We just celebrated National Unicorn Day yesterday! Why am I so excited? Because I have a book surprise coming out in May—and it involves unicorns! Can’t. Wait. To. Share! More to come … 😊

Fave Unicorn Fact: Unicorn families spend their lives alone, living in peace deep in the forest.

It’s my favorite fact because I love being alone and stepping through forests. My inner peace glows. My spirit is refreshed. And I’m so lucky to experience it every day during this pandemic through a lovely old-growth forest in my backyard.

What is an old-growth forest? They are off-the beaten path wondrous places where trees have soared undisturbed toward the sky for centuries. Here are five old-growth forests to discover in the United States and in Pennsylvania, where I live. I realized not so long ago that the woods are featured in every one of the books I write–whether published, on-submission, or being drafted right now.

As an only child growing up in the Helderberg Mountains of Upstate New York, my playground was the forest. I spent my days roaming along old rock walls with my dogs, gazing up at the sky from secret meadows, and writing my poems and stories in the nooks of old oaks. I also used to sing songs to the woods. I still walk in the woods every day but listen to the trees sing now. The woods are part of me.

And I truly believe that these magical spaces offer much-needed time away from the dire situation of the world right now. They are a gift—and help me see the gifts we’re also being handed during this crisis.

I’ve worked at home since 2005, so this new routine is a familiar one for me that I love but I know its unfamiliar for many of you. I do believe that finding peace in nature is something we can all do to help navigate the coronavirus challenge—and help us find other hidden gifts.

So, I go to the woods and empower myself with these gifts:

• The alarm clock is gone. Waking up naturally is bliss.
• No obligations to go anywhere, see anyone. The rush has slowed to a sweet amble.
• Exercising more. Walks, bike rides. Sometimes twice a day. Losing weight: bonus!
• More family time every day. More together. More dinners, laughs, talks, walks.
• More family excursions. Finding those out-of-the-way places to hike and bike.
• Supporting small local grocers, farmers markets, and farms with curbside grocery pick up rather than mega-supermarkets.
• Meditating twice a day (Transcendental Meditation has transformed my life and helped me stay peaceful during this time).
• Focusing on what I can control: my writing projects, my freelance client work, my online course projects, what I choose to eat, how I choose to exercise, how I choose to react.
• Letting go of things that cause overwhelm like social media, negative people, and the news.
• Practicing gratitude every day for life’s abundance and reaching out to those who need support.
• Knowing we will come out of this stronger in mind and spirit.

What gifts have you found in this time of crisis? I hope you can embrace them and keep them with you long after this crisis is over. And I hope you can find that place in nature that helps your spirits soar.

Have a peaceful Easter and Passover! And watch for my book release next month. Because … unicorns! 😊