12/24/2025
I came to herbalism with an insatiable desire for academic knowledge. I wanted to know everything; and learn I did! Compounds, photochemistry, physiology, herbal actions, pathology, and formulas aplenty.
At first, herbalism looked like answers.
A plant for pain, that one for sleep, something else for colds and flus. And in a *very* reductive and simple way, yes, plants do that, they are generous in that way.
But that was never the true medicine.
And they gave me so much more than that.
Every piece of wisdom I have was gifted to me from the land.
Everything I am now, how I move through the world, how I care for myself, how I hold others, was shaped in conversation with it.
Plants taught me how to listen. To my body, my intuition, and all the stuff society and systems tells us to bury & override.
They taught me patience in a culture obsessed with urgency. They taught me boundaries, reciprocity, and how to tend with love.
They showed me that living fully (and thusly healing) isnโt linear. That decay isnโt failure. That rest is productive. That vulnerability is strength. And that resilience doesnโt come from forcing, but from relationship & devotion.
The most profound thing I ever learned didnโt come from a protocol.
It came from remembering how to listen.
And I am grateful every single day.
