This was written for a discussion with two other ‘Women Who Farm’ members for the Bellingen Agricultural Show
What have I learnt from my living relationship
with the land and farm?
I have learnt that my role as a farmer is way more vast than I initially thought, especially the interconnectedness between our inner and outer worlds. I have realised that my inner state is reflective and synergistic with the land I care for and that self-attunement is also land attunement and that one of the most meaningful things about being a human is our sensory and perceptual capacities and our ability for deep relationality.
Practicing dialoguing with the land and creatures has a simultaneous effect of deepening my own sense of self, strengthening my heart intelligence and improving my sensory awareness and intuition which then feeds and cycles back to furthering my connection with the land. I’ve learnt that:
We are in constant dialogue with all around us
Our ability to be a conduit of awareness serves our farm.
Our personal processes are relevant to our surrounds and provide helpful information.
The imagination is a real sense which we can use to gain information, communicate non verbally and also across species and contains guidance that has results in the physical world.
Deep relationality, intuitive sensory perception and healing capacity is a natural and normal part of being human
I’ve learnt that some of my best decisions might not make sense at the time but with trust and humbleness they do later.
There are particular people or groups who hold the farm holographically and whose inner world and psyche hold the energetic and spiritual field of the farm. It’s like an imprint.
How and where we move on the land creates a mimicry of the layout of our psyche. Our patterns of thinking, moods and states of being overlay our land over time and our land influences them too. It’s like a reciprocal map.
Inner stillness and having an unknowing mind is the nest of intuition
Trust in the process and compassionate loving witness or in other words unconditional positive regard is the basic element of healing.
The creative mystery that exists in the relational space is magnificent, enlivening and essential to my farming approach
When we were chatting one of the topics raised was ‘authenticity as a pathway to sustainability’ which sent me on this tangent that when we’re aligned with our natural purpose and sense of self we are more energised. When we are authentic with where we are at it is harder to treat ourselves and our land as merely resources. The relationship values we strive for with our close people, why not extend them to the land - that is care, listening, reciprocity, appreciation and love. I’ve learnt that sustainability and care of the earth depends on the health of the psyche. Personal and collective. Our psyche is synergistic with and mirrors nature and the land that we have a creative relationship with. We have a shared story that is owned by neither but is a conversation that serves both the practical and spiritual and has real effects on the well being of the farm. To support this it helps to practice paying attention to ALL our senses as well as the imaginal space and also dreams. All these are good sources of information and they deepen our connection with land and nature and nourish the beauty of our place in that.
I value the logical mind, scientific thinking and objectivity and in particular observational learning but here want to speak up for sensory methods of research and remembering more of the breadth of our capacity as humans, a deeply relational species with an incredible capacity for perception, empathy, connection and love. Much of my deepest sense of learning comes from these capacities and from what arises in the relational space through intentionally listening with an unknowing mind and also from random pieces of intuitive communication. Those experiences are some of my favourite as they tend to be infused with love and insight and help me be close to the most beautiful aspects of the meaning of being human.
Much of the wisdom i’ve gained has been during recovery from burn out, a common result of farming. Unfortunately finding ways we can work together more has many challenges but I’m definitely up for that discussion. One of my passions as a farmer, especially while physical work has been limited by all this rain is to develop my practice of relational farming and deeper communication. Listening more carefully to the messages expressed through my senses, psyche and dreamlife helps me to treat myself more sustainably, deal with challenges and allows me to keep being of service in a way that is more harmonious with my natural energy and that is also how I want to treat the farm.
