• And the Plants Will Set You Free

    Through knowing and using the plants that grow around us—the ones in our backyard, the weeds that resist all efforts to control them, the abundance and diversity of the species in the Cascadian forests—we are more whole, secure and free. What’s right under our feet are, by their very nature, agents of freedom. [Read full post]
  • Design Thinking for the Creative Herbalist

    As herbalists, we are naturally using design processes all the time. Working in the plant and human world for the purpose of healing we are constantly dealing in very complex worlds. I want to push you to go past what you know is comfortable and reimagine your practice so you are doing the wildest, most liberating brilliant work that you can. [Read full post]
  • Aesthetic & Beauty in Practice

    It’s touching the dirt, digging roots, preparing and sipping beautiful garden tea blends, smelling the flowers, having my apothecary full of jars containing gorgeous, whole-leaf herbs. Microwaving a wack bag of herb tea is a completely different game. Authentic botanical practice is a lifestyle that honors the sanctity of life and the ecological patterns around us. It’s how we connect to the larger planetary system. [Read full post]

Tag Archives: societies

Resilience & The Rise of Community Leadership

I woke up just a few minutes ago, lurked over to the kitchen to greet the day with my usual blend of yerba mate, nettles, oatraw, raspberry leaf & rose petals. I then checked my email and received a flurry of freak-out emails from some of the global health foundations and nonprofits that I follow, [...]

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Key limiting factor for human development?

According to Paul Ehrlich, the key limiting factor for human development on this planet as a whole is the inability for our environment to handle our waste products. Watch the video at the Stockholm Resilience Centre. Thought provoking, whether you agree or disagree with him.

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(Short) Review: The Power of Scale

I’ve been wanting to write about this book for a while. The author, John Bodley, presents the idea that there is a maximum number of interpersonal interactions that one person can grasp. Any systems (or societies) that are larger than that become too big and unmanageable to be efficient. In his words, the majority of [...]

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