Saturday, May 29, 2010

work day

Catherine's comment to my post two days ago got me thinking about does need to change in our way of thinking? What will we need to see as necessary and important, in a way that makes a change not only to the world around us but to our personal search for deeper meaning in our lives? (Am I getting pseudo-deep enough yet? Or just pseudo?)

This holiday weekend, our little village is a ghost town. Clearly the vast majority of residents headed to locations near and far, mostly far, to "get away from it all."

But I started to think about it: get away from what?

Spring is never a time for us to go anywhere. Right now it is critical to get plants in the garden, to tend the ones that are already there, to net a few fruit trees so they can (hopefully, finally) bear fruit this year, to take care of livestock, and other various chores. For me, it would have been incredibly stressful to sit on a beach somewhere. All I would have managed was a constant stew about the volume of work awaiting our return. Instead, it was tremendously relaxing to chip away at those chores... and I will definitely sleep better tonight, in both mind and spirit, as a result.




Is this part of the change we need? To see our homes not as something that needs to be escaped, but as an escape themselves -- a place for us to feed our souls with work that has deeper meaning than the paper pushing we do all week? Don't get me wrong, I am not espousing some "work shall set you free" doctrine of endless self-sacrifice through labor, but instead perhaps a shift in perception. I certainly worked hard today, but it didn't really feel like work. It felt like getting the plants in before they died in their little black plastic cups, and laying the groundwork to feed my family a few fresh vegetables through the summer and (maybe) fall. And as a personal plug, I can tell you that it felt really, really good.

5 comments:

  1. I have never been able to understand the need to "get away from it all." Get away from what? To where? And most of all, Why?

    I love to get away--but when I get away, I want it to be an experience. I'm game for travel nearly anywhere, but the destination needs to be interesting. I want to stimulate and stretch my mind with new ideas.

    Travel for a weekend escape? No. I don't want to go away--let alone to the same place every time. Nor do I want to spend hours in horrid traffic to spend a few hours lounging in the sun. (Never mind that I hate to sit in the sun.) Once in a while? OK. More strikes me as the ultimate in boredom. And there are few things in the world that are harder for me to take than boredom.

    Looking for me on a long weekend? You can nearly always find me at home, where I’m happiest and the most content.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I also spent part of this weekend in the garden, which I love to do. I have too many leak bulbs started and they need a new home. I am hoping that your garden is not as full as it looks and you can take some off my hands - they also make great shallots if you pick them early. See you soon.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sometimes a change of scenery can work wonders...and sometimes it's nice to be home. Guess it just depends on what the needs are...I'm gonna go mow the lawn and take my dogs to the creek.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Heh heh heh, the apple doesn't fall very far from the tree, now does it? Gardening, mowing the lawn... sounds like our weekend! But I agree there are some times where a change of scenery can be refreshing.

    ReplyDelete
  5. While I miss some of the traveling we used to do, we are where we always traveled to and wanted to be. So we are already here! And at the end of the schoolyear, the only thing I want to be doing is being home on the farm, like you Kris, chipping away at all those things that will help feed our family for the rest of the year.

    ReplyDelete