A Smattering of Thoughts

As I rest from my labors, here is a smattering of thoughts I've been saving up.

On the practical side: I have heard that if you are traveling to a different time zone, a glimpse of the sunrise soon after you arrive is the most effective way to reset your body clock.

If you are feeling ill, a pound of baking soda and a pound of salt in a hot bath is soothing and detoxifying. Phil tried this once this year and turned the tub orange. He felt much better.

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On the philosophical side: I heard a lecture by author and farmer Shannon Hayes, talking about her book Radical Homemakers. It sounds like she drove around the country meeting women like me: interested in learning and trying new things, trying not to base their lives on the consumer culture, trying to produce and gain independence in food or clothing or entertainment. Not all the women lived on farms (and, come to think of it, I don't think they were all women!), but they all shared those characteristics.

One of the things she said is that, in order to avoid burnout, all the women had to complete three steps. First, they had to renounce the normal consumer culture (note my move to the country). Next they needed to reclaim the life they wanted, to have a working farm, or homeschool their children in the suburbs, or whatever that looked like for them.

Interestingly, though, if they stopped there, they would burnout. The homemakers needed to then rebuild: to work toward allowing others to have a fulfilling, rich life. For me, perhaps I have a little of that with cooking classes, and Phil has that with leading Bible study. It's the step of reaching out and helping others, rather than just oneself.

I thought that was a good point.

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Emily Dickinson, perhaps the foremost female American poet, was known for her private, insulated life. She rarely left the family home. She said once (to her sister-in-law?), “To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else.”

I can relate.

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Recently I watched a fascinating movie on what motivates us. Financial rewards or punishments (also called carrots and sticks) are not as effective as three things. Autonomy, or the ability to choose what is meaningful; mastery (fairly self-explanatory); and purpose. We want to work towards something that excites us, that will make the world a better place.

On the farm, I think we're still working toward mastery (probably a lifelong task), but that certainly made sense why, for the most part, we enjoy farming. We have all three.