By Rachel Clark
In my short three decades of life I have walked a path of fear. Fear of what exactly? Failure, success, of being invisible, and of being seen. I carry fear of being sick and of being strong. I fear endings and beginnings. I’m afraid of change. I’m afraid of sea level rise and of seemingly unstoppable climate catastrophe. I fear the path I’ve chosen to walk. As an herbalist I feel a great responsibility to help others, to help the plants, to enact great change and to teach others what I learn along the way. But nagging thoughts haunt me. Who am I to lead? I am a nobody. What wisdom do I have to share? Who will listen to me? The answer is simple: I’m not. I am not the wise one, nor the leader. I am not the teacher.
But I can be the translator. It is the plants who will change the world. The plants will teach, lead, and share their wisdom if only we stop to listen to them.
As many healers do, I found the plant path after finding relief for my own health issues through herbalism. It was magical. I easily and intuitively found the herbs suited for my situation. I did not need to know every constituent or herbal action. I listened to the plants, and they told me what to do and how to heal my own body. With a little guidance from herbal texts I was finally able to feel vital again. I could breathe. I learned to manage chronic pain and clear my skin. I learned but did not intellectualize. I trusted the wisdom of my long-lost herbal ancestors. As I learned more, the plants became louder, a cacophony of voices demanding my attention wherever I went. Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) smiled at me in the supermarket. Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) waved to me from a crack in the sidewalk. Aspen (Populus spp.) whispered sweet nothings as I walked by. I finally heard what they were saying. “Speak for us,” they said.
Today, with a clinical herbalism certificate under my belt and a budding private practice in hand, the pressure to lead, to teach, and to be taken seriously as a businesswoman is overwhelming. I get tangled in science, constituents, and phytochemistry. I spend just as much time if not more making spreadsheets, creating powerpoint presentations and worrying about my website SEO as I do working with herbs and clients. I am rarely in nature. While all these are crucial aspects of running an herbalism business, the plants are calling me back. Speak for us!
As I begin this third decade of life, alongside the third decade of United Plant Savers, the plants are as loud as ever. I hear them screaming, begging us to listen. I believe that if everyone had just one medicinal plant that they loved, we could heal the planet. Find a plant and learn to speak its language. Learn the lessons it has to give, share what you learn, and then give back. As a child, people would ask what I wanted to do when I grew up. “I don’t know,” I’d shrug—“Change the world I guess.” They would chuckle and move on, but little did they know that I would still feel that call today. It is a call from the very depths of the earth, the place where life springs forth, leading me to lead others back home to the earth and home to the plants.
Rachel Clark is a certified clinical herbalist, flower essence practitioner, and freelance writer based in Spokane, Washington. She believes that through a balance of herbalism, lifestyle, nutrition, mindset, and supportive healthcare professionals everyone can find vitality.
