“I love my community, my village near and far. I am thankful that my home-base is Asheville, for my family, the healers, the gardens of food & herbs & beer & mead, the music, the mountains, my backyard crick, the community, the honesty, the love. They say it takes a village, yes it does. I am proud to be a part of my village here. I am fortunate to be surrounded by people daily that are working towards helping others, creating connections, supporting families and life and love. My heart is open, my ears are listening and I am ready to continue stirring the pot.”

My latest personal Facebook post came the day after I supported the new WNC Birth Center through their fall fundraiser, a “Baby Shower” for the community to show their support for a new option in Western North Carolina. Neighbors, businesses and friends showed up to mingle over lemonade and cookies and tour the beautiful birth center facility. I left feeling honored to be able to support the birth center during their “postpartum period” and proud of everything their team has done to get to this point of having open doors and catching their first babies. Every time I walk out of a hospital or a home (or soon the WNC Birth Center) after I have supported a family through the pregnancy, labor and birth of their child I have a similar feeling. A thankfulness, an acknowledgment that I am blessed to be a part of that moment in a family’s lives, a memory that I can hold for them forever.

This next week I prepare to take in every moment at the SE Women’s Herbal Conference at Lake Eden this weekend. My heart is open, my ears are listening and I am ready to continue stirring the pot.