This blog started as a way for me to chronicle my weight loss journey. If you scroll through past posts (2020 and earlier), you will see mentions of Weight Watchers, Paleo dieting, and exercise programs designed to help people lose weight. It is no longer that blog, as that is no longer my journey. I thought about deleting all of those posts from the past, but I feel like it is important to remember where I came from and how far I have come.

My life took a huge turn in 2018. I had just been through several years of burnout related to my job teaching young children. I had gained a lot of weight after coming off of the Paleo diet and dealing with all of the job stress. I was taking an extended break between jobs when a friend of mine introduced me to essential oils. As she talked about all of the things these oils could do, I asked myself, “If the oil from plants can do all of this, then what can the whole plant do?”

This was my introduction into herbalism. I took a few courses and got hooked. So some of this blog is journaling things that I learn through my herbalism studies.

In May of 2022, I ended up in the hospital after weeks of not being able to breathe when I walked. At one point it was so bad that I could not walk from the house to the car without collapsing in the car and spending five minutes catching my breath. I was meeting friends at the park that day, and when I got to the park I had to keep stopping when I was walking to catch my breath. I thought I would never make it to where my friends were. Once in the hospital, I was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and diabetes. Perhaps my burnout played a part in creating these circumstances? I don’t know if I will ever know. I do know that at this time, I am looking at wellness much more holistically and working toward better health for myself.

Everyone’s path is different. Your path is not going to look like mine. But I believe that we can all work together and help each other on our wellness journeys. We are each given one life. Let’s make it the best life that we can and be kind to ourselves.