One of my greatest sources of strength - that which provides me with the capacity to continue showing up in my work as a clinician, mentor, and colleague - is my morally-guided, internal sense of professionalism. But like every well-intentioned self-reflective herbalist, I have a duty to continually reevaluate my rationale and beliefs surrounding my core values - and ‘professionalism’ is most certainly one of these core values.
There is no other sight in these feral woodlands of Southeast Ohio that makes me feel the way that Blue-eyed Marys do. It is the warming of unconditional acceptance…like being held in the arms of Mother Nature herself as she kisses me on my forehead and reminds me that I am worthy of her love.
In the end, I always strive to participate in Goethean plant studies with the awareness that the process is not as much about Self as it is about selflessness. It is not about some end result, it is about staying present in the resplendent moment. It is not about how much I already know, but all that there is still to observe. It’s about learning to perceive the wholeness of a phenomenon with an ‘even and quiet gaze’. It’s about learning to listen with soft eyes.
I can’t really pinpoint the moment when my relationship with plants changed...when I stopped actively listening to them and in turn stopped learning. What I do know is that I have been frustrated and burned out on my herbal journey for quite some time, which if you make a living as a teaching herbalist, is not a comfortable realization.
