The beginning of the month kept me at a running pace where I could not see anything but work, work, work. My FND symptoms took an uptick, my leg dragged behind my cane, the seizures started rolling in, one after another. I took a step back, took a breath, and was quickly reminded to find appreciation for the little things. Like the morning dew settling on a spider’s web in the moon.
Photo of welded moon gate with spider web in the center.
In the middle of the month, the program that I work for said that in light of the new budget cuts, they needed to lay off three people. I raised my hand, to my peers and supervisor’s surprise. They know how hard I work for the unhoused population and how much the work I do means to me. However, finally, I’ve decided to choose my health first. I’m currently working with my union representative to negotiate terms. (If you ever get the chance to work with a union, do it!) Until then, I’ll be taking my nerves out in my sketchbook.
Photo of sketchbook with ink and marker drawing of medicinal herbs in mortar.
On the last day of summer, I hosted the first Medicinal Teas: Prose & Poetry workshop, one of a series. It exceeded all of our expectations. We laughed, we meditated, we sipped tea, we wrote, in collaboration with skullcap, rosemary, blue vervain, spearmint, and pineapple sage. This was the beginning of a new, beautiful path that aligns with my mind, body, and spirit. (Amen!)
Photo of dried calendula tea from home garden in jar.
On Fall Equinox, I sent out my first query letter for my manuscript, Materia medica: Memoirs of a Wounded Healer. It’s hard to imagine what the publication of this very personal project would look like, so I bask in the idea of its growth. Sitting in the in-between, waiting, wondering, dreaming.
Materia medica chronicles the story of my younger, abled-bodied self who spent over a decade living on the road, searching for belonging, with nothing more than a pocket full of change. To satiate the loneliness that inherits the traveling spirit, I reached out to the plant kingdom, asking for guidance from ancient trees, conjuring memories with scents like desert sage or juniper berry, and cultivating physical and spiritual medicine from the plants that I met along my rocky path. Each memoir carefully renders tender subjects such as resistance to human-made systems through mindfulness, heartaches that come along with intergenerational inheritances of trauma and addiction, the onset of a life-changing disability, and choosing love in the face of hardship; destigmatizing the human experience, one story at a time.
The following week, I attended my first Pennsylvania Powwow at The Council of Three Rivers. I was invited to dance along the sea of regalia. I hobbled out there with my cane and danced best I could. The drumming, the songs, the community…absolutely breathtaking. If you are looking for a route of reparations, consider donating towards their programming.
Photo of Indigenous folx dressed in regalia at local powwow.
As I transition out of homeless services and into my creativity full-time, I intend on creating more for my Substack readers (YOU!). I also intend on connecting to my readers on a deeper level and have many new offerings coming! Thank you for sticking by my side as my posts waxed and waned throughout this last year of healing. I can’t wait to share the next step with y’all. Stay tuned, wounded healers.
Offerings
On December 20th, I will be offering a creative writing class as we broach the Winter Solstice. In this offering you will experience mindfulness writing prompts while enjoying a carefully crafted medicinal tea that deepens our stories. This generative workshop is targeted towards writers but encourages all tea loving creators to attend.
Last but not least, I received my copies of Nourishing Our Bodies, Nourishing Our Movements Community Cookbook that was put together by Abortion Care Tennessee to fundraise for access to abortion for northern Tennesseans. My recipe, Unnerved Medicinal Tea was featured at the closing of this unique cookbook! To get your copy today, and donate to further abortion access, check out Abortion Care Tennessee.
Please consider donating to families who have been separated by ICE
Three (anonymous) siblings whose father was detained
And lastly, the ACLU who are fighting to keep these families together.
Gaahhh! There is so much goodness here I don't know where to begin! Thankful that I get to read your words, catch up here, and see all of the beauty you are creating and nurturing - the art, the offerings, your work (yes to layoff!). Oof, so much delight - I can't wait to see how it all continues to emerge and unfold. Love to you friend!