DeJanae Evins - The Cannabis Queen
DeJanae Evins -
The Cannabis Queen
DeJanae Evins is a cannabis educator, researcher and urban cultivator. She is the founder of Green Goddess Glow, an educational platform sparking culture-shifting conversations around cannabis and self-care, including a community grow initiative. When she is not speaking on this emerging industry with regard to creating access to health, sustainable approaches to self-care, the importance of conscious consumption and inclusivity in the cannabis space, she's training budtenders and educating brands on how to be more socially responsible.
What is your definition of freedom? What does it look and feel like to you? And how do you cultivate it daily?
Freedom by my definition is the power to be self-determining to the full extent that one can be. It feels all-expansive, fearless, limitless. It looks like ownership of one’s time, soundness of one’s mind and authentic self-expression. It is cultivated through the application of divine principles, focused intention and will power.
How have your thoughts, perception, and understanding of freedom evolved with time? What was it before and what is it now?
Freedom, and my notion of it, has evolved as I’ve found the right questions to ask, and who and what to direct those questions to. I used to seek freedom by way of permission, validation and external possessions. But freedom on the most fundamental level is exercised choice. Those choices, perceptions, actions, beliefs either allow us to get more free or keep us confined.
Freedom can feel like something we’re all seeking, but may have trouble grasping. What's one piece of advice or some words of wisdom you can offer to this community as they look to "get free"?
As within, so without. Freedom is cultivated in the mind first, a thought that is then acted on to achieve the version of your reality you want to create for yourself. Freedom is found in self-worth and self-knowledge. But it takes discipline and sacrifice and requires unwavering faith.
Share an anecdote, memory, or practice in your life that embodies freedom in every way.
Learning and continuously practicing non-judgement of myself. It requires that I lean more into love. Unconditional love of myself allows me to be more compassionate, more patient and to do the same for others.
How has the use of cannabis reclaimed your right to self-care and freedom? And what might you say to others who are unsure of how to properly make use of it?
Cannabis has allowed me to reclaim my right to self-care by encouraging me to be more in the flow of receiving. Learning to relinquish control has been a practice of freedom. One of the keys to using cannabis for self-care is leading the practice with intention. The cannabis experience prompts us to be more giving of ourselves to ourselves, to be open to experience, and to explore that through a shift in perspective, alleviated anxiety or elevated mood.
What is one song that helps you get free?
What is one book that has helped you claim your freedom?
Island of Memes: Haiti's Unfinished Revolution by Wade Nobles