Ying & Yang, Ebb & Flow, Eggs Over Easy

Within Nature, life comes and goes…breathes in and exhales, eats, drinks, sleeps, dreams, crawls, walks, flies, sighs and dies each and every cycle of seasons. We are a part of this. We too do these things yet consider ourselves separate from Nature, courtesy our climate-controlled houses filled with clever gadgets, glowing screens and ratta-tap-tapped buttons. Our lives are so convenient yet life itself can prove more difficult despite these conveniences. The world news is a constant source of anxiety, fear and depression. Yet, if we depend solely on all our conveniences and fears, we never truly give ourselves a chance to be our best self.

With this New Year, I’m trying to not make a single resolution…but I am trying to be better. A better husband and father, a better son and brother, a better farmer and writer. I am trying to be more grateful rather than worrisome. I am trying to be more fearless rather than fearful. I am trying to be more optimistic rather than…well, you get the point. It is easy to get distracted with bad news, whether that be the Australian wildfires, Iranian bombings, American politics in general, social hot topics that divide us, or the average day-to-day struggles we all experience. To combat this, I am focused on sharpening my mind so that the rest of me, my actions and reactions may create better scenarios around me. I want to be a calm in the storm.

I’m always looking for clues, signs of some sorts in Nature for I feel like Nature is a constant teacher. Perhaps this is a need for confirmation of my life choices or at least a wink that I am on the right path. In 2020, I’m noticing shapes more than ever. On the farm, I’ve been noticing the constant symbols of the yin and yang in life - this need for the masculine and feminine to be in balance. Too much of one without the other creates imbalance. When in harmony, both peace and beauty can thrive. I see this everywhere - in the contoured landscape of shadows and light, in the rows of wheat I planted in the field, in the swirled stalks in a bale of hay, in the surface of the moon and the glow of the sun, I see it in how my tractor tires divide the earth and sky, the flight patterns of birds and the movement of clouds. No matter where I look, I am constantly reminded of this breath, this ebb and flow going on inside, outside and all around us.

And today, I am just trying to be grateful for these reminders.