Foraging for the Woman After Herself

It comes of no surprise to you that I love to wander, to explore, and seek. This summer, I found myself at a unique crossroad. I was no longer consuming myself with this outdated need to be who I used to be but I also didn't quite know all of the details of the woman I was aspiring to become. The one thing I did know was that I was in the midst of a transformation.

With lessons learned, growth hard earned, and turned pages, I had been drawn to become someone I knew I always was but yet hadn't defined. In so many ways, I feel like I was made for a life I don't even know of. But, to be eager to forage for all of the necessary things to nourish, provide, and sustain you as a woman has become admirable.

But this season, and this theme of foraging, has me approaching fall in a way I had never thought of before. Rather than looking back and trying to hold on to fragments of a past woman, I'll be the woman foraging up or down new paths to become someone unimaginable. How lived experiences and how all of my gifts gives way to the promise of an evolved woman, so can, the new observations and hobbies reveals the possibilities of an Andrea Fenise I could only dream of.

Foraging, for me, is not just looking for healing herbs along my daily walks. It isn't just the act of finding food or herbs for nourishment. It is also being willing to be curious. We forget the wonders of the world and even what reveals itself by going a different direction.

In my 14 years of living and working creatively, I have experienced a little bit of everything. Losing a loved one. Changes in friendship dynamics. Finding it hard to pay bills. Moments where I felt like I couldn't make it to the next hour. Lately, there had been times where I felt lost, stagnant, and surrendered to what life had become for me. All I could think of is that times have changed and I no longer identified with the woman I used to be and it was time to come to grips with all of the life changes.

This summer, I knew the one thing I could control was taking time to go on walks. While on my normal walks to forage, I had a life changing thought. Life isn't about holding on to the good days-those that shine with new accomplishments and things to share. Sometimes, even when you don't think it is possible, in order to move forward we have to commit to foraging for the promise of a new opportunity to grow.

Fighting the urge to share parts of myself I've kept sacred, I decided to intentionally share my days of foraging. I've always been hesistant to share all of the different layers of who I am and what I love. When I pushed through, I said to myself, I'm glad you are sharing who you are. There is so much more on the other side.

In this season, I'm yearning to forage. Not only for all of the magical plants in this land. I'll forage in new places to satisfy my need to see something new. I'll forage in family archives to find where I belong. I'll forage looking for new recipes to diverse my palate. And, I'll do all of these things with the intent to evolve into a woman after myself.

PHOTOS BY MY DAUGHTER