One Big Thing I Learned This Fall

Being a lifelong learner is a good thing and one of my favorite things about being a grown-up. Think about it - we get to learn new things we actually choose and create the space to pursue things that interest us! I’m loving this quarterly practice inspired by Emily P. Freeman where I look back and reflect on things I learned in the season that just ended.

This time, instead of an entire list, I’m sharing ONE BIG THING I learned this fall*:

Sometimes life is full of things we love, and sometimes it’s full of the hard things that must be done to keep the things we love.

Here’s what I mean…

We had lettuce finally start growing after months of struggle and then had weather dip into the 30s in mid-October. We went from covering our lettuce with shade cloth in the insane humidity to almost immediately using row cover to keep off the frost. While most other farms were winding down in the fall, we entered our busiest season with farm dinners and events: in 3 weekends in a row, we had 3 huge events (our big fall Kindred Dinner for 150, another off-site event for 150 people, and a private dinner on the farm for 40 people).

Amidst it all were the last of the zinnias, multiple campfires, bike rides at Snow Creek, math lessons, reading Grimm’s Fairy Tales and The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe in our homeschool, “everything in the fridge” soup and cornbread for dinner. I had to take an epsom salt bath practically every night because my legs ached so much, but dang, I was reminded how much I love this crazy hard and beautiful kindred life. 

So yes, the hard things must be done. I don’t know about you, but I don’t love pushing through challenges and struggle; I prefer to exist in my idealistic world where everything is rainbows and butterflies, perfectly grown lettuce that looks like roses, children who are always kind, and a cozy, hygge-filled life of lattés, books, and sunset yoga on the front porch.

Those things are so great and even important, but a life of ONLY good things and no struggle to get to them, really isn’t what we want, is it?

The more I grow, the more I realize the fulfillment comes in knowing I had to be pushed to the end of my strength. I had to fight for the good. I had to keep looking for the light. I had to keep seeing the beauty.

So that’s what I learned this fall. What about you?

* Honorary mention to my burgundy flowered dress, which appeared in 3 of my top 9 photos for 2019 on Instagram. Either I learned that 1) the dress is a real winner, or 2) I just wore it too many times this fall. Ha!