Kennedy, legacy builder
This month, we are honoring Kennedy as a Legacy Builder.
Kennedy’s relationship with nature is personal and lived. Most recently, she completed a solo cabin trip that deepened her connection to the outdoors and reinforced the clarity, grounding, and confidence that time outside can offer.
Her presence within the We Outside community reflects that same energy; thoughtful, curious, and rooted. We are grateful for Kennedy’s support and for the way she moves through this space with intention. We talked about being outside and this is what she shared:
What does your relationship with nature look like right now?
Every year, I find myself called further and further into nature. It used to be the case that I would want to occasionally visit nature and go home, now I come home to nature and try to limit my time in the manufactured world as much as possible. Even just two years ago, I couldn’t stand the snow but now I look forward to the chance to walk through the crisp quiet of a fresh snowfall.
My earliest memories in nature are with the ocean, so I’ve always had a longing for coastal life and a reverence for water bodies and the life they hold. While open water is my first love, for the past few years, my relationship with nature has been mostly centered on trees, plants in general. There’s so much to be learned from plants – their interconnectedness, their stillness, their slow and steady cycles, resilience, rest… I could carry on. They’ve been incredible guides and teachers in my life and the past year in particular.
A few months ago, I was moving and I was relentless in my search for somewhere with an outdoor space so I could put my feet to the earth, and I was blessed with a big yard that backs up to a wooded ravine.
I sit with my tree neighbors everyday, sometimes writing or talking through my thoughts, most times just silently receiving energy, clarity, advice. I look forward sharing what I’ve gathered and created from the inspiration of plants through a collection of works I’m calling Sprout Supply Co., around the natural new year in the spring.
What does time outside give you that you don’t get elsewhere?
A fuller sense of time. Our manufactured world moves so fast and with so much noise, it’s easy to get caught in its whirlwind and forget about anything outside of that. When I’m outside, my awareness and sense of time expands. An hour outside could feel like so much more to me, and at the same time, I have the sense and awareness that an hour is no time at all to a tree or a boulder or a river.
What did your recent solo camping trip mean to you or teach you?
My solo trip was a complete rejuvenation and attunement. I went to celebrate my birthday with myself. Having a winter birthday as someone who usually doesn’t enjoy winter can be a little difficult so I usually default to a simple dinner with family when actually, I had been wanting to take a solo cabin trip for the past several years. In true Sagittarius fashion, at 1:00am on my birthday, I booked the trip and packed a bag.
I found a beautiful cabin near the Red River Gorge with all the essentials – hot tub, grill, hilltop views. The weather was warm and the skies were uncharacteristically clear. I cooked beautiful meals for myself and soaked up the silence of the woods in winter. I burned notebooks and things it was time to release. I spent most of the time imagining the year(s) ahead.
2025 was a very trying year for me, full of intense inner growth spurts. Growth requires rest. My trip was my moment of deep, true rest to allow all the lessons and achievement to integrate within this version of me. It wasn’t a lot of time but it was a very intentional time to connect with and celebrate myself and I left feeling that I knew myself better. And it turned out, Kennedy is different than who I thought she was!
What drew you to We Outside and what has being part of this community has meant to you?
I had just recently moved to Cincinnati, knowing very few people and I was looking for spaces aligned to my values of adventure and harmony when I saw a post for the MLK Snow Day. I wasn’t able to get off of work with time to make it but I was so excited to see what else We Outside had in store. We Outside has given me connection, to this place, its natural beauty, its incredibly warm people, and even more deeply with myself. I’m excited for the year ahead and so grateful to contribute to the foundational work of We Outside and the impact that our return to outside will have for generations to come.
