S'all 'bout satori

Howdy.

I've been traveling around the country for the past several years while working on organic farms, so trying to create a relationship with a solid foundation isn't easy. As many wonderful connections as I've made, so many are hopelessly fleeting due to geographical circumstances.

One day while I was contemplating this dilemma and pulling sweet potatoes out of the mud, I heard Paul's podcast mention this section of the forum and figured it couldn't hurt. I think the one connection I would really prefer to have with a lady is through farming/gardening/permaculture. Someone who enjoys spending all day outside playing with plants. It's pretty simple, really, but difficult to find in real life. Especially since none of the farm girls I meet are single.

So uh, I guess I should do the "about me" thing,...

Like any sane human being I enjoy hikes, campfires, swimming in the ocean and all that. Traveling and seeing beautiful things. I enjoy philosophical conversations but not necessarily philosophy. Both premeditated and spontaneous musical collaborations. Reading books about agriculture, nature, religion, psychology, sometimes politics. Shooting pool, playing cards, super nintendo, hockey. Spending time with people I love and laughing until tear stained. Drives into the country while listening to good music. You know.

I spent many of my younger pseudo-adult years (I am 27 now) simultaneously pursuing the ultimate pipe dream of an income generating but non-creative-compromising writing, visual art and/or musical career while traveling aimlessly, working random crappy jobs and searching for whatever it was that would truly inspire me to conjure the ideal sound and imagery I had wanted to experience and share with others-- an intangible urge every artist strives to satisfy but never can. Predictably this led to becoming a starving artist of sorts and seeing what the other side of the fence was like. After getting into farming and planting my own gardens -- releasing my ego into the soil -- I realized that was what I had been looking for and a way to help all of these poverty stricken, malnourished people I have met from city to city and rejuvenate wastelands. T'was something like satori. And as much as I still enjoy artsy shit, it's not my end-all.

I have hippy tendencies, certainly, but don't subscribe to any dogmas, including dogmatic views on agriculture. I don't take myself terribly serious, but serious enough to do something and politely proselytize when given the opportunity. It's no good to read a Derek Jensen book, realize how screwed we are, and then just throw in the towel. It's also no good to feel solely responsible for saving the planet and losing one's mind.

This spring I am going to assist in running a farm in North Carolina. They're doing a ton of awesome permaculture and biodynamic stuff. We'll be taking in wwoofers. So yeah, anyone else who is in a similar predicament as myself and wouldn't mind making a new connection, send me a message!

Henry,
Welcome to permies! I have an organic/biodynamic farm in North Carolina and at some point will need some help here from wwoofers too. I'm getting up in age, but still do about all the work myself, with dairy goats, orchards/gardens, cows, etc. I spend more time cleaning out the barns and making compost than much of anything else, except maybe mending fences. Goats are hard on fences.

There are a lot of other people like you out there. Don't settle for less than what you really want, it just isn't worth the pain. For me, living on the land, working the soil and watching those beautiful, amazing plants grow and taking care of animals who appreciate and love me, are absolute bliss. I wouldn't trade this life, albeit hard work, for anything else in the world.

Melba