My first chapter, studying Draba albertina in Tony Grove, China Meadows, and Iron Creek helped me to see how I use my own energy. I was a people pleaser. A person motivated by meeting the wants and needs or standards set by others. In my first field season, every day, I moved camp, drove 2-4 hours to the next field site, hiked a mountain or canyon to find Draba and did a HIIT exercise routine. I did not find Draba for the first month. While Draba species are known to be hard to find, the real problem for me was the intense pressure I put on myself to do everything, to look everywhere. I was so motivated by becoming what I thought was a “good scientist” that I was disconnected from the plants sitting right in front of me. Eventually, I found the plants, gathered the seeds, grew them back at Stony Brook and discovered that the population of D. albertina in Tony Grove made less lignin than the other populations, presumably in a rush to make flowers during a growing season shortened by drought. These plants reminded me how, in my rush, I sacrificed the things that kept me sturdy and able to withstand challenge. It was helpful for D. albertina in Tony Grove to escape but I had to figure out what motivated me rather than be motivated by what I guessed other people wanted from me. Being productive just to say I was so left me scattered. Chapter two showed the resilience of the lignin pathway and as a result taught me about my own resilience. I worked with the results and writing of this chapter when I was dealing with health issues. Sitting on the couch trapped in my mind, unable to move around, I questioned my identity and my value. I was wrapped up uncertain I would get better. Lignin biosynthesis pathways contain many redundancies such that changes in genes in the pathway do not necessarily lead to a decrease in lignin production. The results of this chapter suggested that the decrease in lignin occurred through many genes that were involved in the pathway but have smaller effect. I was reminded that even though my body was sick, that I had other ways to connect to the word around me through plant interactions and the joy I get from reading, painting or writing poetry. I saw through Draba, making change through many genes of small effect, that in order to change my relationship to my physical health I could change small things to support a bigger shift in my mentality. Slowly, I learned to listen more carefully to my body which allowed me to separate my body from my value and to let my physical health be only a part of me rather than define me. Chapter three showed me that perspective, the foundation of making something new, is born out of our intimate interaction with nature. Sessile plants interact with their environment as it exists in the environment so they must adapt to the environment or perish. The Draba species showed that variation among species was rooted in dealing with distinct environments. They each made unique rosettes and flowers through different hormone interactions, which are known to integrate environmental signals with growth gene expression cascades to create their unique habit and form. This helped me to see that to contribute my own unique dissertation, to connect my results to past literature, I had to allow myself to truly sense the world around me and measure my response. This meant I had to embrace my own response to my community, myself and the natural world to honestly investigate my purpose in expressing myself. The diversity of nature existing together helps me to see the many parts of myself and find ways for them to exist in harmony. This connection with nature guided me in navigating around the pressure to fit into a preconceived category and create my own perspective required to tell the story of my research.