You know when you get caught up in someone else’s vision and you forget all about your own? That’s where I’ve been. All it took was a template change and I’m inspired again. (Seriously, this new-look everything is nature is giving me heart palpitations!)

I’ve always believed that if you really want to make your unique impact on the world, you have to forget about money, status, and outside opinions and just do you. Find what makes you tick, go for it, stay true to it, and everything falls into place. To me, “living your best life” doesn’t mean traveling the world, eating photogenic food, splurging on objects you want, etc.—it just means embodying the most authentic expression of who you are. But you won’t find that unless you look, listen, and leap.

everything is nature is my heart and soul in digital, and so how have I neglected it for so long? (The only thing really missing here is my music, which has its own place.)

To be honest, most people in my life don’t share my biggest obsessions: natural history, wildlife, environmental stewardship, ocean conservation, cruelty-free living. Some just don’t get it, some think it’s cute, some respect it, and actually, some are down to try it. So these are things that I often enjoy in solitude, which is pretty fun and fulfilling for me. I try to do as much volunteer work in these fields as I can and focus my energy on my personal mission, which is to be a genuine advocate for animals and the planet that they’re just trying to survive in.

I’m lucky enough to get to work as a writer and editor for a living. But sometimes it pulls me in directions I wouldn’t choose if I had the luxury of always working for free. That’s why I started this—so I can write with the purest motivation and most genuine enthusiasm about things that make my world go ’round.

everything is nature is a place where hopefully I can break down some of these subjects and get others excited about them, too. Like my brother-in-law who recently decided to go pescatarian for better health; my nieces who are down to spend time picking up trash on the beach for the love of dolphins and sea turtles; my friend who realized that being vegan goes beyond just diet—it also means dutifully ditching her favorite makeup staples if they’ve been tested on animals. These are all good things that happen when we share knowledge and perspectives with each other.

Coming soon: more travel tales, more cute endangered babies and what you can do to help them, more weird wildlife questions answered, and stories about birds, marine mammals, big cats, and going vegan (I promise not to preach). And whatever else because everything is nature.