Creating change.....

I learned a long time ago that I can be more effective at "change" from the inside...instead of battling from without.

I heard a young Bernie supporter, one who walked out of the DNC convention, I heard him say to an NPR reporter "it is not about Bernie, it never was about Bernie."  Quote.  What????? I say to myself.  What's the big deal about the DNC favoring Hillary?  (I don't know why it was anyway, did not the RNC not "favor" Trump).  What's all the noise.

Frankly, I have to say of these millenials.......it doesn't happen all at once.  You don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.  You have been saying for weeks it's the Bern.  Now it isn't?  Do you understand how "shallow" that seems?  Such an "I want it now generation and I shall have it now or else" generation.  Walking out....won't do anything.  If you think Mr. Trump will be better then Hillary, or that voting Liberatarian, or not voting will help, well, you are alas sadly mistaken.

I learned when I was a young anti-war protester in 1970 that making noise is wonderful.  It is fantastic to shake things up, make yourself seen.  It is also helpful to be able to put on a suit (which we did not generally wear then) to go to meet with government, local councils, school leaders.  It got us a lot farther.

I learned when I became a massage therapist that being "profesional" meant showing up and looking right.  I changed my name from Cyndi to Cynthia, I developed a uniform, I was always always on time.  This allowed me to be one of the more successful therapists in my area of Miami.

As owner of MoonMaid Botanicals I have learned that if I want to swim in the big pool I have to follow the rules of the "big boss."  In this case the FDA with labeling guidelines and rules, with standards I must adhere too.  A pain - but like I said I want to "swim."  I give discounts to have a large wholesaler, something I hear many small business owners say...they cannot afford.  Hmmmm, I wonder how I could have gotten so far without this decision.

To the point in the title of this post, in order for me to create change in my school, my community, as a professional therapist, as an herbalist trying to reach as many women as I can, I must do "create change" by following a steady path.  Sometimes I have to "put on a costume" that may not be my regular dress.  If it helps people to "hear me,"  what is the issue.

At MoonMaid, it all about "offering a change, a choice" to women who are experiencing "hormone imbalance" that comes with all sorts of unpleasant issues.  It is happening to younger and younger women, which increasingly encourages me to suggest to women "they change" some of their "habits."  Like using and cooking in plastic, having water in plastic.  It brings me to the "consciousness of plastic."  Or eating organic.  Those pesticides have "hormonal effects."  Can't afford organic, I say "how can you afford Not to."  These two things as well as other "zeno-estogens/environmentl estrogens" have a huge effect on your menopause, PMS, peri-menopause, even fertility.

 Women, we, Americans, want a "magic fix."  A pill, an herb, the perfect combination of this or that.  When I suggest to women that it will take more then my product, more then a tea, it will also take "change" in daily lifestyle habits, if you want any long term effects.  This is my humble opinion and 21 years of experience, of course.  We have to allow our bodies to "change gracefully."  We can take hormones, we can have "work," we can exercise ourselves silly, at some moment we "change."  We are softer, wider, older.

My mission is to help women embrace this "change."  Without cutting out body parts, without pills, without hormones, without "harshness."

It is simply a kinder gentler and more effective way.

Until next time - Cynthia @ MoonMaid Botanicals

Where did you go to school?

I was asked that question recently.   What first pops to mind is "what do you mean?  School of herbs?  College? ???"    It got me to thinking.  What school "did" I go to - to become the woman I am today.  The one "embodied" by the image below - that I have created just for this blog.

This got me to thinking.  I went to public school.  Which is where my high school classmates introduced me to "herbs" via dandelion wine.  Dandelions picked in my front yard.

I went to "junior college" where I studied pre-school education, got introduced to yoga, then went on to Recording Arts education - where I met these guys.

I went to massage school.

During a very successful massage career I started studying herbs. I happened upon starting a products business.  MoonMaid - for women with hormone imbalance issues.

And all the while I have been "doing" MoonMaid Botanicals - I have been learning from the "school of women."  While working with this very very intense "school" I have been attending the "school of herbs" to whom I give full credit for my success.

Without my customers, without the plants, I would be nothing at all.  That's the beauty of my work.
Until next time - Cynthia @ MoonMaid

Very challenging day...

Today was an extremely challenging day.  I don't know about you, but sometimes living up to the image you see below.....is hard.  It just is.  It's not bad.  It is just hard to manage "it" and life at times.

In these moments, I try very hard to stay calm.  It seems without fail, some wise words flow across my "sphere."

And I drink nettles.  I have them growing here on my land.  So easy to pick and make an infusion.  And so very nourishing for frayed nerves.

My beautiful garden experienced some "harsh" and "unthoughtful" gardening, by someone who should have known better.  Things were damaged or destroyed...plants I was just about to harvest.  To this man - they were "weeds."  Weeds are useful plants that are often just growing in the wrong place.  In this case, they were in a fine place - this guy was unconscious.  And he won't be back.

Until next time - Cynthia @ MoonMaid Botanicals

The past appears in the present....

I have been wandering around the garden today.......thinking of my old digs, and the beginning of MoonMaid Botanicals @ MomsHead Gardens.  It was amazing to see how many quirky cool things I left there.....And how many quirky things, how that "sense of style" followed me here to the Smoky Mountains.

Stuff I left @ MomsHead Gardens

Everything with a story.  The red formica table that I got for $5.  The iron chair that made a lovely plant container.  The table and the chair that got painted up and are called HappyChair and Table.  The unusual wrought iron kitchen shelf.  That is a piece that is quite unusual.  I've never seen another one.

Odd, pretty, special, magical

There are also a lot of quirky things around the garden here, just like at MomsHead.  The pattern of the "odd" continues.

Endangered species ginseng, goldenseal, blue cohosh and wild yam

And then there is are the beautiful plants.  Not only are there multiple and abundant species of endangered plants like ginseng, goldenseal, blue cohosh and wild yam...........there are so many other flowers, moss, mushrooms and fairies.

Each day is filled with wonder @ MoonMaid's Magic Botanical Sanctuary....or a name something like that.  I keep changing it.  Your input would be appreciated.

Until next time - Cynthia @ MoonMaid Botanicals

Where it all began.....Mom'sHead Gardens in Santa Rosa California.

 I recently went to Santa Rosa California...to Mom'sHead Gardens, which is a special spot that nurtured the beginning of MoonMaid Botanicals.  I have been thinking about that a bit, as I embark on blogging in earnest.  It is something I have wanted to do, think of doing but never seem to get to it.  I get to Facebook, Twitter, mostly via Instagram....but never quite to the blog.

This is a photo of the trailer where I began whipping up MoonMaid products.....and a map of the gardens.  The "sense of style" so to speak, very definitely influenced the way I have laid out my own gardens here in Cosby Tennessee.  As a member of United Plant Savers network of botanical sanctuaries, I have a desire to create a unique natural and cultivated "sense of humor."  Plants get that totally....in my opinion!!

It was right here that I began infusing oils and making them into salves and creams.  I made flower essences from the many many herbal flowers found here @ Mom'sHead.  I journeyed with the plants, they taught me hence I was able to "blend them into remedies."

I got to thinking about my brand, my remedies.  Who am I and why?  I am MoonMaid for women.  I am my products.  I am Me!!  I am herbs......which call me to mix them up in a variety of ways!!!  I came up with this "logo"  (the one you see below) as a way to represent "how I feel" about me, MoonMaid, the direction of my business, social media, and all of that "stuff" that keeps one in motion when one is self-employed, as I embark on this blogging journey.  An image to "remind me and inspire me."

Wild Yam

I left a bit of myself @ Mom'sHead.....and had a fun journey down "memory lane" photographing these things.  I noted that I have adopted a similar "style" here in the gardens.  MoonMaid's Magical Woodland Garden.  Nestled in the outskirts of the Smoky Mountains National Park.  A proud member of the United Plant Savers network of Botanical Sanctuaries.  Here, we passionately preserve and protect endangered native medicinal species.

Ginseng

                         Wild Yam and Ginseng are two of those plants.  Wild Yam is, additionally a major ingredient in MoonMaid's Remedies - our wild yam line for women experiencing hormone balance issues.  It is what keeps us going.

I am grateful for this beginning that is recognizing the real beginning of my business.  Until tomorrow - Cynthia @ MoonMaid Botanicals