Transitions + Transformations
On unlearning getting to the finish line
Hi there -
I started this newsletter at what I would later discover was the start of a new chapter of my life. Since sending the first three missives, I’ve (officially) moved myself and my toddler back to my hometown of Philadelphia; moved into a shared home with one of my very oldest and best friends; started to slowly build and dream up a new version of my midwifery and herbal practive in this new place. Accompanying the era of returns and new seasons are the inevitable cousins of loss and grief. I’ve lost the daily and weekly touchstones of my Vermont loved ones and community, the physical participation in the midwifery practice and herbal collective that I helped gestate and birth and deeply love, the proximity to the expanses of woods and rivers: in short the version of my life I thought I’d had all figured out, just a couple years ago, and that made me feel whole.
In this transition, I’ve been feeling into what it is to sacrifice what we hold so deeply, in order to do what we need to do, or know is right, or must. What it is to feel such loss and such possibility in the same breath. What it is to uplift our children’s, family’s, or community’s wellness, at the transformation of our own. What it takes. What it requires. What heart-aching leaps of faith, holding hands with courageous practicality. It’s just the stuff of life, isn’t it? Of living in a world that contains such cruelty, such systemic harm, such inexplicable catastrophes alongside ferocious love, community and climate protection, and epic beauty.
When I started this newsletter, I intended to send it biweekly, or at least. I’d hoped I’d find a rhythm to bring a writing practice into my days, and to do so in public. I’d hoped to begin to offer some tender reflections into the world at such a harsh time. And to share with you all the things I’m reading, learning about, classes and workshops coming up, and more. And then life happened, and it was hard to keep it up amidst the cacophony. (A sick father, the ongoing genocide in Palestine, night weaning a toddler in peak separation anxiety, collective economic instability, the loss of a beloved, time on the porch in the summer breeze with old friends, unpacking our boxes, packing our go bags.) Life keeps happening, and the transformations change their tenor, their urgency, their shape. I decided to write you again here and now, because I needed to remind myself it’s okay to be inside the cocoon of it, and still reach out. Because we are imaginal cells, all of us.
These are hard times. Every day, the people we love are doing the impossible experience of surviving, and preparing to survive in a world that promises to become more brutal in the decade(s) to come. Let’s keep holding onto each other, and all the transformations we are amidst.
Here is a tea blend for transitions that is hitting the spot for me these days. Steep 2 tablesooins in a quart jar for at least 10 minutes. Drink hot or cold. Hope you like it.
Anise Hyssop
Linden
Marshmallow Leaf
Oat Tops
A tiny splash of Bee Balm and Lavender.
Sending Care,
T
🕯Events 🦋 Resources 🌱Inspiration
Oxytocic Herbs: July 22nd, 2pm ET. This is a NEW class I’m teaching, hosted by the friends at Holistic Abortions. It’s is a deep dive into the physiology of oxytocin in the body in early pregnancy, abortion, and pregnancy release, and the ways herbs interact with and promote oxytocic actions. Featuring Cottonroot & Blue Cohosh, with information on dosing, repetition, timing, and interaction with other herbs and abortion medications. Sliding scale of $30-$60. Recording available for those who can’t attend live. Register here.
One of my political and heart homes, The Rose Core Collective; an herbal kinship and mutual aid project has just turned 5! In these years, our herbs have made it to the West Coast, Gulf Coast, Midwest, and up and down the Appalachias. In addition to sending herbs far afield to organizations doing crucial solidarity work around the country, we have steadily increased our presence in our own backyard since the floods of 2023. We can now be found regularly tabling at rallies for Palestinian liberation and #nonewprisons, at trans health conferences and community care days, and at other events around northern Vermont. We also maintain our deep relationships with folks around the country, many of whom we’ve been working with since our inception. And if you’ve been anywhere around me in the last 5 years, it’s likely I’ve dosed you with one of our blends (Grief + Rage, Ease + Uplift, etc). If you’d like to support our ongoing herbal solidarity work, and sponsor herbs going to community for free, you can make a tax-deductible donation, here, with a memo for Rose Core. Or you can Send via Paypal to rosecorecollective@gmail.com (select the friends and family option). We’re so grateful!
I’m still gathering some information as I slowly build up my practice. I’ve got a short questionnaire going. How can you be better cared for? to learn how to better serve folks in these hard times. If you’d like to let me know what offerings you’d like to see from me in the future, please fill out this (quick) form.
Kelly McCarthy of Attic Apothecary is teaching a much-needed class on Somatics for Overwhelm on Wednesday, June 25, 6:30 - 7:30pm EST. $40 with sliding scale spots down to $20.
Speaking of somatic practices, here is a link to free daily somatic practice spaces, with generative somatics.
Just learned about this Mandatory Reporting Harm Reduction Training for Birthworkers, brought to you by Mandatory Reporting Is Not Neutral. It’s a training that looks at intersections of birthwork, mandatory reporting, and family policing. June 26th, 6pm ET. Hope to see you there.
My beloved, Mónica Gomery, had a heart-building poem come out with Poem-A-Day (which btw is one of the best parts of my day). Read it here.
🌱 Ways to Work Together
Book an appointment with Tessa for preconception, prenatal, postpartum, or herbal care.
Email me with inquiries about at-home insemination support (IUIs) in Philadelphia.
If you need information about abortion or pregnancy release, check out these resources. Or send me an email.
For more information about home birth in Vermont, visit Threshold Community Midwives.
For more information about herbal mutual aid and herbalism as justice work, visit The Rose Core Collective.
Tessa Micaela Landreau-Grasmuck (she/they) is a Certified Professional Midwife, clinical herbalist, poet, and care worker based in Philadelphia. They work with clients seeking preconception and fertility care, including at-home insemination (IUI), pregnancy loss and release, prenatal and postpartum care, out-of-hospital birth, and individualized herbal care that focuses on reproductive, menstrual, and hormonal concerns. Learn more about Tessa’s work at thresholdapothecary.com.