Hello friends,
It’s springing here and I’m delighting in what seems like the sudden appearance of gifts in the grasses- blooming flax, strawberry blossoms, hidden eggs, the reappearance of the neighborhood chukars, or some other surprises. Times are arduous though. They call for wisdom and vigilance, especially for those looking to grow food, flowers and forbs. I spend much of my spring hand-pulling cheat grass. As I crouch above the Earth, I imagine myself removing thorns from the surface of one most beloved, while also removing the thorns of misunderstanding from my mind. As Steven Johnson writes in the first of this issue’s feature articles, “Working with plants may sound simple. But the reality is often repetitive, rigorous and humble. And yet it brings a profound inner reward. It is an act of love.”
Love and attention is what our times are calling for. As Dr. Johnson points out in the second article, amidst all of the tragedies, afflictions and challenges of our current day, the best of our human nature also arises. You, our FHC audience, clearly and directly demonstrated this by responding to our call and generously donating to the recovery efforts of two Waldorf schools that were destroyed in the recent California fires. With your help, FHC was able to give $525 each to Pasadena Waldorf School and Westside Waldorf School to assist in the rebuilding of their campuses.
The other features in this issue take a deeper look into this unique moment of opportunity we have before us to reconnect as human beings and to redirect our attention toward meeting each other and the future in a wise, courageous and transformative way. Even though the conversations are primarily centered around protecting and guiding children, the lessons and insights are valuable to all. The immensity of the challenges facing us can feel overwhelming, but we are a unique and surprising arising, we human beings, and in helping each other, we help our present and future selves.
With that, dear readers, I leave you to enjoy the Spring issue. I am off to do something else fun, like watch clouds or dye eggs or plant cabbages. All of us at FHC wish you a beautiful and happy season!
Amanda Jacobs, for FHC
In this edition:
Annie’s Poem
Health in Action:
The Healing Plant Initiative – A Path Forward
by Steven Johnson, DO
Fire and Ashes
by Steven Johnson, DO
The Ezra Klein Show:
Our Kids Are the Least Flourishing Generation
How Jonathan Haidt Won the Fight Against Smartphones in Schools
By Olivia Reingold – The Free Press
Upcoming Webinar
Meditation and the Eightfold Path
Resources of Interest
Keeping Tech in Check, Growing Up Healthy in a World of Digital Media, Screen Strong
Annie’s Poem
by Annie (source)
Annie wrote the following poem during the pandemic when she was nine years old. She and her parents have given their permission to share it in the knowledge that all feelings are okay and naming them is an important first step to coping with them.
I am a boat leaking with worry water
I am the sea that carries it far beyond the sunset
I am the fish that feasts on the worry water
I am the eagle that feasts on the worry fish
I am the girl who reads this poem
I am her mind that breathes in the worry
I am the body that meditates the worry boat
To worry island.
Health in Action:
The Healing Plant Initiative – A Path Forward
by Steven Johnson, DO
Over the past six years, a devoted group of biodynamic gardeners has been collaborating with Uriel Pharmacy in North America to integrate local plants into existing anthroposophic remedies, create new medicines, and explore previously unused medicinal plants and minerals. Recent additions include Monotropa uniflora (Indian Ghost Plant) for trauma and pain, and Sun Pyrite for the rhythmic system and upper respiratory conditions.
Jean-David Derrameux, Ben Davis, and their interns at Churchtown Dairy near Hudson, NY—alongside Mark Blachere, Andreas Fontein, and their colleagues at Camphill Copake—have steadily provided an increasing supply of plant and animal preparations to Uriel Pharmacy. Adults with developmental disabilities at Camphill are active contributors to this meaningful work.
Fire and Ashes
by Steven Johnson, DO
I had the great privilege to attend an Indian Ceremony just after the spring equinox. A group of us surrounded a ceremonial fire on a windy Spring afternoon. A ceremony of offering was generously gifted to our Camphill community medicinal garden by descendants of the local Mohican Indians whose ancestors had once walked these very lands. This was led by their leader Storm Hawk. They joined us with their families now expanded to include Indians of the Brazilian Amazon forests who had bound their fates together through destiny and love for the land.
They were there to help us ask forgiveness of our transgressions to the land through the cutting down of beautiful trees to build a building for medicinal work and to house the activities of a diverse community that included people with special needs…a building we assumed we had permission to build.
The Ezra Klein Show: Our Kids Are the Least Flourishing Generation We Know Of
Excerpt from: www.nytimes.com/2025/04/01/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-jonathan-haidt
In March of last year, Jonathan Haidt, the social psychologist, published a book called “The Anxious Generation,” which caused, let’s call it, a stir.
I always found the conversation over this book to be a little annoying because it got at one of the difficulties we’re having in parenting and in society: a tendency to instrumentalize everything into social science. Unless I can show you on a chart the way something is bad, we have almost no language for saying it’s bad.
This phenomenon is, to me, a collapse in our sense of what a good life is and what it means to flourish as a human being.
“The current technology is a giant obstacle to human development. So if you want to prepare your kid for the future, think very carefully about the technology you immerse them in.”
How Jonathan Haidt Won the Fight Against Smartphones in Schools
By Olivia Reingold – The Free Press – Published on 12/30/24 (link)
This past fall, the Seaside School District became one of the first in Oregon to ban cell phones for both middle and high schoolers, forcing kids to lock their devices in pouches near the school entrance until the end of the day. Seaside has joined thousands of schools nationwide in recently banning smartphones, as a growing body of evidence shows they’re linked to falling test scores and rising rates of teen mental illness. This January, just over two million students will return to phone-free schools as statewide bans go into effect in Virginia and South Carolina. The following month, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest in the nation, will join them.
Upcoming Webinar
Thursday, May 22nd 8pm – 9:30pm EDT / 5pm – 6:30pm PDT
$30 / $20 (subsidized)
There are deep therapeutic mysteries that lie in the Noble Eightfold Path gifted to us by Gautama Buddha. These loving gifts bring healing to each of us as individuals and the world. The Eightfold Path of Meditation teaches us to heal through our heart and through transforming our deepest intentions. Dr. Johnson will walk us through the Eightfold path Meditation with insights gained from his new course and book on resilience and from one of his mentors Dr. Joop von Dam.
Additional Resources
On December 8th, 2024, we explored how modern technologies are affecting the physical, mental and spiritual health of our communities. Technology is influencing the way we think and experience the world and it affects our health and resilience. In this short online summit, we outline action items and strategies to counter the rising tide and prevalence of technology in our lives. Our keynote speaker was Dr. Glöckler, a well-known pediatrician, educator and researcher who has championed European legislation to change how children use technology. Session recording is available for $25.
Growing Up Healthy in a World of Digital Media
A guide for parents and caregivers of children and adolescents
by Michaela Glöckler and Richard Brinton
Here is an honest and clear digest of resources and practices to avoid the worst effects of screen technology on the young. The book will give strength to those who must make up the rules for guiding children and teens in the use of technologies. These have been touted as a great thing but have proven over time to cause behavior disorders, depression, and addiction. How do we cope? Growing up Healthy offers many ideas to help do just that – grow up healthy!
This new guide explains the dangers and risks to children and adolescents inherent in the new media:
- impairment of brain development
- communications stress
- the threat of addiction loss of privacy
- sites that are unsuitable for young people
- cyberbullying and health impairment due to continuous radiation from wireless devices.
This book fills a gap, describing the critical developmental phases in childhood, which have a bearing on the introduction of media technology. Acknowledging that not everybody will be able to follow the same approach; it shows how we can think through step by step what is best for the well-being of the young person in our care. Growing Up Healthy illustrates the legal regulations, the safety measures, and possible actions needed to prevent dangers or to address them appropriately while providing an educational standpoint which represents an appropriate balance between the needs of children and adolescents, and the restrictions which are required as precautionary measures to safeguard against the inherent dangers.
ScreenStrong Resources
