Change can be hard. New challenges sometimes make me want to crawl under my covers and hide. During this global pandemic, many people have experienced this feeling too. Kids have been home, work has been different, rules and regulations have changed, stores have been closed, and events have been canceled. All of these changes happening at the same time may seem impossible, but life can’t stop for us to figure things out. We need to find a new way to keep moving forward.
Looking back, I have learned the most during hard times. When I lived on an island, I learned to drive a boat after my husband broke his arm and he couldn’t drive us home. I learned that I could hook up a truck and trailer by myself while preparing to evacuate our house due to a forest fire. Hauling a loaded trailer became a new skill when I needed to drive to go pick up my husband after his truck broke on an over-landing trip ten hours from home. I can now operate a snow blower after a huge snowstorm blocked our driveway. And one day I may even tell you why I had to learn to use a chainsaw in short order.
All these things were learned because I had to. There was no choice for me to crawl under the covers and hide. I needed to do it with no questions, ands, ifs, or buts about it. All I could do was try and hope for the best. Did I do all of these things perfectly? Not at all, but I did them. Learning all these things out of necessity has made me realize that my biggest hurdle is getting over the fear of trying. When I do try or make a change, I surprise myself with what I am capable of.
Three years ago I moved with my husband and three children to our 65 acre property. It was raw land, half an hour away from the nearest town. No house, phone, internet, power, sewer, water hookups, not even a driveway. It felt in a way like a modern day pioneer situation. A lot of hard challenges we faced over the last three years have resulted in so much learning; learning to be content with what we have, how to be a lot more self-sufficient in how we live, how to provide for our family from our own land, and that trying (however hard it may be) is the first step.
Now I begin another learning journey, this time on my own terms and not out of necessity. I am taking the first step, jumping in if you will, to share my story and experiences with you. Along the way, I hope to inspire you to try new things, and I know I will learn more about who I am, and what I can accomplish too. I never thought this city girl would become a farmer and gardener, but that is now a part of who I am because one day I decided to try it. I am leaning it is important, but also fun, to figure out how to be resourceful and do things myself. Who knows what else I might learn to love just by trying it!