Skip to main content

For Anita

image from www.tvcream.co.uk
Anita, you wondered on Facebook what FarmWife's five HUMAN life priorities are—five things no human should have to live without.

I thought I would have nailed it with my guesses, which were 1. Shiny brown mules, 2. Cute baby animals; 3. Delicious things like carrots and blackberries; 4. A room full of hay, and 5. The internet. She says these are all very good, but that she might instead list, off the top of her head, these five alternatives:

1. Health (including healthy food and a healthy environment)
 2. Relationships (including love, family, and friendship—even when your best friend is a mule)
3. Home (a sense of place, ownership, or belonging, and a sense of community)
4. Productivity (feeling valuable, or contributing to something greater than oneself; feeling that the general impact of your life on others is positive, or feeling that what one does is worthwhile)
 5. Joyfulness (call it joie de vivre if you'd like—enthusiasm, appreciation, or eagerness. This can be passion for your work, for your hobby, for your day-to-day routine, for your mule. Everyone needs something they're excited about).

FarmWife would argue that 1, 2, 3, and 4 can contribute to #5 but that #5 can be cultivated on its own through conscious gratitude. "Sometimes," writes Thich Nhat Hanh; "your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy."

I still think that cute baby animals and a room full of hay are pretty darn important, too.

Fenway Bartholomule


Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks in Advance for Your Mulish Opinion!

Popular Posts

Here are the Cloud Dog's X-Rays

Here, for your edification, are the X-rays of dear Paisley's leg. There is, apparently, no new break (since his Monday siezure) but there is, of course, a great deal of abnormality caused by years of living with a shortened ulna. His pronounced lameness, the vet says, may temporarily improve. Unlike me, Fenway Bartholomule, poor cloud dog can't expect much in the way of a full recovery.   Not having the $$$$ for surgery to fuse the joint, we are working on making some sort of rigid splint to support the limb and prevent further degeneration. That is, the humans (with their space-age material inventions and their opposable thumbs) are working on making a splint; I am working on giving cloud dog brayful looks of support and encouragement every time he totters into the yard to relieve himself. As always, he fears me (me?!) and keeps his distance.  Ears to you,  Fenway
2 comments
Continued . . .

Saddle fitting nightmare

I wonder if they had to pay a saddle fitter to tell them the Schleese didn't fit. FB http://www.besthorsestuff.com/ShowAd/index.php?id=4deed0d102f85 For Sale: 18 inch Schleese Jes Elite dressage saddle with Flair Air panels.  This saddle is in exceptionally good, like-new condition with the exception of needing repairs to the front left air bag.  Our Schleese saddle fitter (at the May 28, 2011 fitting) quoted the repair cost at $75-$150. The tree is currently set to "wide" and can be fully adjusted by a saddle fitter.  See the Schleese website for more details. Asking $1200 OBO, a significantly reduced price compared to the current market value of $2000 for the same saddle in pristine, like-new condition. NOTE:  The "saddle rack" is not for sale.  Heehee! Please contact us for more details, serial numbers, questions, or pictures of the saddle.  This is very nice, quality, comfortable and correct saddle for a fraction of the cost, even after the r...
Post a Comment
Continued . . .