Sprouting Roots blog on 'Medium' (a writing platform)

A brief update on another platform I'm using to share about my journey, this one specifically about my relationship with digital technology.

I wanted to explore Medium (a platform for people to share their stories and writings) so I decided to make it a designated space for sharing my journey with reflecting and questioning my relationship with screens, my smartphone, the internet and social media.

If this is a topic that interests you and you'd like to read more about my story, I invite you to read about it there.

ABOUT

(from Sprouting Roots Medium profile)

Sprouting Roots on Medium will be a documentation of my journey into exploring life with minimising the use of digital technology; my journey of shifting from a highly digital dependant life, to one where I spend more time off-screen.

As of Oct 2022, I'm still using an iPhone, a Mac laptop, a kindle reader, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube (I don't have any other social media accounts) and other day to day stuff like emails and texting etc.

It's been a long process to get to where I am now where I barely have any social media accounts and feel the inspiration (and not just the desperation) to actualise a more off-screen, grounded and centred life rather than just continuously 'thinking' about doing it.

My current idea and hope is to slowly move away from using a smartphone, any social media accounts and living with more respect for my time on digital technology and use it wisely and with intention.

I hope to eventually try not owning an smartphone for a period of my life to experiment with what quality of life can be like, and how I feel physically, psychologically, emotionally and spiritually. This may translate to digital technology in general, but I feel that's quite a long way away yet.

What I've written so far

"Mindless scrolling on Instagram; Cravings of watching films and TV shows; Immediately thinking about watching YouTube videos when I open my laptop; Spending hours upon hours daily on screens—

Sure signs that digital technology has a huge grip on my life.

And yet, a question arises: “what can I do about this?”

How do I change something that is so fundamentally interwoven in modern society?..."

Read more: #1: Thinking About Living Without a Smartphone

Next Medium post on the works

I'm currently writing another post, this one being about the relationship between digital technology and a sedentary lifestyle, which is mostly inspired by Katy Bowman's work, and from her book Movement Matters.

Katy is a biomechanic and "is changing the way we move and think about our need for movement" [1]. I'm inspired by how she approaches our human need to move regularly, and how it goes beyond 'doing exercise' or being 'fit'.

I hope to publish it soon! I'm currently writing the last part of the post and after some proof-reading will release it.

Why am I using Medium???

Isn't this blog enough? You may wonder. It is. And yet --

I've been curious about Medium years now, and when I discovered it's free to create an account and to publish stories, I was excited to explore it even further.

The main purpose of it is to have a designated space for reflecting about digital technology. I will be sharing some of my journey here on the blog as well, but it feels important somehow to have a separate space for this as it's quite a complex, and sometimes confusing, topic to unpack.

I find having a space like Medium can help me stay focused and on the topic and be more intentional with what I'm wanting to express and share.

I'll see how I go. It may end up being more complicated and stressful having two different accounts for writing and blogging, but I'll navigate that if and when it arrives.

I enjoy writing, and this invites me to explore how to deepen my writing practice and experimenting with Medium as a platform teaches me different approaches to sharing writing.

---

LINKS:

Medium (platform)

Sprouting Roots on Medium

#1: Thinking About Living Without a Smartphone (first post)

[1] Katy Bowman

Movement Matters by Katy Bowman (book)

Wild-Harvesting Dandelion Root

I share about my first attempt at harvesting dandelion root.

As mentioned in 'Mint: My First Herbal Love' blog post, recently purchased a second-hand copy of Susun Weed's Heal Wise, which is part of her Wise Woman Herbal series.

I randomly flipped through the book a few days ago and it landed on the information page about Dandelion, which even though is usually seen as a persistent and pesty weed, actually holds strong medicinal properties.

I was amazed at how much I learnt about Dandelion from those few pages; it's probably the most comprehensive read on Dandelion in any herbal books I've picked up. One thing I appreciate about the Wise Woman tradition in Herbalism: it invites and reminds us to simplify. Heal Wise only has 7 herbs included, all of them are accessible to anyone, and invites a deeper dive into the herbs from reading about facts to energetics of the plants, the herbal uses and properties of ingestible parts, and recipes.

Dandelion embodies simplicity in that you can find it anywhere in the world. It is one of the most resilient plants out there, and will grow in cracks on the sidewalk, even in a plant-less neighbourhood of a city. The whole of the Dandelion plant is edible: root, flower, leaves, and even the stem, although you may need to get creative here with how to incorporate it into your life.

The plant is packed with nutrients and minerals. The leaves itself contain [1]:

Folates

Niacin

Pantothenic acid

Pyridoxine

Riboflavin

Thiamin

Vitamin A

Vitamin C

Vitamin E

Vitamin K

Electrolytes

Sodium

Potassium

Calcium

Iron

Magnesium

Manganese

Phosphorus

Selenium

Zinc

And even protein!

What is 'Wild-Harvest'?

In the most simplest terms: wild-harvesting is when you harvest plants and food from the wild. 'Wild' being places where you or others haven't grown or cultivated the plant; it grew there naturally on it's own (or, well, with the help of wild creatures with spreading and germinating the seeds) and with little to no deliberate intervention from humans.

Wild-harvesting is a recognised practice in many places. Here in Canada there is a herbal medicine brand called Harmonic Arts that uses wild-harvested plants in their herbal products. I discovered them through their line of medicinal mushrooms and hormonal balancing tinctures.

My Experience with Wild-Harvesting Dandelion Roots:

The day I read about Dandelions in Healing Wise I worked outside in the vegetable garden weeding around the blueberry bushes so we could mulch them for the winter with wood shavings.

The books says the best time to harvest Dandelion is Autumn. After some mental calculation (as I'm still not used to the Southern Hemisphere months and seasons) I realised it's still Autumn here in Canada!

I kept an eye for Dandelion plants while weeding. I took a pronged weeding fork to help loosen the soil and uproot the plant. Dandelion can have deep roots, and sometimes I needed to put the weeding fork all the way up to the handle to get as much of the root as possible.

It can be quite a process, and each time I uprooted the Dandelion I felt sad with disturbing the soil so much. The ground isn't as loose as it could be as the sun doesn't hit the ground here for very long and the cold stays in the soil, otherwise I could have probably just wiggled the plant loose and pulled it out with little soil disturbance.

Processing the Dandelions

Back in the caravan I tried my best with washing and processing the roots (snapping the leaves off while washing them in the sink)so they can sit and dry. Our space right now is quite small and cramped at times, which means the process is a little slower.

Washed, I put them on a clean tea towel to dry before putting them on a plate and waiting until they're dry enough to roast them in the oven. They're currently sitting in a cupboard out of direct sunlight and excessive heat (as I want them to dry slowly).

What now???

All I can do right now is wait until the roots are dry. I could put them in the dehydrator (solar or electric), but I prefer save on the electricity and I'm quite willing to wait.

Once they've dried I'll pop em in the over to slow roast them as this brings out the flavour. It also tastes closer to coffee as the earthy-ness of the roasted root is closer to the earthy flavour of coffee than raw (Dandelion root, on it's own or sometimes blended with other plants like Chicory, Carob and Maca, can be used as a herbal and non-caffeinated substitute for coffee).

---

Mentioned Resources and References:

Mint: My First Herbal Love (Sprouting Roots blog post)

Herbal Wise by Susun S. Weed (herbal book)

Harmonic Arts (family owned plant medicine company here in British Columbia, Canada)

I'm currently exploring their:

Reishi

Cordyceps

Turkeytail

5 Mushroom Blend

Female Harmony

Dandelion herb nutrition facts; Nutrition and You; https://www.nutrition-and-you.com/dandelion-herb.html

Disclaimer:

None of these links are affiliates, I'm just sharing the resources I'm either exploring or finding useful in my journey.

A Paradoxical Experience of Digital Tech

A brief post on my experience with being part of the RISE online women's circle gathering.

There are mixed feelings about joining RISE, an online women's circle gathering facilitated by Alexandra.

There's the joy and excitement and appreciation for the space and the women and their stories, offerings and support. There's also a sense of grief as I wonder what the experience could be like if it were in person; if these women live nearby and become part of my support and community circle outside of the 2hr Zoom calls. If I can give them a hug or offer a supportive touch on the shoulder when one of them shares a hardship.

My relationship to digital technology came up in today's circle. I shared my process with exploring living less on and through screens, and more through my body and physical experiences (as in feeling with my skin, touching with my hands, smelling with my nose etc).

Even as I type this blog post, the questions swirl around in my mind. Questions like:

What is the point of writing this?

Why do I get so lost when I use the internet and waste hours of my life away?

Why is it so difficult to set boundaries when I use my phone or computer?

I read The Way Home by Mark Boyle a couple of years ago and once again return to his writing. I return to the questions he asked in his own exploration with his relationship to technology. I remember passages that inspire me to continue deepening my own reflections and experiments in regards to living a much simpler life.

As of right now, I'm experimenting with not using, posting and interacting on Instagram. Yes, I created another Instagram account. For those who don't know, I've done a couple of year's worth of experimenting not using social media for a year. Counting YouTube (YouTube, for some reason isn't counted as social media for some people...). I may share more about these experiments another time.

As I mentioned in 'Where Does Our Attention Go?' blog post, I was focusing some of my energy into creating an online holistic women's health coaching business, and is the main reason why I created a new Instagram account. I had all these clear intentions of what I'd be using it for, how I wanted to interact with the platform, and when and how I'll be posting.

All of it went down the drain the more I used the app. I found myself wanting to scroll; with being on there longer than intended; of going down the rabbit hole of the "Explore" page. I felt it affecting how I connected with people. With how I felt about myself and my life. It got in the way of actually getting the business up and running.

I realised: I'm not sure I want to have an online business...

Which brings me back to feeling confused and anxious.

Most people use social media these days for... well, almost everything:

Socialising.

Creating.

Gathering information.

Entertainment.

Advertising/Marketing.

Earning an income.

Even shopping.

I don't know how to run a holistic health coaching business offline that doesn't require me to rent out a space and be in one location the whole time (currently not an available option for me). I don't know how to network and meet people and offer my services without the help of social media or the internet. I don't know how to access information I need without using my phone or laptop...

And yet, I'm clarifying more and more that I don't want to spend a lot of time of digital technology. On social media. On screens.

So. I'm in a kind of predicament... I've no clear answers or a resolved story here. I'm just sharing my process of exploring different paths when it comes to living life in a modern and technologised world.

What is your process with using digital technology?

What is your experience with using screens, wifi, the internet, social media, emails, using the "Cloud" to store digital documents, Spotify, online banking, doing meetings and events through video like Zoom or Google Hangout and so on?

---

Mentioned Resources:

RISE online gathering by Alexandra (women's circle)

The Way Home by Mark Boyle (book)

Where Does Our Attention Go? (Sprouting Roots blog post)