Veteran to veteran.

I served in the United States Marine Corps from 2003 to 2007 as a Supply Administration Marine. My job involved paperwork, logistics, and making sure Marines had what they needed to do their jobs. It might not be the part of military service people usually think about, but it taught me something I still carry with me: the little things matter, and sometimes the work nobody sees makes the biggest difference.

After leaving the military, I found myself carrying more than I knew how to put into words. Like many veterans, I learned to keep moving, stay busy, and push through. It wasn't until I discovered forest bathing in 2023 that I began to understand the value of slowing down. There was no big breakthrough or magical moment. I simply spent time in nature, learned to be present, and started reconnecting with a part of myself I hadn't realized I'd lost touch with.

That experience changed the way I look at healing and inspired me to become a Certified Forest Bathing Guide through the Forest Therapy School. I wanted to share with other veterans something that had helped me—not by telling anyone how they should feel or what their journey should look like, but by creating a space where they could slow down, breathe, and just be themselves.

Through Sanare.earth, my hope is to make that space available to more people in our veteran community. No rank, no expectations, and no pressure to explain what you've been through. Just time in nature, a little room to breathe, and the freedom to show up exactly as you are.

Sanare.earth is a project of Equity Community Development, the nonprofit I founded to give back to the community here in Birmingham, AL. For me, this work is about taking something that helped me find a little more peace and using it to help others find their own.