Now that I’ve been making farm task lists for over a decade, (and living with the consequences of my choices), I can say with confidence that aligning what really matters to you with what shows up as To-Do’s is one of the most important ways to “grow” time for what you love.

One of my basic rules is:  I don’t let myself think about everything I have to do all at once.  It’s not only counter productive but also unnecessarily discouraging.  In all reality, would anyone ever attempt anything difficult if they really knew everything that it entailed? 

The closest thing I’ve found to being able to magically grow more time is to take a deep breath and actually be present for the moments of time right in front of me.  When is the last time you’ve sat still-- with absolutely no distractions-- for just one minute? 

Grief is a companion to our lived experience.  We don’t honor ourselves or those we’ve lost by turning our heads or backs or hearts.  I grieve and carry on living.  I live and carry on grieving.  

I know a truth about the cycles of life on farms: death is never alone.  Although most of us try hard to keep death at a distance, on the farm, death is wildly abundant, and without it, we would have no abundance of life.  At my farm, death and life are together in an everlasting embrace.  

July is a month of constant expansion, hopeful energy, delicious fruition.  July at our working farm is also a month of loss and pushing through, bale by bale.