80 – 2024 Solidarity Apothecary Review

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Welcome to the Frontline Herbalism Podcast with your host, Nicole Rose from the

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Solidarity Apothecary.

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This is your place for all things plants and

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liberation.

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Let's get started.

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Hello. Welcome back to the Frontline Herbalism Podcast.

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I'm so sorry I haven't published any episodes in a fair while.

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Had a little bit of a break after the kind of launch in the Herbalism PTSD and traumatic

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stress course.

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And yeah, I'm just in like, just in hardcore

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babyland really.

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Lee is 8 months old now and super adorable, but just, yeah, I used to be able to kind of

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like sneak on my laptop during nap time and now it's just like impossible.

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He'll just kind of notice and wake up.

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So things have changed, but yeah, it's not,

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it's not forever.

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I know that I will have to go back to work

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properly at some point.

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But yeah, I'm loving being able to just kind of look after him full time and give him all

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the love and nurturance in the world because this kind of first three years of life are

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really when someone's nervous system is fully developing.

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So I just, yeah, want to make him laugh and make him feel as content as possible for as

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long as I can.

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So yeah, anyway, how are you doing?

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I have got lots of different kind of random bits and bobs to say, I guess different

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updates on different projects and solidarity apothecary offerings and all the things.

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So I will just dive in.

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And yeah, I do hope to return with some more like podcast series soon.

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I'm going to do a series on herbs for sustaining resistance, like how to kind of

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like support yourself, you know, as you're engaged in kind of organizing or struggle or

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just like surviving capitalism in general.

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I was also going to do a series all about nervines, like in the build up to the next

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herbalism, PTSD and traumatic stress course.

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So anyway, keep posted.

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I'm going to try and like move things to more herbal content.

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It's basically impossible to do interviews at the moment, like around Lee's nap time and

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yeah, like not having the sort of childcare infrastructure in place yet.

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It's like, it's just really difficult, difficult to schedule anything even just to do

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little calls.

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So I kind of have to seize these little opportunities to like self record while my mum

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has Lee.

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So anyway, I'm just gonna do a bit of a 2024

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review.

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If you didn't know.

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I kind of do this every year as part of my

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sort of like planning and design process.

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I think it's really important because different people kind of donate to the

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Apothecary.

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I like to share what I've done and like

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different impact the project has had.

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And obviously I know it's mostly me, but I

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just want to emphasize that like you know, I'm part of this huge ecosystem of people doing

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awesome stuff and you know, all of the pro like near enough.

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All of the projects are like super collaborative organizing with other people.

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You know, whether it's the clinic in Calais or people distributing the prisoners herbals

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around the world.

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Like yeah, nothing is like a solo effort.

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Okay, so here is my 2024 review.

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So the mission of the Solidarity Apothecary is to materially support revolutionary struggles

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and communities with plant medicines to strengthen collective autonomy, self defense

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and resilience to climate change, capitalism and state violence.

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Each year I review the work towards this goal and I'm going to be reading the blog post I've

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written and then just kind of like ad libbing here and there, but I'll put a link in the

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show notes for you.

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So I wrote One night during a 4am breastfeeding session, I came across the poem

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the Beautiful and the Hard by Jess Ehrlichs on Instagram.

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Sorry if I've mispronounced your name.

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The Beautiful and the hard describe 2024 perfectly to me for so many reasons.

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Behind the scenes, things went easy.

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My partner, after five years clean, had a

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major relapse that shook our lives to the core and created emotional and financial

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instability at a time when I desperately needed both in pregnancy and afterwards.

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My birth was traumatic cascade of medical interventions including preeclampsia, sepsis

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and an emergency cesarean, all after the worst hyperemesis.

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That meant I spent six months severely dehydrated and violently vomiting.

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Thank God it shifted a little in the last months of my pregnancy.

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The Hard, however, has been outweighed by The Beautiful, and 2024 closes.

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With my family still together, my partner still alive, our beautiful son making us laugh

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on a daily basis, and a sense of joy and hope amidst what feel like a collapsing world

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around us of multiple genocides, climate change, rising fascism and state violence,

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here are some of the things that went down in 2024.

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1. Bringing my son into the World In May, I gave birth to my son Lee.

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Every day since has been full of joy and delight as I witnessed the magic of him

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learning and growing and figuring out this whole human thing.

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I've never experienced a feeling like it, and I'm so grateful that Rob came into my life so

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that we could create this amazing human together.

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Alas, being what a full time, what feels like a full time anarchist housewife is also tough.

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I went from an extremely full life of relentless organizing multiple projects,

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clients and international travel to spending most days in our static caravan, breastfeeding

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and changing nappies.

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I wouldn't change it for the world, but it's a huge life change and identity shift that I'm

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riding out right now.

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Nurturingly, it's my priority and this period

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of time is such a brief moment in the context of my life that I'm trying to focus on

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cherishing it all without grieving everything I did before.

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Freedom will creep back slowly, I'm sure.

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From a herbal learning perspective.

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I've loved learning about postpartum herbal support, experimenting with blends for myself

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and various health needs that surface in pregnancy, birth and postpartum.

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And yeah, on the blog you'll see a cute little picture of me and Lee.

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Yeah, so I guess that's another reason why I had a kind of podcast pause is I kind of like

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finally got swept up in a bit of baby blues, I think.

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Yeah, it's just a lot like it's the best thing in the whole world and I'm so grateful to have

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Lee.

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And you know, I'm not like a mum living in

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Gaza, you know, like it's, it's amazing, like in the sense that I have loads of support and

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privilege and access to resources and all the things, but it's still just so hard and yeah,

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I feel.

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Yeah, it's just difficult.

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It's just difficult.

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Like I'm very isolated where I live in countryside, so anyone wants to visit, you're

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welcome.

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And yeah, most of my friends have their own

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stuff going on, whether that's chronic illness or family things or.

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Yeah, they don't live nearby so it's kind of.

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Yeah, it's kind of like tender and challenging

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and yeah, I feel a lot of like questioning of like who I am, what is this life like?

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Because, you know, the days can be a little bit.

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Not monotonous but just repetitive I guess.

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But you know, I'm also like incredibly happy

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and yeah, Lee is just like the, the best human and it's definitely the best thing I've ever

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done.

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It's just.

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Yeah, it's just so different to my life before

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and I think I've tried really hard to like meet other people who have kids and stuff and

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yeah, have some close friends where that's like really working and is amazing but it's

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just different.

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Like I don't go to a baby group.

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And I'm not like, hey, how does it feel to

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know that there's this like ongoing genocide and you can just barely do anything about it

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because you're just full time in babyland or, you know, I didn't see my friends in prison

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last year, for example.

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Like, that was really tough for me.

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Yeah, it's just.

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It's just different, but it's.

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Yeah, it is really wonderful.

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And yeah, I. I try and have like a long term

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perspective on things of just like this.

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Okay. I know I'm gonna be looking after him for a really long time, but in terms of this,

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like, really intense period of like really next to no time for myself, next to no time to

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work, it's really tiny in the context of my life, you know, it's like two, three, four

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years be.

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So, yeah, I'm just trying to ride it out and do the best I can.

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Working on my phone in the evenings and things and organizing in the ways I can and just

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trying to enjoy it.

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Because everyone I know that has kids is just like, oh, just enjoy it.

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You know, just like, you'll miss it, like.

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And I already miss how small he used to be,

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you know, and how he'd just constantly want to breastfeed and, you know, now he, like,

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doesn't need me for a couple of hours.

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Like if he's with someone else from like.

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Oh.

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So anyway.

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But yeah, it's been a. It's been a big, life

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changing year.

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Okay. Number two, publishing the Herbalism and State Violence book.

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In March, I finally published the Herbalism and State Violence book.

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It's an absolute beast at 444 pages and brings together contributions from around the world.

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The book focuses on state repression, police violence, prisons, the border regime,

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genocide, occupation and war, While recognizing there are millions more other

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forms of state violence shaping people's lives and bodies.

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From herbal care for handcuff injuries to healing from incarceration.

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The book looks at herbal solidarity in practice with examples from around the world.

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Tools are shared for herbal medic responses at demonstrations, protests and uprisings.

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To practicing herbalism in prison.

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To herbal support for nightmares, panic

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attacks and other expressions of distress and trauma.

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You can learn more here and I'll put the link, or I'll put the link to this page and yeah,

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you can find the book.

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I'm no longer posting physical copies myself,

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but I've included a link of where to order a physical copy.

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And you can get a copy of the ebook on my website as well.

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For six pounds and all the income from these books pays for like the Prisoner's Herbal

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Books and the other projects.

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I'm so grateful to my amazing friend Kez Otterleaf, who not only edited the book, but

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was the best fem dom you could ask for in terms of accountability.

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She's open to supporting other people with their book projects, so make sure you get in

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touch with her@otolief.com.

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so yeah, so Kez was just absolute dream.

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Yeah, I paid her to help me, yeah, feel like structure the book and seek, you know, like

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clarify things with contributors.

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And we did lots of like talking and recording

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and her editing the transcripts and kind of like not ghost writing but just doing a write

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up that I would then do loads of work on and then she'd edit it and yeah, it just was

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amazing.

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Like it just felt so good to work together and yeah, meant that a project that I started in

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2020 could like finally get kind of completed, which is what I wanted.

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So yeah, please let me know if you've been.

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Yeah. How the book is for you.

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Okay.

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Herbal Care packages is number three.

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So one of my goals for 2024 was to systematize

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my herbal care packages and make them more accessible for folks requesting herbal

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support.

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This autumn, I shared a Herbal Solidarity survey as a way of inviting feedback on what

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would improve this work.

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After loads of responses, I think like 60 people replied, which was really wicked.

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Like it was so great reading everyone's feedback, you know, like some critical

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feedback in there.

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And that was also like very invited and you

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know, I've been reflecting on that a lot and stuff.

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So yeah, I just really appreciate everyone that filled it in.

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So yeah, I've effectively redesigned the offerings to make them easier and simpler for

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people to request with more specific packages for groups of people that the Solidarity

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apothecary serves.

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So you can, you can find a link to all the herbal care packages available and their

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request forms.

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I'll talk about that more in another episode.

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But yeah, being pregnant and then on maternity leave, getting herbal support out to folks was

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an area of work that was paused for most of the year.

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However, I had an amazing comrade came to stay who just wants to be anonymous.

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I can't even tag them in post, but they've just been absolute legend.

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Like sorting out my herb shed, making loads of medicine, doing loads of bottling and

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labeling, just like just.

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Yeah. So it's really easy for me now to just collect the bottles, put them in a box, send

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them off.

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So yeah, that was amazing.

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But yeah, herbal care packages have been Distributed especially this side of the year.

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So yeah, to several individuals and groups.

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This includes people organizing for

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Palestinian liberation, some former prisoners and prisoner family members, a couple of folks

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stabbing the badger call and some other close comrades herbs recently.

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Also Kurdish Freedom movement organizers that have recently been arrested in like a wave of

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repression by the British state defendants received my anti oppression herbal care

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packages and the comrades on hunger strike received dried herbs for tea.

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So I sent them nettle, a nervous system blend and a gut healing blend for after the strike

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to help with recovery.

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Medicines were also donated to Sleek who I did a podcast interview with before who are

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amazing survivors of kind of sexual male violence that organize sort of mutual aid and

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support for.

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For survivors of sexual violence.

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They're just absolute babes.

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So yeah, we made 100 nervous system soother blends, immune tonics and lavender oils that

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they distributed in packs for people this kind of around Christmas time.

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And yeah, this October solidarity Pothcry also supported an amazing human called Elliot and a

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few volunteers in a collective who yeah transported and prepared and organized 3, 000

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bottles of tinctures and teas for nervous system support into Ukraine.

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And yeah, organization called Insight has been distributing them to kind of queer defenders

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and disabled elders living in different regions.

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And yeah, we're trying to like still raise some money for the endeavor.

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I, I put down like or I paid like £300 for a van for van hire to get the medicine in and

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then like paid £500 for the deposit which got lost like, like the.

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Something happened to the van.

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So like we lost that deposit.

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So that was, that was pretty br.

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And also yeah, it's a really long story about Ukraine herbal solarity but we're in a little

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bit of debt from kind of the previous iteration of the project.

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So yeah, if anyone wants to donate for that then if you can whack it in the donation page

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on the Solar Apothecary site, I would love you forever.

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And I could reimburse the person who's owed some money.

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I did launch a fundraiser earlier in the year with like ACAB T shirts and they just like

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completely flopped.

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Just like obviously I don't know if people

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don't hate the cops enough or they don't want wear like an explicitly anti cop T shirt like

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that.

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But yeah, I've just never known anything like it.

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It just did so badly.

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I made like £200 or something which you know

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isn't anything to sniff out but I was hoping to raise like a few grand to cover with

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medicine making costs of the care Packages.

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And yeah, we'll have to go back to the drawing board with that one, but okay, distributing

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the prisoners herbals is number four.

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So requests for Prisoners Herbal books

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continue to come in week on week.

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I'm so grateful to the legend that is Ellie.

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She' oh no, I'm gonna get it wrong.

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Is it Herbal Ellie?

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Anyway, I'll.

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I'll check what it is on Instagram and plug

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her another time.

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But yeah, she took on posting out books to

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prisoners during my maternity leave, which has been amazing.

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I've just been like forwarding her emails and she's just been getting them in the post, so

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that's really exciting.

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And also the book has now been published in

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Italian, so there's a blog post about that on my website by the awesome crew that are there.

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Yeah, and I've also put the.

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The ebook to the Spanish translation on the

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website, which is accessible.

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So yeah, please keep requesting books for

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prisoners.

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Okay. Number five is the Frontline Herbalism Podcast.

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So the podcast that you're listening to now went from strength to strength this year.

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But one of my regrets was not timetabling in more interviews before my baby was born.

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I have got a massive spreadsheet of people to interview, but no idea how to make them happen

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with life being totally determined by naps and breastfeeding and not tons of baby care

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support.

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So alas, it will be solo shows for the time being until Bubs is a little bit older.

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So yeah, if you're listening to this, you'll know where to get these episodes.

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But some of the whole bunch of episodes were published this year, including a whole series

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of PTSD and herbalism case studies.

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Let me know.

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Like, I haven't had much feedback on them, but

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let me know if they were useful for you to hear.

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I also did a series about herbalism, incarceration and abolition, which is

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available to watch on my website for free.

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There were also different episodes with articles from the Herbalism and State Violence

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book, such as Herbal Support for Prison Visits and Stressful Days, Herbal Allies for Grief

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Healing From Incarceration Police Raids and Herbal Allies for Shock and Herbal Support for

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Nightmares.

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And yeah, there were also some amazing interviews, including Sleek, who I've

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mentioned, where we talked about sexual violence and trauma, as well as a kind of

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second interview that they did with me.

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But you know, we're all talking together about how sexual violence intersects with state

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violence evidence.

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I also interviewed the amazing Jackie Sumo

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from the Solitary Gardens Project.

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Please check that out if you haven't.

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And the awesome Rocks from Movement in Time in Scotland about solidarity, medicine making and

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of course beloved Rashika about community herbalism and Layla about herbalism,

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resistance and remembrance.

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So yeah, just awesome interviews.

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Like I said, I've got a whole spreadsheet of people that I would love to interview on the

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show.

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I will try and sort it out so I can make it

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happen.

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But yeah, let me know if you've been listening to any of them and please, please, please

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leave a review if you can, if you have been listening to the podcast and enjoying it.

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All right, and number six was Herbal Solidarity and Border Violence.

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So yeah, unfortunately my pregnancy meant time off from the Mobile Herbal Clinic Calais.

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I'm working sort of directly in France as a herbalist medic.

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However, I've done my best to contribute to the behind the scenes efforts in the UK that

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help keep the project going.

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So in January we launched a merchandise fundraiser with the infamous Plants no no

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Borders T shirts that raised £10,000.

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We had like T shirts and hoodies and aprons.

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I did say then that it was the absolute last time we were using the design and the screen

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printers chucked the, the screens.

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But I get so many messages about them that I am tempted to maybe do it again just because

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the project is always in need of funds.

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But yeah, I'm not going to make any promises.

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My friend's also done an amazing, gorgeous illustration.

Nicole: 00:18:40

Dandelion and birds coming out of it.

Nicole: 00:18:43

So like we might maybe we'll do like a new and

Nicole: 00:18:45

old design at the same time or something, I don't know.

Nicole: 00:18:48

So yeah, anyway, I took a bunch of time off the clinic and the project and then I stepped

Nicole: 00:18:53

back in this autumn.

Nicole: 00:18:55

Haven't been very consistent at making meetings and things, but I have been doing my

Nicole: 00:18:58

best to set up some fundraising infrastructure to allow for monthly donations.

Nicole: 00:19:02

So please, please, please, please, please, please, please.

Nicole: 00:19:04

I know I'm shooting myself in the foot because I also want people to donate to the solidary

Nicole: 00:19:08

Apothecary.

Nicole: 00:19:09

But like if you could become a monthly

Nicole: 00:19:11

supporter of the Mobile Herbal Clinic, I would literally love you forever.

Nicole: 00:19:14

Like that is what we need.

Nicole: 00:19:16

We need some financial stability to make the

Nicole: 00:19:18

projects happen, make the clinics happen very consistently because it's, yeah, it's been

Nicole: 00:19:23

difficult, a lot of kind of stop start.

Nicole: 00:19:26

So yeah, if you could just donate even a couple of quid a month, that would be amazing.

Nicole: 00:19:31

I also pre recorded a workshop on Herbalism and Border Violence which was kind of in

Nicole: 00:19:36

collaboration with the rail yard Apothecary again, which was a fundraiser which I will up

Nicole: 00:19:41

upload on my website.

Nicole: 00:19:42

Soon. So, yeah, thank you so much to everyone who signed up to that and donated and before

Nicole: 00:19:47

giving birth, literally, like, like two weeks or so before I gave birth, like finally

Nicole: 00:19:53

happened, we had to keep rescheduling for various reasons.

Nicole: 00:19:56

But I was honored to work with solidarity detainee support, who used to be soas,

Nicole: 00:20:00

detainee support to develop some training on like abolitionist responses to suicide and

Nicole: 00:20:05

distress while working with folks in detention and prisons.

Nicole: 00:20:09

So yeah, I do have plans to kind of do like another version of.

Nicole: 00:20:13

Let me know if you'd be interested.

Nicole: 00:20:16

Okay. Number seven was relaunching the Herbalism, PTSD and Traumatic stress course.

Nicole: 00:20:21

So the doors opened once again to the course.

Nicole: 00:20:24

It was really amazing to welcome more people

Nicole: 00:20:26

in.

Nicole: 00:20:27

I was just.

Nicole: 00:20:28

I'm always blown away by the interest and the

Nicole: 00:20:30

support and I'm really grateful to everyone who joined the course.

Nicole: 00:20:35

Please, please, please join the waiting list if you can, if you're interested in it and

Nicole: 00:20:38

I'll put a link in the show notes to the course.

Nicole: 00:20:41

And also, yeah, I published a herbal support for panic attacks guide that, yeah, you can

Nicole: 00:20:47

find on the website as well.

Nicole: 00:20:49

Number eight was teaching medicine making.

Nicole: 00:20:52

So yeah, another practical medicine making

Nicole: 00:20:54

intensive took place in September and it was just such a joy.

Nicole: 00:20:59

It was really hard for me.

Nicole: 00:21:00

Like my partner was in rehab for six weeks.

Nicole: 00:21:03

I was with the baby.

Nicole: 00:21:05

Yeah, his mum came to look after Lee during the course but like every single break of the

Nicole: 00:21:10

course I was like running back to the caravan to breastfeed, feed him and then, yeah, went

Nicole: 00:21:14

to bed with him at 5:00 because we co sleep.

Nicole: 00:21:17

So got him down at 6 and just like slept with him all night and just breastfeed, breastfed

Nicole: 00:21:22

through the night and then woke up and like taught the course for like three days in a

Nicole: 00:21:25

row.

Nicole: 00:21:26

And like, yeah, I was so nervous about it, but it did go really well and like the people that

Nicole: 00:21:31

came were just so awesome.

Nicole: 00:21:33

Like it was just an absolute bunch of queer

Nicole: 00:21:35

cuties and like everyone was so lush and like I honestly, I could cry thinking about it.

Nicole: 00:21:40

Like, it was just so great.

Nicole: 00:21:42

So yeah, they're going to take place again in May and June this year.

Nicole: 00:21:46

So please join the newsletter and I'm going to announce when they're ready to book.

Nicole: 00:21:49

I just want to kind of tweak some things in the welcome pack and stuff.

Nicole: 00:21:53

Yeah, and on the course we took a deep dive into tincture making, glycerites, ointments,

Nicole: 00:21:58

infused oils and loads of things.

Nicole: 00:22:01

And finally, number nine is mutual aid against genocide and more.

Nicole: 00:22:05

So we couldn't talk about 2024 without speaking about the ongoing horrors of the

Nicole: 00:22:10

world.

Nicole: 00:22:11

While my capacity has shrunk to using my phone during these naps, I've done my best to keep

Nicole: 00:22:15

organizing the best I can.

Nicole: 00:22:17

This includes various fundraisers such as for the Samir project, which I think raised like

Nicole: 00:22:22

nearly $600 where I was selling my ebooks.

Nicole: 00:22:25

I might try and do that again this year.

Nicole: 00:22:27

And yeah, also you know, offering various of my digital offerings to different auctions and

Nicole: 00:22:34

things.

Nicole: 00:22:35

So yeah, and yeah, even though kind of prison visits haven't been possible, I've done my

Nicole: 00:22:41

best to kind of ampl fight action alerts for various friends and comrades inside, including

Nicole: 00:22:46

Pharah, who has stage three cancer while in prison.

Nicole: 00:22:49

I'll put a link to that.

Nicole: 00:22:50

But yeah, please don't be afraid to reach me

Nicole: 00:22:52

on Instagram.

Nicole: 00:22:53

Like I've spent years like building up this

Nicole: 00:22:55

like platform right on building up my newsletter and everything else.

Nicole: 00:22:59

And like just honestly like drop me a direct message if you want me to like repost

Nicole: 00:23:03

something or share something in my stories.

Nicole: 00:23:05

Like, you know, I just want to use that

Nicole: 00:23:07

platform as much as possible for solidarity.

Nicole: 00:23:10

Okay. And then the last part of the review is like I do a little kind of goal accountability

Nicole: 00:23:15

check in.

Nicole: 00:23:16

So each year I sort of publicly share my goals

Nicole: 00:23:19

and yeah, it kind of like helps me stay accountable.

Nicole: 00:23:23

So yeah, these were the ones that were achieved.

Nicole: 00:23:25

So to finalize my herbal solidarity care packages and set them up on my website for

Nicole: 00:23:30

easier access.

Nicole: 00:23:30

So I'll talk about that in the next episode.

Nicole: 00:23:33

Continue with this podcast to finish the Herbalism and State Violence book.

Nicole: 00:23:37

Woohoo.

Nicole: 00:23:38

To support folks, to wrap up as as many translated versions of my book as possible.

Nicole: 00:23:43

Like obviously I can only do what I can.

Nicole: 00:23:45

I just kind of have to let the collectives go

Nicole: 00:23:47

at their own pace.

Nicole: 00:23:49

To redecorate my herb shed and organize my storage.

Nicole: 00:23:52

Ready to make it into an office too.

Nicole: 00:23:53

So I've yeah, I've kind of built more

Nicole: 00:23:55

shelving, moved all my like books and stuff down there.

Nicole: 00:23:59

So I have done a bit of that.

Nicole: 00:24:00

But it still needs a little bit of a kind of

Nicole: 00:24:02

makeover to support the mobile herbal clinic to develop a monthly donation program.

Nicole: 00:24:07

So I've done the tech, I just need the people sign up for it to relaunch the PTSD course

Nicole: 00:24:12

which I did.

Nicole: 00:24:13

Organize face to face medicine making sessions

Nicole: 00:24:15

and receive help more.

Nicole: 00:24:17

Yeah, so I've had that.

Nicole: 00:24:18

In terms of like individual comrades coming to

Nicole: 00:24:21

stay, I think I'm still a bit nervy about COVID If I'm honest, like, people that will

Nicole: 00:24:27

follow me on Instagram saw that basically, like Lee was in hospital for a week with a

Nicole: 00:24:31

fever, like, vomiting, wouldn't breastfeed.

Nicole: 00:24:33

Like, it was literally one of the worst weeks of my whole life.

Nicole: 00:24:36

Like, I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

Nicole: 00:24:39

And yeah, he tested positive for Covid.

Nicole: 00:24:42

And yeah, I just, I don't know, I'm just

Nicole: 00:24:45

frightened.

Nicole: 00:24:45

Like, I'm in a bit of a weird anxiety place

Nicole: 00:24:48

with him.

Nicole: 00:24:49

And yeah, anyway, that's a whole other

Nicole: 00:24:52

podcast.

Nicole: 00:24:52

But yeah, I'm just anxious of having a bunch of random people come to my house, especially

Nicole: 00:24:58

people locally who don't believe that covet exists, which is a thing right near

Nicole: 00:25:03

Glastonbury and stuff.

Nicole: 00:25:04

So. Yeah, but I have been really grateful to have comrades come down and I think maybe

Nicole: 00:25:08

that's like the way forward.

Nicole: 00:25:10

And you know, I know I teach this medicine making course which is like a face to face

Nicole: 00:25:14

offering, so maybe I'm a bit of a hypocrite, but like, I've never had anyone get Covid from

Nicole: 00:25:18

one of my courses.

Nicole: 00:25:19

Like, we've always encouraged people to test.

Nicole: 00:25:21

I've always had like a really flexible refund

Nicole: 00:25:24

policy of like, if you're sick in any way, just I'll give you a refund.

Nicole: 00:25:27

Do you know what I mean?

Nicole: 00:25:28

Like, I'd much rather lose 2, 300 quid than like risk everyone's health, including my

Nicole: 00:25:33

babies.

Nicole: 00:25:34

So anyway, to enroll in some kind of foot care

Nicole: 00:25:37

training.

Nicole: 00:25:38

So I've done that.

Nicole: 00:25:38

I'm doing like the online version of it on my phone, but I'm enjoying that.

Nicole: 00:25:43

I'm only like, literally one module in and then you have to go and do like two weeks face

Nicole: 00:25:48

to face.

Nicole: 00:25:48

So I have no idea how I'm gonna do that with the baby, but you know, it'll happen

Nicole: 00:25:52

eventually.

Nicole: 00:25:54

Other goals.

Nicole: 00:25:55

So I'm going ongoing goals to continue to

Nicole: 00:25:57

invest in my clinical education and learning.

Nicole: 00:25:59

So I'm constantly listening to podcasts,

Nicole: 00:26:01

watching webinars, doing all the things, things to continue self education about

Nicole: 00:26:05

different areas of struggle.

Nicole: 00:26:06

Yeah, just like again, podcast reading, talking to friends, all the things to continue

Nicole: 00:26:12

to organize prisoner solidarity and stay involved in my various political collectives

Nicole: 00:26:16

through pregnancy and maternity leave.

Nicole: 00:26:18

The best I can definitely try my hardest with that one.

Nicole: 00:26:21

Personal goals, once planning permission is confirmed, support Rob to decorate the static

Nicole: 00:26:26

caravan and create the nicest rockabilly love, rockabilly love nest ever.

Nicole: 00:26:31

So, yeah, have achieved that one.

Nicole: 00:26:33

Living in a really beautiful mobile home now

Nicole: 00:26:36

and it's got all the cute Rockabilly pictures, tattoo art, prints, framed checkerboard floor.

Nicole: 00:26:43

Yeah, it's really gorgeous.

Nicole: 00:26:44

I'm really, really happy in there to give

Nicole: 00:26:46

birth to a healthy, beautiful, amazing human tick.

Nicole: 00:26:50

Joking.

Nicole: 00:26:51

To have a healthy rest of my pregnancy and

Nicole: 00:26:53

empowering birth and a calm and enjoyable postpartum period.

Nicole: 00:26:56

Well, definitely didn't have an empowering birth and I definitely didn't have a calm

Nicole: 00:27:00

postpartum period.

Nicole: 00:27:01

Jobs relapse.

Nicole: 00:27:03

But hey, you know, he's doing amazing now with

Nicole: 00:27:06

recovery and rehab and N A and all the things and I'm super, super proud of him to continue

Nicole: 00:27:13

to build spiritual skills, to hang out with friends more and make more local friends with

Nicole: 00:27:17

babies.

Nicole: 00:27:17

Still trying, but I have got a couple of awesome local friends now.

Nicole: 00:27:22

Not achieved, so didn't organize a recorded prisoner solidary training.

Nicole: 00:27:27

Didn't finish.

Nicole: 00:27:28

Or launch the do no harm course which is like

Nicole: 00:27:30

an offering all about clinical safety for grassroots herbal tabless.

Nicole: 00:27:33

It's in process but not finished.

Nicole: 00:27:36

It's something I try and work on on my phone

Nicole: 00:27:38

every single night.

Nicole: 00:27:39

When Lee's asleep and I'm lying next to him, I

Nicole: 00:27:42

just try and do like an hour and a half and then go to sleep.

Nicole: 00:27:45

I literally go to sleep at like 8 o'clock.

Nicole: 00:27:47

It just has to happen to offer one to one

Nicole: 00:27:50

support via my online clinic.

Nicole: 00:27:52

Yeah, just I don't know where I thought I'd

Nicole: 00:27:54

have the ability to do that.

Nicole: 00:27:57

To enroll in applying functional medicine and clinical practice training.

Nicole: 00:28:00

It's like two grand.

Nicole: 00:28:01

It's just not happened.

Nicole: 00:28:02

But yeah, again it's on the wish list to save up for a trip to Australia and New Zealand to

Nicole: 00:28:08

introduce our baby to our family living there.

Nicole: 00:28:10

So my stepmom and my brother live in New Zealand.

Nicole: 00:28:13

I mean, sorry, live in Australia, in Western Australia.

Nicole: 00:28:16

So I was really hoping that we could maybe go there and everyone's like, oh, go with.

Nicole: 00:28:20

The baby's young, you know, because it's like free.

Nicole: 00:28:23

But it's like, wow, literally.

Nicole: 00:28:25

Well, how did I think I would travel across

Nicole: 00:28:26

the world? Like I'm insane.

Nicole: 00:28:28

Like just.

Nicole: 00:28:29

Yeah, it's ridiculous.

Nicole: 00:28:30

Like I can barely go to a coffee shop in my local town.

Nicole: 00:28:33

So it's just.

Nicole: 00:28:34

Yeah, it's so silly to get surf practice.

Nicole: 00:28:36

Practice.

Nicole: 00:28:37

Yeah, that's failed.

Nicole: 00:28:38

Don't live anywhere near the sea.

Nicole: 00:28:40

I haven't gone on holiday anywhere near the

Nicole: 00:28:41

sea.

Nicole: 00:28:42

So yeah, okay.

Nicole: 00:28:45

And goals I renegotiated was sorting out some sort of fulfillment center for my books,

Nicole: 00:28:50

finishing my endobiogenic medicine diploma.

Nicole: 00:28:53

So this is something I enrolled in a few years

Nicole: 00:28:55

ago.

Nicole: 00:28:55

And then I had to kind of just cancel it basically because of the pregnancy.

Nicole: 00:28:59

But they're happy for me to redo it in the next kind of group and to explore the

Nicole: 00:29:04

possibilities of organizing some sort of local her project.

Nicole: 00:29:07

So, like, I'm really missing that kind of like direct mutual aid, face to face stuff, like,

Nicole: 00:29:13

you know, like in Calais.

Nicole: 00:29:14

Like, I'm really good at wound care and

Nicole: 00:29:18

organizing and working with people directly.

Nicole: 00:29:21

And I just.

Nicole: 00:29:21

Yeah, I just hate having to just do everything

Nicole: 00:29:24

mediated by like a phone or a laptop, you know.

Nicole: 00:29:27

So that, you know, local project hasn't happened.

Nicole: 00:29:29

But I also laugh at myself of like, how I thought I'd be able to do that.

Nicole: 00:29:33

I have no idea.

Nicole: 00:29:35

So anyway, it hasn't happened.

Nicole: 00:29:36

But I would like to put a call out to the

Nicole: 00:29:38

universe that if people are in like Somerset, for example, doing anything, you know, with

Nicole: 00:29:43

like unhoused folks or, you know, like refugees or asylum seekers or, you know,

Nicole: 00:29:50

people in recovery, things like this, like, I would be so happy to just kind of slot in as a

Nicole: 00:29:55

herbalist and like support folks.

Nicole: 00:29:58

I just.

Nicole: 00:29:58

Yeah, haven't got the kind of energy to

Nicole: 00:30:01

organize those stuff or initiate things.

Nicole: 00:30:03

But I would just love to just kind of be able

Nicole: 00:30:05

to like, turn up, off, offer support, offer medicine, hold space for people, you know,

Nicole: 00:30:09

like in a kind of like low key way, like a few hours a month or something.

Nicole: 00:30:14

So. Yeah. Anyway.

Nicole: 00:30:15

Wow, this episode has got to half an hour, so

Nicole: 00:30:17

I'm gonna stop there.

Nicole: 00:30:18

That's my kind of like review of the year.

Nicole: 00:30:21

Yeah. I'll put the link in the show notes to all the things and then I'm gonna record an

Nicole: 00:30:26

episode with kind of like, yeah, some of the goals for 2025 and some of the solid

Nicole: 00:30:32

apothecary offerings that I hope you can check out.

Nicole: 00:30:35

Okay, thanks for listening.

Nicole: 00:30:37

Yeah, take the care.

Nicole: 00:30:39

Thanks so much for listening to the Frontline Herbalism podcast.

Nicole: 00:30:42

You can find the transcript, the links, all the resources from the

Nicole: 00:30:46

show@solidarityapothecary.org

Nicole: 00:30:49

podcast.