Force of Nature
through the wire and onto farms
I’m Lizzy Wholley.
I grew up in a Connecticut town where kids got in trouble for taking caffeine pills, and athletic talent was a form of social currency. I loved building forts in the woods with my older brother. I have red hair, but in high school I dyed it brown in an attempt to blend in. Like most young people, I contemplated where I fit into the world. I still do.
Fashion helped me feel like “myself”, whatever that meant. I come from a creative family. My interest in fashion came from my mom and my grandmother, Jennie. She had an unapologetic sense of style. I still wear so many of her pieces of clothing including my most treasured mockneck sweater.
I made some awkward missteps while trying to land my first job in fashion. Long story but I broke my jaw in a late-night off-road car accident after the driver and all its passengers (myself included) had scorpion bowls. Having my mouth wired shut was emblematic of this period of my life. I knew what I wanted but I was unable to say it out loud. Until my first mentor asked me “if you had a magic wand, what would you do?” I enrolled in continuing education courses at Parsons and I showed up to my first graphic design class with my jaw wired shut. A real (old) Kanye moment.
Eventually, my jaw was set free and I was accepted into the Parsons Fashion Marketing program. I moved to New York in 2014 and landed an internship at The Row. Two special people at that company supported me and sent me off into my 10 year career as a fashion market editor. Under the pressure of wanting to succeed in this industry, I turned to vices that served as a quick remedy but left me more anxious.
I pushed myself relentlessly and felt disconnected to a greater purpose. I decided that time in nature would help so I cold emailed a farm in my hometown to see if they needed volunteers. I showed up every weekend. Picking raspberries for hours on 90 degree days was a form of therapy. I called it Farm Therapy. Suddenly I found myself talking about farming and how honeybees communicate during fashion week. I got the sense that farming was… in fashion. And it was undeniably healing. I felt like I was contributing to something greater than myself and I was enjoying the literal fruits of my labor by the end of the FW19 season. I was still working as an editor full time, popping adderall on my 7am train straight back to the office on Monday mornings in my trusty black Dickies.
During the pandemic, I moved to a small beach town in Rhode Island to “escape” my problems. My landlord owned the oldest farm in the town and we became fast friends. I rode my bike to his farm every morning to take care of his 60 chickens and pull weeds on his organic farm with his wife, a master gardener. I was confronted with the cycle of life and death.
Post-pandemic, I moved back to Brooklyn and was promoted to Fashion Market Director of The Wall Street Journal, Off Duty. Being back in New York, with what I thought was my dream job, I still felt a longing for the life I tasted outside the city.
Following a particularly long night and a bout of mono (weird, because Alden and I have both had adult mono) I signed up for yoga teacher training, which I had wanted to do for years. I was introduced to yoga in sixth grade when my English teacher held after school classes where we balanced books on our stomachs and watched them move as we breathed. I’ve been practicing ever since. When I’m in my practice and with my yoga community in New York I feel I am coming closer to the person I want to be.
I met Alden after what felt like an overshare on my part. Our teacher training group was asked “what does spirituality mean to you?” and I couldn’t think of anything more relevant than my recent sobriety. After my “overshare” the rest of our group opened up that night and it led to real connection. Alden thanked me for my vulnerability and we connected over our sobriety. I guess that’s why I’m writing all this here… to be that domino that falls in the direction of truth.
Since then, I’ve done mentorships, endless training and completed my 300 hour yoga training (with Alden as my roommate).
During my 200 hour training I pronounced that my dream would be to run a farm and retreat center. Four months later, I found one…
I am currently the Director of Experiences at Bloom Farm, a regenerative chestnut tree farm, nature preserve and education center. I left my job at WSJ in January of 2024 and have been focused on building this farm in Pennsylvania ever since. I split my time between PA and NYC so that I can stay connected to my community and if I’m being honest, to not endure too much change at once. Ask me about the great demise of the American chestnut or the world’s best white t-shirt, I have answers for both.
I have a spiritual therapist, and a therapist, I’ve healed major ailments with acupuncture and I’ve been a Vedic meditator for six years, I recently completed a mantra recitation training in honor of Navarātri, a Hindu festival in honor of the tridevī. I practice kriyas and japa meditation (almost) daily. Like Alden, I love teaching breathwork. I’ve traded ‘mind drugs’ for ‘mind tools’ aka mantra.
Alden and I came up with the idea for this substack in the sauna of Othership right after the coldest ice baths of our lives. It felt comical, not only the experience but just everything we had done together up until that point.
I hope by sharing my non-linear experience it might resonate, or even inspire someone to lean into their own connection with nature and even more so, their connection to self. I believe that nature has the ultimate power to heal and I am just starting to understand the depth of that statement. I’d like to take more time to explore, lighten up, learn and teach. As I do, I’ll report back.
Ready for the ride 😎🏍️