The best advice I’ve ever got is “When someone asks you what you do, they mean “what do you do for money?” and you should always tell them what you do for fun, because you learn more about someone based on how they spend their free time, and they won’t use that opportunity to ask for free advice. It has been transformative in making real connections with people
Yes, I feel the same about making real connections. We wrap everyone's value into what they do for money. And the question and answer is so not creative. For herbalists and guides for most of us what we do for money is also what we do for fun and our love of the plants. BUT to your point. One of my mentors once told me...and so I do. To respond with I do "being human" sometimes well, sometimes not. And then I move on to what I love. For me my work is fun so it gets wrapped up in there somewhere. I will often open with "what is your story?"
I can definitely relate—both to plants and the end of a marriage.
Plants saved me. I threw myself into sustainable agriculture, which led to traveling the world as a chef, learning traditional plant knowledge, and eventually diving into medicinal anthropology. That journey brought me to toxicology, and now, in less than 70 days, I’ll be completing my doctorate.
What started as a path of self-discovery became something much bigger—all rooted in a deep respect for plants. 🌱
My opening line was "Oh that's cool! What led you to doing herbalism professionally?" 😭
Getting into plants by way of deciding to make my own herbal medicine instead of just buying herbal supplements and tinctures ALSO saved my life last year while navigating such a sh*tty and dysregulating job market as well as a major health scare (having next-to-no blood cells for some reason)!
I knew the state purposefully conditions us to be divorced from the land and nature to better dominate and exploit us and the rest of nature, but getting into plants really made that click for me.
Astragalus root has been in my wellness routine for at least a year now, but I just started learning about and getting into Damiana when I decided to make some herbal smoke blends to vaporize! It was one of the herbs I picked for my Venus-inspired blend I picked out for the Venus Cazimi happening next week Saturday!
i love this and im so glad you had a moment that really locked you into getting in touch with nature. i am sorry to hear that you had that health scare and am thankful to the plants for keeping you.
Fascinating story! Thank you for sharing 🙏🏾 I'm new to the herbal therapy, with the exception of cannibis, and would like to ask if you make the plants you mentioned into teas? How do you receive the medicine?
thats a great question. all of the plants mentioned can be used in tea. when making a rose tea, combining it with another floral like chamomile or lavender in a ratio of 1:2 with more of the other floral can help the taste. rose is an astringent and the feel can be a little drying sometimes.
yerba santa can be tea or a flower essence. and all of these can be used in tincture form as well.
Mainly because I'm not much a conversationalist, mine was: "I see you're an herbalist, cool! I have an interest in that as well! How did you find yourself in that field/going down that path?"
So glad I came across this post… I have been drawn to rose a lot lately over the past couple of years.. Your breakdown of her benefits just confirms that I’m in alignment with the way I incorporate her into my daily routines and practices … including her in my Florida water , anointing myself in rose oil daily etc.
Thank you for the offering of this post, looking forward to reading more from you!
My opening line was "Oh that so cool! What drew you to Clinical Herbalism?". Thank you for sharing this, it kinda made me realize that I tend to preemptively try to figure out how I can be useful to others. But your breakdown of how you now come to relationships is very eye opening so thank you.
Also I loved reading about your favorite helpers and the relationships you have with them.
The best advice I’ve ever got is “When someone asks you what you do, they mean “what do you do for money?” and you should always tell them what you do for fun, because you learn more about someone based on how they spend their free time, and they won’t use that opportunity to ask for free advice. It has been transformative in making real connections with people
Yes, I feel the same about making real connections. We wrap everyone's value into what they do for money. And the question and answer is so not creative. For herbalists and guides for most of us what we do for money is also what we do for fun and our love of the plants. BUT to your point. One of my mentors once told me...and so I do. To respond with I do "being human" sometimes well, sometimes not. And then I move on to what I love. For me my work is fun so it gets wrapped up in there somewhere. I will often open with "what is your story?"
I can definitely relate—both to plants and the end of a marriage.
Plants saved me. I threw myself into sustainable agriculture, which led to traveling the world as a chef, learning traditional plant knowledge, and eventually diving into medicinal anthropology. That journey brought me to toxicology, and now, in less than 70 days, I’ll be completing my doctorate.
What started as a path of self-discovery became something much bigger—all rooted in a deep respect for plants. 🌱
Thanks for sharing your relatable story.
thank you for reading and sharing too. congrats!
My opening line was "Oh that's cool! What led you to doing herbalism professionally?" 😭
Getting into plants by way of deciding to make my own herbal medicine instead of just buying herbal supplements and tinctures ALSO saved my life last year while navigating such a sh*tty and dysregulating job market as well as a major health scare (having next-to-no blood cells for some reason)!
I knew the state purposefully conditions us to be divorced from the land and nature to better dominate and exploit us and the rest of nature, but getting into plants really made that click for me.
Astragalus root has been in my wellness routine for at least a year now, but I just started learning about and getting into Damiana when I decided to make some herbal smoke blends to vaporize! It was one of the herbs I picked for my Venus-inspired blend I picked out for the Venus Cazimi happening next week Saturday!
i love this and im so glad you had a moment that really locked you into getting in touch with nature. i am sorry to hear that you had that health scare and am thankful to the plants for keeping you.
Fascinating story! Thank you for sharing 🙏🏾 I'm new to the herbal therapy, with the exception of cannibis, and would like to ask if you make the plants you mentioned into teas? How do you receive the medicine?
thats a great question. all of the plants mentioned can be used in tea. when making a rose tea, combining it with another floral like chamomile or lavender in a ratio of 1:2 with more of the other floral can help the taste. rose is an astringent and the feel can be a little drying sometimes.
yerba santa can be tea or a flower essence. and all of these can be used in tincture form as well.
Mainly because I'm not much a conversationalist, mine was: "I see you're an herbalist, cool! I have an interest in that as well! How did you find yourself in that field/going down that path?"
So glad I came across this post… I have been drawn to rose a lot lately over the past couple of years.. Your breakdown of her benefits just confirms that I’m in alignment with the way I incorporate her into my daily routines and practices … including her in my Florida water , anointing myself in rose oil daily etc.
Thank you for the offering of this post, looking forward to reading more from you!
My opening line was "Oh that so cool! What drew you to Clinical Herbalism?". Thank you for sharing this, it kinda made me realize that I tend to preemptively try to figure out how I can be useful to others. But your breakdown of how you now come to relationships is very eye opening so thank you.
Also I loved reading about your favorite helpers and the relationships you have with them.
I'm glad!