Tapping Into Your Intuition
a recap of seed folk & the written version of my talk
The Seed Folk Gathering has come and gone, but I’m so inspired by the attention to detail, the level of heart, the gathering of community and the straight up wisdom that was shared there. Here’s a brief recap with my top takeaways & a written version of my talk for paid subscribers. Thank you all for being here.
What is Seed Folk?
Seed Folk is a gathering of earth-minded folks that took place in Columbus, Ohio this weekend. It was organized by Chelsee of Conscious Seed and Rae of Tree Folk Fables. Both of these beautiful people have become friends of mine throughout this process and I’m so grateful to have been included.
The event featured five speakers, talking about pollination, working with invasive plants, intuitive gardening (me), healing through herbalism, and legacy trees. There was an intentionally curated makers market with herbal products and tools, hand-dyed goods, ceramics, fiber art, and more. Somatic healers were available to book 1:1 sessions for reiki, acupuncture or massage. I’ve truly never attended an event that has brought all of this together before.
My Top Takeaways
Each speaker shared so much wisdom through their own perspective and ignited a lot of interesting conversations. The wisdom was not only present in the talks though. Here are my top takeaways from the event:
Sharing Wisdom: Beyond the speakers, the entire event had an openness that was incredibly inspiring. Open hearts, open minds.
Healing Starts with Unification: Erika Galentin of Sovereignty Herbs shared about the concept of disembodiment and how we are almost born into thinking that it’s mind OR body, when we should be thinking of self, which is made of mind AND body. This shift in thinking can help us reduce negative self talk about our body and allow our mind to align with herbal and wellness remedies and initiatives.
Static Electricity and Bees: Luke Howard of Bee Collective shared a fun STEM fact about how bees create static electricity when they land on flowers, which helps propel pollen towards them and that they can sense when a bee has recently been to a flower, which helps them be more efficient foragers. This is so fascinating to me and I’m conceptualizing a garden class for the preschoolers around this.
Made New Friends: I fell in love with the work of Beth from Eliza Dot Designs, and purchased a hat dyed with Osage sawdust. This whole event was about connection to the land and that was present in this purchase. Not only was it dyed using a plant, but Beth scoured her phone to show me pictures of the tree before it fell. I topped it with a bouquet from Grace’s garden (Gunk in the Woods) and gained the confidence to wear it with encouragement from Chelsee.
Inspired Action
The event has also inspired action. Here are some tips provided through the talks or connections I made on my own through my involvement. I encourage you all to consider these as ways to connect more meaningfully and sustainably with our land and the plants that we consume.
Support American Farms: Erika compared nettle purchased for $10 from Bulgaria to nettle purchased for $45 from an American herb farm. We often get caught up in purchasing things for the lowest possible price and forget that not all the options are created equal. The value of the herbs grown in Bulgaria does not match the quality of those grown in the US. Nor are the farmers being fairly compensated. To move the needle we must vote with our dollars.
Dig Deeper: Allowing yourself to be uncomfortable is the only way to dismantle harmful ignorance. We are all human and we cannot do everything right all the time. It’s impossible to even know what that is. But the commitment to learning more about where food or herbs comes from, how it’s processed, and what consequences may exist for ecosystems is something we can all do better at in varying degrees.
Research: A switch feels like it has been flipped on my spiritual journey. It’s the red car effect - as soon as you buy a red car you see one everywhere. Well, I’ve bought into the idea that the growth I seek starts within myself, that it is already within me, and now each time I learn a new concept or myth I am confronted with similar versions of it from multiple unrelated sources. One book I’ve been reading is Women Who Run with Wolves.
Finally, I must pull from my own talk. I spoke about intuition as a gardener and how it has transformed my experience. For me, this is really about giving worth to my experience as a messy home gardener with a lot of failures under my belt. I encourage experimentation, allowing room for failure or imperfection, and giving space to the stories from the land. My full talk is below where you can glean all of the wisdom I shared, however I must first celebrate the wisdom in not knowing it all. I’m looking forward to continuing to grow in the garden, but most importantly I’m looking forward to continuing to grow as a leader and a voice in the plant space and develop a calm confidence in finding my way.