A STRONG FARMER

I have been reading Irish literature and history of late, and came upon the phrase "a strong farmer".  It makes reference to sequential legislation known as the Land Acts in Ireland at the end of the 19th century and into the 20th, whereby tenants were allowed over time to  lease larger plots.    This allowed them, in effect to become more self contained or self sustainable.  As time went on, the phrase came to mean a person who managed his plot in life in a self sustaining manner.

It was not about who had the largest land base (the most toys) but how well, equitably, generously, community consciously he provided for himself, his family and the wider group of farmers around him.  This farmer was a good citizen who tended to his own business in such a way to provide to his family's needs and to be rooted in a strong presence in the agri...culture of the area.

I thought this was such a clear metaphor for leading a balanced life.  As with many indigenous cultures there is a consciousness to return to the land what you have taken from it, I believe it holds a marker and meaning for us as well.  Certainly, like the Maori tribes of Australia who teach their young to not take all of the root vegetables from an area, leaving some to seed for the next rainfall, we can perhaps measure our friendships in similar terms.  Do we take too much from our relationships?  Do we reseed energies for the coming season.  Do we provide for the individuals in our close family and do we participate in a larger community in meaningful ways, sharing our experiences, benefits and seeds for the future.  Do we help bring their crops in when we can? Do we participate in helping someone move or paint their bedrooms.  Do we bring positive energies to our encounters with people



If the landscape of our social, financial, emotional, and spiritual lives can be compared to the husbandry of farming, what kind of farmer are you?
Are your fields well tended?  Do you nurture them so that the harvest will be more bountiful every year?  Or are you stingy with your gifts, taking but not giving back to those who have companioned you on this earth, the animals, the people and yes, the land itself?

I also recently came across the the phrase of a "second puberty".  The first reference was from Kant who said that we need a second puberty to be mature enough to have sex in relationship.  The phrase also became connected to something akin to a midlife crisis.  W.B Yeats the Irish poet, referenced it as he struggled through a miasma of sexual/relationship losses and problems. I saw it in more positive terms than this last one.  I see puberty as a time of awakening, certainly of our sexual, but also of our emotional and spiritual selves.   Maybe in our SECOND puberty we could allow ourselves to awaken to a deeper connection to our lives.....the land, the animals, the relationships that we have with other in our families and communities, and whatever is our sense of spiritual connection in the world.

In our newly awakened  selves, we might find seeds of hope and interest that we didn't have time for the first time we passed this way.  As a farmer who reseeds annually and sometimes more than once in a year, maybe as a STRONG FARMER, we might plant a new crop.  One that nourishes us in a different way than previously.  Nurtures us in a way that gives meaning and value to what we are doing and how it interacts with the larger community.    We can replant, we can redefine, we can have that second puberty, where things begin again and we have boundless energy, and yet this time, more consciousness, more kindness, more purpose driven interaction with our world.

If we allow ourselves this gift of starting over, of setting the goal of becoming a STRONG FARMER all manner of things will become possible, and in the words of the14th century mystic, Julian of Norwich:  "All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well."