An Open Letter On: The Importance Of Loving What You Do

in #life7 years ago

We all have have our stories, experiences, and obligations. Whether they are: bills that need to be paid, children, school, etc they are all events and actions that encompass much of our time throughout our day to day lives. Given that we will spend so much of our lives doing these things, I think it's imperitive that we all love what we are doing. Not only does this small action make the time pass and make the task more enjoyable, more importantly, it fills you and those who see you or interact with you with a sense of purpose.

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Yesterday, like most days, was a maintenance day on the farm. I packed up the truck and was walking out the door when my daughter (we will call her S) came running after me asking if she could go with. I jumped at the opportunity and said yes. On the short drive over we had the typical 4 year old Q&A session: "Why do you farm?", "Isn't it too hot for this?", "What is growing now?", "Do people love the vegetables?", and on and on.

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Once we got on site she ran up the driveway and something incredible happened; total and complete silence. As we walked the farm, heading to the area to be worked, all she did was look around. This wasn't the typical blank stare of impending boredom that is so common among children in today's hyper stimulated world. This was a look of amazement and wonder. I could physically see the wheels turning. She was gazing up the moss covered trees in the herb area, she stopped mid-step and wiggled her toes in the soil, and then she took off at a dead run to chase butterflies. Seeing this happen was incredible for me and it led to an amazing conversation between us. I grabbed the stirrup-hoe and started working an area that will be planted in August once our season kicks off and she wandered the fence line looking at the baby cows, turkeys, and butterflies that inhabit the oak hammock surrounding the farm.

As I was weeding and loosening the soil the interrogation began. "Why you farm daddy?" To which I replied "Because it's important and I love it." She stopped for a moment and fired back with "Why do you love it?" This seemingly simple question stopped me. I stood up straight, leaned on the shadehouse support and had to think about it. At a loss for words I reached down and pulled back the soil and showed her this.

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"Ewwww! Worms?!?! You love worms?!?" She exclaimed. "Well yes honey, I do love the worms. These little guys make all of this possible, without them our vegetables wouldn't be as large, beautiful, or delicious." She stopped and looked at me and asked if she could hold it. I took her hands and gave it to her. She giggled at the way it tickled her hands and shortly there after admitted that they weren't as bad as she first thought.

About an hour passed of me working and her talking and wandering around when she came back over and grabbed an aisle rake (maybe 8" across) and said "Daddy, this stuff is important. You can take a break"

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I laughed and told her I'd gladly take a break. Her streak of intense taking and productivity lasted all of maybe five minutes. When she was done and my break time had expired it was time to pack up and head home for dinner. On the drive home she was fairly quiet with the exception of one question.

"Daddy, can I come to the farm with you tomorrow?"

Loving what you do; no matter how menial, laborious, or exciting is important. It invites those around you into an environment that is positive, making them receptive to the experience.

The tie in to farming and agriculture is that it's an aging industry. With an average age in farming of 55 it's more important now, than probably ever before, to educate children and the public on the importance of agriculture. Getting your kids out of the house into the sunlight and nature is equally important. Google local farms in your area, schedule a tour and take a short day trip with your kids. You might be surprised what you find and learn.

I hope you all have an amazing day and weekend, thanks for reading!

Yours truly,

FreeMrktFarmer

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It sure is hard to find a better ammendment then vermicompost

Absolutely right! We utilize ALOT of compost and Vermicompost on the farm in place of fertilizers, pesticides, and chemicals. Farming soil quality builds better and bigger plants much more efficiently than anything else. Our worms are the real MVPs on the farm making sure the soil is aerated from the bottom up 24/7 😁

@freemrktfarmer - The following really caught my attention

  1. Love what you do
  2. Invite others to be a part of it

I am in a time of transition right now, and I am trying to find a new "love what you do." I really want something that my wife and kiddos can be a part of. Life is better spent in community, instead of in isolation.

Thanks for the great story and practical reminders.

Thank you for the kind words. Farming wasn't originally what I set out to do to be honest. It started as a hobby gardening in the backyard. That grew into trying to grow 50% of our food per year, then 75% and so on. To me, the appeal was really in the lost art and nuances of the skill that has been largely replaced in most of the industrialized world. It paired nicely with my passion for water conservation and just kind of blossomed. The family grew into from my wife's love of homestead blogs haha. She kind of romanticized the lifestyle so it parlayed nicely.

I hope you find your new "love what you do" and would be happy to help if the need ever arises!

Best wishes

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What an amazing way to teach your child about the world around her! @cryptomomma and I just started a curation effort around great parents, and would love to invite you to use the #steemdads tag when blogging about your children, and we'll be sure to help spread the word! You can also come chat with other SteemParents in our Discord Channel!

Upvoted, Resteemed, and Following!

Thank you so much! I'll be happy to use the tag.

I'm currently writing a post about SteemDads, and have a little nod to this post in there. Great work!

Glad to have found a fellow steemian farmer! It was great to chat earlier and I truly appreciate your perspective; do what we love and encourage interest in what we do. There is so much reward in growing great, healthy food for your community and family.

Glad you reached out in the chat, I'm happy to add you to my network. Look forward to more insight from a fellow farmer. Resteemed for the greater good 😉👍🏼 Keep up the great work

I really enjoyed reading your post, freemrktfarmer! It's lovely that your daughter is also picking up your love for farming. We live in a urban area, but my kids still love to look at all the plants and "wildlife" that live around us. One of their favorite activities after it rains is rescuing the little earthworms that have crawled out onto the pavement. My mom does urban gardening and same as you, lots of vermicomposting. She even knows the worms favorite foods.

Ahahaha yes! My kids are Rolly-Polly rescuers after the summer rains here in FL. My farm was previously based in an urban environment so if you ever have any questions on increasing production or planting please feel free to ask. Glad you enjoyed the post and thank you for reading!

Very inspiring post freemrktfarmer.

I am not a farmer, but the words are relevant to us all. We spend, in my opinion, way too many hours working (unless you really enjoy your work). I don't believe we can all love our jobs, but I do believe we can all work towards not disliking our jobs. That process really starts with figuring out what makes you excited on a fundamental level.

Personally I like writing and have been longing to write more often for way too long now. Steemit is such a great platform for creativity and sharing of knowledge. I will pursue my passion for writing here, but I will simultaneously try to introduce writing tasks at work in an attempt to do what I love more often.

Thank you
@ronni

Ronni I am really glad you enjoyed the article. Loving everything you do is challenging and I think the real challenge lies in loving your work as you mentioned. I wish you the best of luck!

What a wonderful thing to share.

We are way beyond 55, if you meant in age, but are expecting our grandson to come and visit us for a week and this is just the kind of experience we are hoping to offer this city kid. He is 6-7 now. Will he remember this?

God willing, we will Make It So!

Oh that's awesome! I'm sure your grandson will be shocked at first with the lack of barriers and structure but given time he will surely realize that there is so much to learn and explore! I hope he loves it!!!

We are loving it so far. Awesome actually...
He is really enjoying Lee, the last lonely chicken, and picking cherries, raspberries and blueberries...and eating the pie we made with them. Writing a 3rd Chick Story is fun too...staying up late...no tv he was not liking so much at first but now we have found plenty to do (he wears me out)
He has a wonderful life in the city so this is good but different.

And he just reminded me that today he worked with his GP laying down landscape fabric in a new garden to keep the weeds out until we decide what to do with it. He got sweaty; almost dripping with sweat.

I really enjoy planting seeds and watching them grow.

My kids are finding their appreciation for it as well.

And man are they obsessed with the worms! lol