26 Year Old Midwifery Student

Advaya

I'm fairly new here, or at least to posting in the community. I'm 26 years old and I live in Virginia (for the time being). I live on a small farm where I keep bees, chickens and ducks. I am a college student working toward getting my masters in nurse-midwifery. I actually started this path years ago working toward being a Certified Professional Midwife (a licensed, direct entry midwife who attends births at home or in a birthing center) but never got around to getting my license. I ended up going back to school for anthropology/women studies which I'm still doing along side the nursing. I'm becoming a CNM even though I tend to follow more of a CPM guideline because I want to be able to work with low income women in hospitals in the inner cities, reservations or rural areas. I will probably end up living in an autonomous state either way, meaning I could do home birth without a physician back up if I decide to. I am also considering becoming a Family Nurse Practitioner so that I can do full spectrum care for whole families.

I'm huge into holistic health, in particular herbalism. And in particular for that, Appalachian herbalism. I love growing up in these hills with all the folklore and magic, not to mention the beauty. However in the last few months I've felt a strong call toward the West or Northwest!

I used to be very nomadic, but I've settled down (for now!). I still get the itch to go. I'm spiritual, but not religious. I tend to view nature as my church though, but I also take a lot from Quaker Christianity and Buddhism.

I'm here because I want to get fit so that I can go hiking long distances, back country camping, rock climbing. I also want to live more spontaneously, and I feel like my weight is holding me back! I also want to be an inspiration for other people, in particular my mother who is overweight and I believe feeling quite stuck. Living in a very rural area, a lot of people don't have groceries stores. We grow a lot of our own food out here, but the majority of people here eat a LOT of processed box Dollar Store type food. I want to be able to show that someone can live in an area 50 miles to a grocery store and still be physically active and healthy.

I'm looking for friends who are into natural health, work in the birthing field, are traveling gypsy hippies or just want to be friends WITH one!