Ruffin, Kimberly, Bodies of Evidence A Forest Therapy Guide Finds Her Church, Emergence Magazine, No. 4, 2019

The author of the piece Kimberly Ruffin is a black woman from rural North Carolina who is very much a product of her environment even though she at one point tried not to be. The piece is from 2019 and it shows. Emergence Magazine looks like it’s curated to young adults who are just finding their place in grown-up society. The article is in the faith issue but faith is used as a backdrop to Ruffin’s struggle to find her identity. Identity and more importantly a group to identify with has become increasingly important, especially with the internet giving people the opportunity to find their roots from home. The author first rejects church as a lie and a waste of time then coming back to it as she sees the culture and a safe space that is comforting in what seems to be a hostile world to her and people like her. Church is for her less about the ritual but more about community, in person as opposed to finding it online. She is also a forest therapist who finds being in connection with nature to be just as rewarding as faith in a god. Kimberly Ruffin writes an article which more than ever is relevant to anyone who is lost in finding who they are, in her own personal experience she finds that returning to what feels familiar, with a community that accepts you regardless of who you are, you can find a sort of solace.