It All Begins With An Idea
It was Springtime in 2020, we’d all been stuck at home for a few months by this point because of the pandemic. I was looking around my yard and garden and happened upon this plant. THIS plant, the one in the photo. I knew what it is, and yet I couldn’t place it…. so I went to touch it. The second I touched this plant it was like a light bulb went on inside my brain and I knew what I was supposed to do. This is the photo that I took right after that moment.
That sounds a little dramatic, lol, and really the past few years have not been that straightforward or “easy” to navigate, nor did I fully know the significance of this moment at that time. This plant is called Stinging Nettle. I knew that, I’d simply forgotten. In my years of life I’ve gone through many phases. I originally wanted to go to college to be an art major with a minor in psychology….. instead, I became a hairstylist. I did that for a few years before becoming licensed in early childhood and then taught preschool for 7 years. After that I went into full on sustainable living mode and sewed and sold organic cloth diapers under the business name “Monkeez”. We grew all our own vegetables, made jam, baked fresh bread every week, had a huge garden in the summer, sewed clothes…. there was a point in time I wanted to live on a farmstead and raise sheep to harvest wool….. despite my not really being a knitter. Through all of that I finished my BS (in art and psychology no less), went to grad school, worked professionally as a visual arts artist, and most importantly am a mom.
For an artist, it seems as though I’ve been all over the place, right!? Yet, it is all of the things I have done and continue to do that have played such a huge role in my life and my work. Not some, but all. Artist personalities sometimes get the reputation for being flighty, flaky, and weird. Realistically though, the creative types are the ultimate scientists…. always seeking to learn and discover more. (And this is important because as our culture has sought to be more focused on science and logic pushing the arts into the closet, we’ve found that we progressively do worse on scores of problem solving which has backfired tremendously academically.)
It took me approximately 18 years to come full circle to what I originally envisioned myself doing. I’ve learned to trust my instincts and realize that, yes, I am on the right path. I just needed to learn how to trust the process. I have learned and acquired so much and picked up so many skills along the way that I kind of needed that 18 years. Life is interesting like that!
So I touched this plant and everything came back to me like this rush and flood of memories. I felt alive again, excited, hopeful. I immediately cut sprigs and dried them and finally, after all those years of waiting, I had my own stinging nettle tea! It’s not actually a great tasting or flavorful tea, lol, so don’t get confused about that. It was merely that I remembered something about myself and what is behind my drive, my passion, and my purpose. Discovering creative ways to help people feel better.
So in 2020, I would do yoga on our backyard patio to ease the sting of the pandemic days. Feeling the heat of the sun on my body and the weight of my body on the earth trying my hardest to remain present. I can’t describe anything more grounding than that. Within a few weeks of finding the nettle in my yard, I had discovered many other herbs all around my yard. Had they always been there? My eyes felt opened. I had this little “moment” if you will while I was lying there feeling the sun and I imagined a creative space where people could come together and have a small intimate community…. bouncing ideas off of one another and discovering things about themselves, developing those moments of creative insight that come from interacting and engaging with others. A creative collective, if you will.
I am providing a place for people to grow and discover themselves! So I provide the space, the tools, and the creative outlets for people to come and have those moments where you touch the stinging nettle and remember who you are. Kind of like a teacher, but not? More like a guide… or a mentor…. or today’s fun word, “Coach”. One that is there to continually remind you that YOU are the expert when it comes to your own life and experiences.
So this is it. I have taken everything I have ever been educated or trained on and have incorporated it all to create something that I think will work! Something that I think my community needs. Something that I know we need. All of the things that make up my life’s educational endeavors and experiences combined together to create a holistic sense of “wellness”…. because…. we aren’t just “Bodies” or “Minds” or “Souls”. We are all of them put together, and when we feed them all, we feed the whole. And when the whole is healthy, creativity can thrive. When creativity thrives, our ability to problem-solve allows us to move forward with our purpose and make our dreams become reality. Perhaps, the most beautiful part, is that everyone’s purpose and dreams are all unique and different! And that’s what Wildflower Wellness Studio is all about.
There is no set formula…. there is only self-discovery. It all begins with an idea.
