are you mired in despair?
I used to talk long walks along a road by my house, down to an area that had formerly been filled with spring ephemerals, a special type of magical-forest-fairy plant that lives its whole life cycle in the spring. But as the years go by, the highly invasive Lesser Celandine is crowding out the ephemerals.
It was these long walks, contemplating the Lesser Celandine, that led me to create Herbs for Living. Because, while I certainly use herbs daily for health, health problems are not my biggest challenge in life (I'm very grateful for this, and I know I'm lucky). Despair is.
Despair is the thing that paralyzes me and keeps me from acting. Despair makes me wonder if it's even ok to exist. Despair tinges every lovely moment, every plan, every dream for the future.
I know that I'm not alone in this. Our emotions affect the quality of our days, which affect the quality of our lives. They are also, of course, connected to our physical wellness. Thus, Herbs for Living was born.
I don't have some be-all-end-all answer to existential despair. I think it's something we all have to work through in our own ways.
In this class, I'm not offering a spiritual framework, though that can be very useful. Instead, I take the despair as a fact -- I'm not arguing it away, or assuming that at some point you can rid yourself of it. I give you tools for living alongside the reality that existence can be very, very hard.
And, of course, the plants are always here for us.
If you wade through existential despair as you go about your days, this class is my humble offering to you. I hope it can be some small help to you as you navigate existence.
