Thinking, Naturally with editor and experimental gardener Willa Köerner

On intuition, personal agency, expertise, and experimentation in herbalism

Thinking, Naturally is a Substack Bestseller! This reader-supported publication is dedicated to empowering your herbal health practices, natural-ness, and most vital lifestyle. For the full experience, consider upgrading your subscription to paid. Your endless support means the world.

Clicking ♥ on this post, sharing and leaving a comment keeps our newsletter alive, thank you for engaging and being here! XOR

•°. *࿐

Dahlias grown from seed by Willa Köerner

Meet Willa Köerner

Willa Köerner is an editor and experimental gardener working to catalyze a more imaginative, regenerative future. She currently writes Dark Properties, a newsletter exploring personal and planetary ecologies, and works as a creative consultant for cultural organizations and publications—with past clients including NYTimes R&D, The New Museum, and Pioneer Works. She also co-founded The Strange Foundation, a shape-shifting creative residency project she runs out of her home in the Catskill Mountains.

•°. *࿐•°.

Rachelle: Hello Willa! Firstly, I just want to thank you for being open to a conversation, and in this form. I have loved your newsletters for some time now and Dispatch #23 in particular (“The medicine we forgot to take”) compelled me to reach out to you. I loved hearing that you’ve recently begun exploring herbalism, and—as happens to all of us that step onto the path—realized that it is all around us, truly everywhere, all of the time.

In particular, your points about the commodification of health/wellness, and how it has led to a loss of personal agency in our own well-being, stood out to me. Your recognition that herbalism can be simple, and that it requires a turning inward in order to identify what needs healing (even if that is “well, everything”) before then turning to the natural world is so spot-on. (I often refer to herbalism as akin to matchmaking.) As well, that it involves curiosity, intuition, experimentation (my word), and trust (again my word, but I believe it’s inferred) all resonated.

I’m excited by these points because it’s clear that you’re not approaching herbalism as a pill-for-an-ill, or the allopathic approach to system-based medicating, but—as you say—more like journaling or meditation. In my experience, this is where true healing happens: not because we’ve chosen the right plant for our needs per se, but because we’ve learned how to reconnect with our bodies, and gained a better understanding of how to care for them in a holistic, natural way.

And so! I’d love to know what more you’ve learned about herbalism in the months since this post, what questions you have—as you mentioned wanting to pick my brain on the topic—and anything else you’d like to share as we begin this exchange!