We Are All Foragers Seeking What Heals Us
It’s vital to grab those bright opportunities before they fade
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What a fool I was, not gathering the beautiful purple blooms of the self-heal plant when I had the chance. Maybe the council mowed the grass, and those succulent jewels that lined the banks were gone.
My latest passion, foraging for wild medicinal and edible plants, reminds me we are all foragers in our own ways, seeking whatever we think we need and hoping it heals us or helps us somehow.
We look for different versions of those bright self-heal gems in various places. Sometimes, we want company and seek relationships. Or, we might hope to find meaning in life, our soul’s purpose, or straightforward enjoyment.
Like me scanning the banks and meadows for what I need, everyone else is busy focusing on what’s important to them and hoping to find it. But they might sometimes miss a trick, leaving things too late and not grabbing opportunities.
I reached the emerald bank, and my heart sank. From a distance, it seemed no self-heal was in sight. But upon closer inspection, it was easier to spot the tiny gems that, despite the mower’s blades, had clung to their bed.
Sometimes, we see opportunities before us and think they’ll still be there tomorrow. I was lucky. Indeed, I trundled home with my treasure; not as many flowers as I expected to collect, but enough to brew tea or add to a concoction of other healing herbs and plants.
At times though, I’ve not been so fortunate. You never know what might happen that closes an open door or mulches the goodies you wanted to gather. Job openings close. People who might have been friends move on, and other potential joys may pass us by unless we pick them up while we can before the moment passes.
The handful of gorgeous flowers nestle amid their little green leaves and stems on a foil tray on my window ledge as the sun’s warm rays gently dry them, ready for use. I muse how lucky I am to get a second chance because they rarely come along.
- Foraging & Using Self Heal (Here’s a helpful page, not mine, where you’ll find recipes).
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Bridget Webber is a writer and nature lover, often found in the woodland, meadow, and other wild places. She writes poetry and stories and pens psychology articles; her love of discovering what rests inside the thicket and the brain compels her to delve deep. She’s appeared in many leading publications and is the author of Nature Poems to Heal the Heart and Nurture the Soul.
