The Power of Appreciation
June 1st will mark our 12-year Anniversary that we have been stewarding these four tropical acres of medicine gardens and food forest lands surrounded by the Kilauea Stream we call Kauai Farmacy. I vividly recall the pivotal moment. It was during our final walk through with the real estate agent, who was also a long-time caretaker of agricultural land on Kauai. She shared her experiential warnings of wisdom, “Enjoy these surreal moments of innocence, because in time you will only be able to see “projects” on this land and nothing else.” At the time, I was confused by the statement, but I remember shrugging it off as a “whatever, not us” reaction. 
Well, I can attest, she was accurate. The realization literally brings tears to my eyes, and I know so many agriculturalists on Kauai that can relate. It was only recently that such heavy burdens have so gratefully begun to lift (Yeah!) as we rewrite our story. With three beautiful young children wrapped around our ankles and little to no gardening or herbal medicine experience, we hurried like “hell” to create perfection where it already existed. It was our east coast missionary-like selves that were on a quest to heal the planet, whether they liked it or not. We couldn’t help but tell everyone all that we were experiencing with this profound volcanic plant medicine. It was just too good to be true.
And that was just the tip of the iceberg. We wanted, we needed, and we were determined to make it available to all of you. So we innocently and foolishly got mentally and emotionally entangled in “project after project” as we identified so closely with this land and the avant-garde medicine farm operation we called Kauai Farmacy. We were so passionately involved that we often forgot to mālama (care for) ourselves along the way. We had lost the why? Why were we doing what we were doing? Does doing it supersede being it? We were unconsciously drowning in massive responsibilities – project after project.
So now, as we learn how to more gracefully embody the vibration that we are cultivating and sharing, we appreciate everything that we are, as well as everything that we are not. As we rename the “projects” to “possibilities,” we learn that it is more fulfilling to enjoy the Cardamom and Starfruit of our labor than to worry about the weather coming tomorrow. We must fully trust the unknown of this mysterious island to experience its flow. We consciously choose to appreciate every moment of our existence with equal intensity, whether its digging buffalo grass out, rendering beeswax, shipping out orders, making longevity capsules by hand, designing new labels, or eating farm-to-table lunch on the daily. We appreciate our young family, extended farmily, and entire ohana; sun, moon, water, rain, soil, plants, gardens, bees, composting worms, butterflies, flowers, fruits, guilds, and forests; shovels and tractor; nursery, tea house and tea lanai; A-team, alchemists, crafters, packagers, educators, farmacists, & healers; solar dehydrators, food processor, our clients & customers, supporters, testimonials, and readers. We appreciate all the abundant, vibrant and sustainable healing energy that we have manifested into our lives as one interdependent source.
We are grateful for the interwoven web we have designed, built, maintained, and become. We fully trust the parts and pieces of the system to perform cohesively. As we intentionally plant seeds this Spring, we trust that the rain will fall, the sun will nourish the land, and our team will cultivate abundance. We trust that our most supportive Kauai Farmacy peeps who have been sipping on Kauai Farmacy tea from the very beginning as well as all the newbies, will continue to circulate, cleanse, and awaken their mind, body, and soul with the help of our Kauai Grown plant medicine.
We appreciate the symbiotically robust nature of our tropical medicine gardens. We appreciate our diverse seeds, roots, and cuttings. These are essentially a renewable resource nursery of plant medicine; which combined with a research and development laboratory of innovative and effective procedures, recipes, and systems, are primed to spawn the next generation of plant medicine farms. We appreciate the knowledge and wisdom of our gardeners, alchemists, and educators that have humbly and silently become some of the foremost plant medicine healers and growers on the planet. We appreciate the Yarrow for its ability to coagulate blood, Noni for circulation, Turmeric to reduce inflammation, Moringa for its plant protein nourishment, Soursop to clean the colon, Tulsi for its ability to raise awareness, Comfrey to mend the body, Lilikoi to help us rest, and the list goes on! We let go of the expectations of what will be, the future “projects,” who we will heal, and how we will thrive. We feel the healing vibration of the plant medicine as it literally fills our cups and spreads the pollen of Kauai Grown medicine around the planet (I am loving our New Cookie Dough Honey). We honor the commitment to mālama (care for) ourselves, while we rejoice in the feeling of contentment - bliss and ecstasy within!
And while we are tending to the plants and making medicine, we know who you are. We appreciate you for all the energetic support over the years. We are stronger and healthier medicine makers as a result. We appreciate the win-win collaboration, cyclical system, conscious collective, and avant-garde cooperative network we are in on together. We appreciate the way we use your support to harvest, cultivate, and craft more and more plant medicine. We appreciate the symbiotic relationship of it all. We appreciate you!
We appreciate that we are all one. 
