The morning sunlight streams in as Doctor Jones rolls out of bed to start another day of farm rounds. I lay here a few minutes longer enjoying the quiet serenity before the soft pitter-patter of children's feet become the energetic cacophony of voices clamoring for mommy's attention. And I wonder...
"How did I get so lucky?" Not that it has always felt lucky. Sometimes it has felt downright overwhelming and trapped.....this life of staying home, schooling my kiddos, and living life from the middle of a cornfield. It interests me that so many look at our life here on the farm as idyllic. And yet, as Coronavirus lockdowns wage on, so many are restless, anxious and depressed. In many ways, what I hear from others, is what I experienced when I first moved out to the farm. I felt so isolated! I was being thrust into a life I had not chosen and didn't really want. Looking back though, I realized I didn't really know what I wanted. I lived life Restless.
Moving to the farm and being confronted with that core restlessness is one of the Milestones I will be forever grateful for. It brought me face-to-face with my inner striving. It forced me to wrestle with the inner voices that said I wasn't good enough, that I needed to do more, that refused to let me rest.
Still on this morning as the sun begins to warm our home, and it's golden hues spread their fingers across our spring pastures. As the chickens mindlessly peck and Toby the cat stretches lazily from on top "his" green bench pillow. As the farm begins to wake and Dr Jones drives away in his white truck and the cows munch their ever-present cud.....I am reminded. Routines are what ground us. They are what make the extraordinary moments EXTRAordinary.
So I rise to yet another ordinary day. But yet not so ordinary. Because I've been given the gift of perspective this morning....and I get to live this day from the beauty of my very ordinary cornfield.
