer’s momentum? We become adults who incur challenges and suddenly, that list of what we can do turns into the list of what we can’t. Chasing opportunities transitions to finding excuses; a tough habit to break once it’s taken hold. Perhaps a six-year-old’s spirit can help us relearn the good habits we’ve forgotten?
Cultivating Connections
Setting Intentions, Letting Go of the "Should"
Hiking Lesson: Relearning Healthy Habits
The Healthy Planet Magazine, March 2023 What does it mean to cultivate connections, and how do we do that? Let’s start with the word cultivate. The leading definition as outlined by Dictionary.com: cultivate (verb), is to prepare and work on (land) in order to raise crops. Cultivate by another definition: to seek to promote or foster (fri
The Healthy Planet Magazine, March 2023 What does it mean to cultivate connections, and how do we do that? Let’s start with the word cultivate. The leading definition as outlined by Dictionary.com: cultivate (verb), is to prepare and work on (land) in order to raise crops. Cultivate by another definition: to seek to promote or foster (friendship, love, etc.). What if we combined the two? Winter gives way to spring in less than three weeks, and we will soon begin seeing area farmers preparing fields for the 2023 crop. What if we were to focus attention on planting seeds of our own; ones that will cultivate more fulfilling relationships and connections?
Setting Intentions, Letting Go of the "Should"
Setting Intentions, Letting Go of the "Should"
Setting Intentions, Letting Go of the "Should"
The Healthy Planet Magazine, Feb 2023 Letting go of the word should was an intention I promised myself in 2023; a simple enough word, but don’t underestimate its power. We get so wrapped up in how life should look, versus embracing how it could look. This need to compare is a sneaky thief of time and energy, leaving us merely shuffling th
The Healthy Planet Magazine, Feb 2023 Letting go of the word should was an intention I promised myself in 2023; a simple enough word, but don’t underestimate its power. We get so wrapped up in how life should look, versus embracing how it could look. This need to compare is a sneaky thief of time and energy, leaving us merely shuffling through life feeling less-than and discouraged. Let’s change the narrative. Because, why shuffle through life when you could skip?