Here I go! Stepping out and “onto the road.” I can’t wait to see where my feet will take me! I’ve been pondering the pursuit of herbalism for a while but haven’t been brave enough. Well, that and simply never having enough hours in the day to go for it.

Yet if all I ever do is ponder, nothing will ever happen. The time is now. Get going. Just go for it! So here I go!

If asked, “Why ponder herbalism?”. For the life of me I couldn’t put a finger on any one moment that sparked my curiosity. Possibly…. it might have been concern for my youngest. At night and on random nights, he’ll complain of pain in his leg(s). No other symptoms or complaints. Just, “It hurts.” After researching a bit, I’m fairly confident it’s normal growing pains. I’ll rub and massage his legs. Hold him and comfort him. On some nights, that will be enough, and he’ll nod off to sleep again. Other nights however nothing will help, and I’ll break out the Tylenol to help manage his pain. It was the use of Tylenol that had me questioning what else is out there. There must be a different, medicine free remedy.

Let me interject here… I have no problem using “modern day” medications. There is a time and place for everything. But… when there are alternative methods albeit not as a popular but just as effective then I should be willing to pursue them. Especially for the health of my child.

The search therefore begins. It has been a wild start. The internet is vast and varied. You can definitely be swept off your feet when looking into herbalism. Apparently there are many diverse schools of thought when it comes to herbs and their usage. Who knew?

I decided to start simple.

What is herbalism?

Do you know what? Surprisingly, I found it difficult to find a definite answer. The internet produced endless titles with herbalism in it but not a definition. I’ve even looked in several dictionaries and couldn’t find herbalism listed. If you know the answer, I’d love to know it and where you found it.

I did find a definition for herbalist, the 2020 Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus states an herbalist as:

“1. a person who practices healing by the use of herbs

2. a person who collects or grows herbs”.

Knowing this, I’d say as my own informal definition that herbalism is basically the study of herbs especially those with “healing” properties.

Makes sense.

Now. Where to start?