ABOUT ME
CONTACT ME
Kelly is the owner, founder, researcher, writer, and photographer behind Musings of a Modern Hippie.
Musings of a Modern Hippie is a blog about all things natural, eco-friendly, holistic, and unprocessed, started in 2010 by Master Herbalist, Naturopath, and wellness advocate, Kelly. We have real food recipes, gardening tips, natural wellness support, crunchy lifestyle help, natural home ideas, and beauty tips!
I'm a naturopath and master herbalist, formerly a senior research lab technician at a local University. Married to my awesomely supportive best friend, living our purpose-driven life in the suburbs of a medium sized city. We have a rambunctious son that keeps us laughing and amazed, and is by far, our most successful achievement to date.
We live on a deep 1.2 semi-wooded acre lot, which give us the feel of a rural environment in our backyard, while affording us the closeness of suburban living to area conveniences.
Currently we have a 600 sq foot garden, but I have a list of things I'd like to accomplish eventually on this property:
-
A few egg chickens
-
A beehive
-
A golf fairway (Kidding! It does look like it though, right?)
-
Maybe a milk goat
-
Solar panels
-
✓ Rain barrels
-
A better bridge to get across the stream that cuts through the center more easily
-
✓ A bigger garden
-
Some fruit trees
-
Less lawn, more purposeful plants
-
✓ A large herb garden in the front
The land really does have a lot of great potential and our town laws are fairly relaxed about things like chickens and goats. We have a major deer and turkey problem though and as our town does not allow hunting or trapping of any sort, I've had to take precautions and fence my entire garden in as well as wrap any new shrubs like raspberries or blueberries. This will also pose a problem down the road for planting fruit trees. These deer are voracious and will devour an entire shrub in one night. They've leveled several of my herbal plants including comfrey, and have even taken to eating the buds off one of the front yard lilac bushes!
My Health and Wellness Philosophy:
Besides zone 6a gardening, and dreaming about other homesteading feats, my true passion is natural health and wellness. I truly believe that all non-genetic disease is caused by two things: nutritional deficiencies and toxic overload. Most of mainstream modern medicine seeks to label and treat the symptoms. Disease researchers focus on the minutiae of mechanistic actions of drugs and symptom manifestation pathways. Their assumption is that the cause of the disease is a defect in the performance of the body. My question is...What caused the defect to begin with?
Our bodies have this built in amazing ability to self repair, but without the proper support, it just won't function properly. The same is true when the system gets overloaded with toxins. It can only handle so many repairs at once before it gets overwhelmed and fails. And that's when disease symptoms manifest. The Standard American Diet leads to a built up of toxins and lack of proper nutritional support from before we are even born and sets us up for a lifetime of issues with a slow decline into complete debilitation. (Sometimes a fast decline!) Should we them blame our parents for setting us up for failure and give up entirely on the hope of true health and wellness? Absolutely not. As I said before, our bodies are remarkably resilient. Given the proper support and detoxification it is possible to heal from disease and to prevent early degradation.
Think it will be too much work or too expensive? Don't want to devote the time and energy into it? Ask someone with cancer if they will find the time and money to go for treatment. When the disease manifests, our priorities are forced to shift, often dramatically. Why not be proactive and avoid the drastic lifestyle shift that comes with battling disease via modern medicine?
For most of us, the change can occur slowly, a few things at a time, to make it easier to stick with. Others may need more immediate, drastic changes in order to halt current disease progression. In those cases, building a team of trusted natural care practitioners is critical.
Part of my interest and education in natural health and wellness is helping other people on their own path to wellness whether this be through changes in diet and lifestyle or incorporating herbal and vitamin supplements to assist in achieving optimal health.
Mostly though, this is about my own journey.
The search for optimal health is a lifelong process. Our body's needs fluctuate daily, and as we move through life, change many times. Quite significantly. It is up to us do the research and get to know our needs.
I believe in eating real food. Whole food. Full fat organic, pasture raised, grass-fed dairy and meats, organic veggies and fruits, and non-GMO whole grains.
I'm a modern hippie for sure.
Just how deeply do my hippie roots run? Well, I am extremely skeptical of anything mainstream. This includes, but is not limited to, most media, the medical community as a whole, modern scientific research (of which I was employed in for over 15 years), both public and private large corporations, our food chain, and especially, the government and all governing regulatory agencies. I believe the majority of these groups are driven by greed and are not looking out for our best interests. I believe it's about controlling the people through fear, distraction, lies, and manipulation. Make people sick but offer them the "cure". Which really just keeps them sick and dependent on a failing system. Use this sickness to push through stricter and stricter regulations and laws. Trick the people into actually begging for less freedoms under the pretense that it's what is best for the majority. Indoctrinate our children from a very young age and punish those that show too much creativity, or ask too many questions, or stray too far from the standard.
"...you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else you were born into bondage. Into a prison that you cannot taste or see or touch. A prison for your mind."
Call me a conspiracy theorist, call me a crunchy granola hippie, call me paranoid. It doesn't change facts. I believe what I believe because I've seen it first hand and done my research. We've become complacent and submissive and so trusting in other people to make decisions for us, that we are like sheep being lead to slaughter. No, sheep running to it because we've been promised a green pasture.
Alright, enough of my tin-foil hat ramblings. You get the idea.
Your crunch is showing.
I try to incorporate my Modern Hippie ways into all areas of my life. From cloth diapering my son when he was little to making my own upcycled cloth napkins, to making my own deodorant, part of my process is striving to be more eco-friendly, one step at a time. It's amazing how quickly these changes add up. I keep track of my own journey via my To Do - Natural Life Makeover list on Pinterest. I think it's an important part of the healing process to evaluate other sources of toxins beyond what we ingest through food. Especially in today's modern society. There are toxins everywhere. It's enough to make a person want to lock themselves in a sterile bubble (plastic-free, of course!). We are bombarded daily with toxins. So much that our bodies can easily become overwhelmed. Add to that a nutritionally deficient toxic diet, and that's just begging for trouble. No wonder 1 in 200 people will be diagnosed with cancer this year alone.
If you've stuck with me this far, thank you! I hope at the very least, I've given you something to think about. I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments. Where are you in your own journey and how can I help you to become your very best you?