Today was an especially good day. Early in the day I had tea with an old friend, and in the course of conversation, I explained how I had become a homeopath. I love to tell this story because each time I do I get excited all over again about the serendipity that landed me here; feeling genuine gratitude for doing something I love, something that allows me to help people heal.
My friend was asking why I don’t make art anymore, since we had attended the same art school in Los Angeles. I explained that I do art, but for me homeopathy is my medium. I explained that years of practicing the artistic process prepared me perfectly for my work as a homeopath. Being a homeopath and an artist require a similar set of skills. In both, there is a balance of both critical thinking and intuition, rigor and letting go. With homeopathy, I tend to apply myself rigorously to active problem solving, then go off and do something completely different and let my brain continue to solve the problem in its own mysterious intuitive way. This process is often invisible, but yields the results unexpectedly in the middle of a shower, a ride, or grocery shopping.
My day just kept getting better because I saw a client whose case was solved in just this way. This client had come to me for a pain in her knees, which was getting worse and worse, and was truly debilitating her. I took her whole case, as homeopaths do, looking at all of her physical symptoms, past and present, as well as her mental and emotional symptoms. I am always treating the whole person, not just one or two symptoms, so it is important for me to have the deepest understanding of a person that I can. I worked on her case analytically, as I was taught in the classical tradition, and came up with a preliminary remedy choice. I left it there, and went on with my other full time job, being a mom. While otherwise engaged, I had a sudden flash of a moment in the case. We are taught to look for the strange, rare and peculiar in a case, as this is often a clue that will lead to the remedy. In the flash, I asked my client at what time did she feel most authentically herself. She told me that it was when she was with trees, and I observed that even thinking of this relationship made her feel very emotional. She felt so close to the trees that she could not even reveal that experience, it was so private and personal. There is a familiar sensation I get when the right piece of information falls into the exact void that needed it, like a puzzle piece falling into place. The delicate thunk of intuition. The remedy I was considering was a remedy made from a tree. I felt that this was fitting and right, that she clearly had tree energy affinity. Without further ado, I gave her the tree remedy.
Today I saw my client for our third follow-up since the initial tree remedy. She had already been improving, but when she came today she said, “I am fabulous. I love this remedy. I am even better than the last time. I feel like I have woken up from a coma! I look back on myself [when I first came to see you] and think, ‘Who was that?’ I am so happy all the time.” After the remedy she is able to just be who she is, without thinking about who is watching and what they might be thinking. She is living authentically and confidently, and doing so is making her feel joyful. Her knee pain is gone, she is reaching out to old and new friends, and she has a sudden desire to dance in the kitchen while cooking.
The beautiful tree remedy Thuja Occidentalis made from Arbor Vitae, a conifer. This is just one of thousands of remedies, each with a unique picture, to fit nearly any kind of person. My job is to fit the right remedy to each of my clients, and initiate the healing process. This remarkable mixture of science and art allows me reconnect people to their spirits, their hearts, and their true nature. Homeopathy has the potential to heal so deeply and thoroughly – I am dancing in the kitchen just thinking about it!
