Nourishing Bites | Start Singing Part 2
Part 2 (Read Part 1, Part 3 and Part 4)
As I wrote last week, the concept of intersectionality as it relates to the challenges we face can be daunting. Thinking about multiple problems all at once is not for the faint of heart. But we are wise to overcome our initial hesitation and remain courageously curious.
Sowing this newfound perspective and committing to the practice of a little bit every day can generate bountiful rewards.
For three weeks now, Brad’s been splitting firewood by hand, a half hour a day after he finishes the evening chore rounds.
It’s an impressive stack of wood. I’m amazed at how big the pile has gotten.
No fanfare, no written mission statement, no big doings.
He just quietly goes about tackling a big project simply by doing a little bit every day.
He likes to split wood in the evening, after he’s fed and cared for all the animals. It’s quiet up at the barn, and Mabel the resident cat keeps him company. It’s good exercise, and some days, it gives him time to think about things great and small.
Other days he has a chance to set down thinking in general and simply be present in this world.
Picking up the ax and splitting wood is also key to helping clean up a section of the barn that will make room for our donkeys to have more spacious winter housing.
In short, this one daily choice improves our lives fourfold.
We need wood to heat our house, exercise in the winter to keep healthy, our livestock needs shelter and an enriched environment, and the barn needs to be cleaned up to make way for next year’s plans.
Now, committing to doing something every day forever is daunting and unrealistic. Instead, it’s good to take a lesson from the farm and commit with intention to doing something every day for a certain season of your life. That can make everything more manageable.
There’s no way Brad could devote time every day to splitting wood in August, nor is that a reasonable goal.
But in late fall and throughout winter, getting out in the fresh air, physically using different muscle groups and engaging with the creatures and ecology of our land has proven to be a special practice with multiple rewards.
Looking straight into the eyes of a series of challenges we face all at once can be hard, and I’ve yet to snap my fingers and solve anything instantaneously. But our daily actions are rich with possibility and power, if only we can become wise to the ways our struggles do not exist in isolation, but rather are part of one curiously connected family. ~AJ
The Gifts of Diversity: Hidden In Plain Sight (Rainbow Swiss Chard)
“I like crossing the imaginary boundaries people set up between different fields—it’s very refreshing. There are lots of tools, and you don’t know which one would work. It’s about being optimistic and trying to connect things.”