During my herbal apprenticeship, one of the first teachings that stuck with me was this: if there’s a plant you’re meant to work with—spiritually or physically—it will find you. Sometimes it grows around your house, pushes up through a crack in the sidewalk, or catches your attention in an unexpected way. The idea felt strange and yet oddly comforting, like the plants might be keeping an eye on us.
When I came home after hearing this, I kept it in the back of my mind, expecting some sort of sign. But for a while, nothing happened. Nothing stood out. No mystery herbs suddenly popped up or waved at me in the wind. I figured maybe it wasn’t my time to be chosen just yet.
And then one day, I opened the front door and was stopped—blinded, really—by a golden flare. A single goldenrod plant had pushed its way up through the hedge by my steps and bloomed, almost obnoxiously bright in its confidence. I remember laughing quietly to myself and saying aloud, “I see you. I see you.”
It’s been two yea…
