Jessica Pearson and Joe West of Springfield nonprofit, TrailSpring have a unique way of looking at the world. If you take a drive around southwest Missouri, you will of course notice the region’s rolling plains and hills. What looks like dirt mounds and fields to some folks is so much more to Pearson and West. These aren’t just hills, they are a full-blown adventure waiting to be experienced; a trail to be blazed, a path to be carved.

Say what you want about Springfield, Mo but it is a city rich with great music. To be a young college kid in the Queen City is to be acquainted with the warmly-lit house shows rocking the night away on National Avenue and to know that familiar smell of Pabst and cigarettes outside the Outland Ballroom. And of course, there is the music. From the scrappy yet insanely talented local indie rock outfit to national headliners like Band of Horses and Elvis Costello, Springfield has a way of attracting top shelf acts far and wide.

It may sound a bit unusual, but Rachael West really wants you to fry up some maple seeds with your kids. Trust me, it’s actually a lot better than it sounds but at the end of the day West just really wants you to go outside and get your hands dirty harvesting your own wild foods. An herbalist and foraging instructor, West is so knowledgeable about the food lying around our fields and forests that you might not look at your backyard the same ever again. With the help of her program, Once Upon A Weed, West seeks to reevaluate our relationship with the natural world.

With the way things are going currently, the American Dream sounds like a hard thing to come by these days. In fact, it sounds more like a one in a million shot. But sometimes miracles do happen against all odds and snares. Take Jen and Jake Duensing’s story for example.

Transients and adventurers turned parents and brewers, you may recognize Jake and Jen from behind the counter of their owned and operated Great Escape Beer Works in Springfield. Today, you can find their brews all over town, but not too long ago that was a different story.

While discussing her career, Merry Stevenson can’t help but connect the dots between the physical, psychological, and emotional aspects of the human condition. It’s an edifying conversation, one that sheds light on how humans can heal our injuries both physical and mental, while gaining insight on our trauma. For Stevenson, who is a masseuse, neurokinetic therapist, and emotional coach at Zenith Sports Massage, it’s just another day at the office.