Lately I hear myself saying and thinking two things daily, “It’s a difficult time to be alive,” and “Now more than ever.” I believe these both deeply in my soul. Over the last few months, every single event I was supposed to teach at through the end of the year has been canceled. That being about 90-95% of my income, has been a crushing financial hardship. And at the same time, I’ve been asked, by students and potential students, when I will start teaching. There is hunger for this knowledge as we need it, “now more than ever” to not only survive, but try to thrive through this uncertain and often scary time. Sweet friends who wanted to support the important work of providing opportunities for people to learn more about the wild edible and medicinal plants growing in abundance around us, volunteered their new home, a 112 acre farm in Burnsville, NC. So I scheduled a walk and got excited to see you again and teach. In-Person Plant Walk Rescheduled from 8/15 -> 9/12 Why the reschedule? Well, a week before the event, I have discovered that I was possibly exposed to COVID 19. I have debated with myself the best way to approach the walk. I thought maybe if I got tested and the test came up negative, that would be enough. But the research on the accuracy of the testing is inconclusive and quarantining is still recommended for at least a week and a half. So even though I will get tested next week and I’m asymptomatic, I’m choosing to postpone this walk. As someone who teaches about natural health care, I feel it would irresponsible of me to do anything less. Plus, “now more than ever” I think we need to have as much compassion as we can muster. And if we can’t muster up compassion for each other’s wellness, safety, and getting our own needs met, then how can we continue to grow? One of my team members and I have been discussing the deeper meaning of the acronym WANDER in The WANDER School. The WAND part (Wild Artemisia Nature Discovery) is like a wand to help us magically create the ER, empowerment and reconnection, like an ER for good health to prevent emergencies. I want so badly to help you empower yourself with your own health, and by not offering this walk, I’m trying to do that, but also offering virtual options (on the website [that will continue to expand], discovering the plants around your home and apprenticeships, and ongoing botanical education on Patreon). We have to be creative with our own wands, inventing new ways to reconnect, with each other virtually and in small groups, and in nature every moment we can. It’s a difficult time to be alive, but now more than ever, we have to band together to support and empower each other. What can I do to help empower you? How could you use more compassion right now? Let me know. Wishing you health, body, mind, and spirit. Green Blessings, Abby Artemisia of The WANDER School p.s. Here's a FREE spring botany walk I made for y'all!
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