A Farmish Kind of Life

There is a difference between relying on each other and relying on Them. I believe healing and progress will take place in our country when there is more of the first and far less of the second, but in order to have less of the second, we have some uncomfortable questions to answer. I think this is important to talk about because as the world is going through these challenging times and shifting into whatever is coming next, I hear so many people say, “Screw it. I’m just gonna lock my door and be a hermit.” or “I’m gonna move to the woods and be all by myself because I don’t need anyone else.” And so they shut themselves off from the benefits of community, sometimes because of a misguided belief that we're not supposed to have to depend on anyone. But here's the thing. There's a difference between learning to rely on each other and learning to rely on Them. Relying on people with a face and a name you know—someone you could invite over for coffee—in a relationship that's an agreed upon, two way street is completely different than relying on Them, the government or giant corporations/systems. Each other vs. Them Surviving and thriving because you depended on each other was normal way back in the day, and is even pretty common in some communities still. (I'm looking at you, Yoder.) Community and depending on each other used to be the name of the game. If it was 1800 whatever and you were on the prairie, would you give a rat’s ass or probably even know what the government was up to on a daily basis? But I bet they knew what Mr. So and So was up to down the way. They had to. Mr. So and So and Mrs. Whoever and your family were the only ones for miles. You had each other. You didn’t have Them. Community is give and take. Community is I’ll scratch your back, you scratch mine. Community is I’ll help you finish siding your house if you butcher and process my deer this year. It’s bartering. It’s helping each other. It’s following through on your end of the agreement. It’s offering help in ways that you can and knowing other people will help you out when you need it. I don’t feel that with government. I don’t feel that with the public school system or the medical system or the corporate food system. That’s not community. That’s Them. And yet there's a lot of people relying on those things. And when that system starts to break down—as it currently is—we have a lot of struggle and chaos. Because people have been relying on Them, not each other. This is important to talk about I hear people in the survival community sometimes spout off the importance of being able to care for yourself because ain’t nobody coming to help you. And while I agree with that, I think some people misconstrue what they’re saying. The way I see it, they’re saying learn to take care of yourselves because They aren’t coming to help you. But you’d better believe that someone is coming to help you. Your community will help each other, right? You’ve seen this happen in times of struggle, right? Gosh, I hope so. If not, you need to build that community. I also think it’s important to talk about because there are people out there who won’t accept help from others because they’ve learned that relying on others is weak. Or that you’re taking a handout. Or that you should be able to fend for yourself. And I think they’ve learned that because of watching others take from the system and everything that comes from that. Some uncomfortable truths Now, I want to point out here that I think it’s great that there are food banks and soup kitchens and places for people to get clothing and there are shelters for people who need it. I’m not against assistance. I just know that some forms of assistance are horribly abused by some people. And I think it’s harder to abuse that assistance when it’s not done on a large scale by Them. But, and this is a huge but, if we’re going to be a people who talk about how it’s not the government's job...

Last week I was gone for a magical week, deep in the woods of extreme northern Minnesota, a stone's throw from the Canadian border. A week spent deep in the woods gives a person a lot of time to think and you generally come back to your normal everyday life with some thoughts. Today, I'm sharing those deep thoughts from the woods here with you. Listen to the podcast episode by pressing the play button on the black bar above. All episodes are linked under the podcast tab that you can find way at the top of this post in my menu bar. You can also listen and subscribe to my Farmish Kind of Life podcast at iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, PlayerFM, and other popular podcast players. The problem is, when you spend a lot of time away and have some moments of clarity, you come back to a jumbled up world and it can be really hard to reacclimate yourself to what's going on here in real life. It's been a bumpy ride to say the least. But I offer up my three thoughts to you in the hopes that maybe one of them will help untangle something in your head, too. Deep thought #1: Prepare for then, but live in the now Somewhere while packing the last items into the truck for our annual cabin trip, it occurred to me, this could be our last real family vacation. By next September, our oldest will be graduated from high school, possibly college, and will be a full fledged adult. Our youngest is only a year behind. And that thought sat in the back of my head as we drove up and unpacked our gear. But somewhere along the first trip out on the 4 wheelers it hit me. I can focus on the fact it might be his last trip to the cabin as a kid and be sad, or I can pour myself into the moments of this vacation and actually experience them. And then, I realized something else. We’re all doing the same thing as it relates to what’s coming next for our economy, for our society. We are so caught up in what might be coming around the bend that we’re missing what’s happening right now. Now, I do think it's important to prepare. I myself am someone who likes to try and think two steps ahead. I think that's a responsible thing to do. But not to the detriment of the life you're living and breathing in right now, at this moment. It's okay to peek at what's coming around the corner, but make sure you've got your feet on the ground where you're standing. Deep thought #2: The trees have answers Because the air is more clear and the woods chill me out, I generally go to the cabin looking for brilliant answers— for the way around everything, or for a solution to whatever is the current issue in my life. This time though, the answers just weren't coming and I was getting frustrated. The second to the last morning that we were at the cabin, I started the coffee pot, sat at the table in a sort of silence that is almost suffocating, and I penned the following free verse poem. A Tree in the Woods In this place where I can see my breath at the kitchen table, Where making a pot of coffee is not as easy as Running the faucet Clicking the power switch Waiting a few minutes to pour your cup, Where stepping off the deck means Greeting a bear, Where the changing leaves are your television. In this place where we haven’t seen another Human being for five days Not on the trails. Not on the roads. Not in the woods. Where the world could have stopped Blown up Ended And we wouldn’t even know Unless we turned on the radio. In this place where I come for clarity Answers Perspective Where I usually come out on the other side with A deep refreshing Cleansing sigh And a big idea A solution A plan But this time is different There is no cleansing sigh I’m here and I feel like I’m Holding My Breath. And Like an impatient two year old I want the answers Demand the answers The sky and woods laugh at me and say Sit back Watch Breathe. And I look and all I see are trees. Trees being trees.

Let's talk about the slippery slope of monetizing everything we do, think, or say. When a potential dollar hangs over everything, at what point is enough, enough?

What happens when you challenge yourself to use the food already available on your homestead or in your pantry, rather than constantly buying new groceries?

Whether you’re exhausted by the choices, confused by conflicting information, frustrated by the costs, or just trying to do the best you can, this episode is for you.