Drenched in Living: the tangible, intangible: How to be a Leader & Enjoy Life

A large part of my world right now is being a farm manager. I find it so difficult and confusing at times. Specifically how to be helpful and how to hold the right space and right direction to bring the most out of people and to get the work done. I read this bit from a Shambhala teacher John Rockwell today and found it very helpful:

He shared that he was not too happy in the beginning, "because it was extremely difficult...I really struggled with what it means to be a leader. I thought I should be very proactive and know what I'm doing, and call the troops to order, and lead the charge." Reading the Shambhala teachings, he discovered that, "the best thing was to take my seat and do nothing, and see what comes up and begin to learn from the people around me. It's much more about the team; and the environment will teach you what you need to know and what's happening." It was at that point that he found he could respond and be in tune rather than having to "crank something up."

Lavandula & Althaea officinalis

There is this ongoing joke with the crew when we gather for our morning meeting when we put "Jam Garden" on our task list. We have a garden on a slightly ignored side of the property that hosts a mingling of plants that could produce some tasty jams. These were planted three seasons ago in 2011. Next to this garden we have hundreds of feet of currants that we planted last year. We go to these spaces to check in about once every four months!

This week I was committed to going over and cleaning up the space. Weedwacking and mowing so the plants had more of a chance to live and so someone would want to spend time in there. Allyson took on weedwacking and I used our tiny riding mower that had certainly never taken on a mission like this one.

It took us the first half of the day to uncover the space. We found all of this fruit! It has begun to produce! Since, I have marked my calendar to pay a visit to the fruit every two weeks.