The path of a writer and poet is a solo journey. We navigate winding, circling loops of our own stories, sitting in the caves of our memories , reliving the places that changed our understanding, sometimes forever. These offerings to the world expose our inner world, demanding that vulnerability as payment for finding our authentic voice that echoes across the canyon walls.

My guest is Heidi Barr, and she shares her own path from a childhood in South Dakota to far flung places and back to the prairies. Our conversation is enhanced from poems from her new book, Just Wild Enough, (available in April) and her insights as a keen observer of nature and self.

In nature, we find solace, but more than that, we find a place that can open our hearts and show us pathways of intimacy and connection that might be the 'magic' that we are all seeking in this modern world. Heidi Barr is our guide, and she already knows the way.

Bio: Heidi Barr is a writer and wellness coach whose work is founded on a commitment to cultivating ways of being that are life-giving and sustainable for people, communities, and the planet. She is the author of several books of creative nonfiction, including Collisions of Earth and Sky and Woodland Manitou, and co author of 12 Tiny things. She’s also authored two poetry collections, one cookbook, and is editor of “The Mindful Kitchen,” a wellness column in The Wayfarer Magazine. One of the inaugural Poets of Place for the lower St. Croix Valley, her poetry has been featured in numerous publications, including the St. Paul Almanac and South Dakota in Poems. She lives with her family in Lindstrom, where they tend a large vegetable garden, explore nature, and do their best to live simply. Her next book of poetry, Just Wild Enough is due out in April.