My name is Dakota and I'm a multidisciplinary creative with professional experience in writing, design, and software development. My writing has appeared in in award-winning magazines (Paper Darts, American Craft, Yoga International and Monkeybicycle) and anthologized in The Way We Sleep. I've also launched independent storytelling projects that include Ultra Basic Coffee and this very website.

Beyond what I've written professionally, I consider myself queer, non-binary, and disabled, with a complex constellation of chronic health struggles. Those struggles have forced me to explore the outdoors at a bit slower pace than I am used to: I'm no longer chasing away my anxiety by speeding around lakes in Minneapolis on a tiny fixed speed track bike late at night.

I still love getting outside. But I don't consider what I do to spend time outdoors as anything remotely close to what feels like the pop culture depiction of outdoorsy-ness. As I wrote in my review of Birding for a Better World, all too often mainstream outdoor adventure narratives center on "someone proving to themselves that it’s possible to overcome a seemingly impossible challenge or insurmountable health condition."

When this is applied to someone with a physical disability, the narrative is often about overcoming disability rather than embracing the unique perspective it provides. This feels incredibly limiting.

So I decided to start writing about the intersection of nature, art, and community from a queer and disabled perspective. I don't know entirely what that will or will not include just yet. But fundamentally I hope it helps myself, and others, explore different ways to appreciate the outdoors beyond the intense, hero's-journey-esque takes we already have.