Contrary or Smart?

Contrary or Smart?
by Karen Beth Pike, Columnist

"Taking Care"

September 22, 2003

"This ability to manage manual labor efficiently requires a list of attributes and skills as long as a hoe handle, but might be summed up by the scene of my grandfather, Henry Rall, grinning mischievously as he drove his horses while sitting on the rocking chair he had wired to the harrow. He even offered a reason to so pamper himself: the extra weight made the harrow do a better job of leveling the soil. Grandpaw Rall was exhibiting the most necessary skill to enjoying hard work: technological cleverness." From Gene Logsdon's The Contrary Farmer, page 1.

I feel like I know Gene, even though we've never met. His writing is articulate and clever and well spiced with irreverent humor. On a more serious note, we have a lot in common in the way we question the conventional wisdom of the current batch of agricultural advice and government help for farming. There is enjoyment in hard work, and anyone who's ever done much of it can attest to it. Currently, so many of us use a lot of our mental energy and nearly none of our physical power and it has made us fat and lazy in a lot of ways.

The above example illustrates this idea rather well. Grandpaw used his wits to get better results with equipment he already had, and enjoyed himself - and his neighbor's reactions - in the bargain. He didn't need a new machine, or any machine at all to do the work better and with more pleasure, he used his creative mind to devise a solution with the things he already had available to him. Who among us is using our God-given faculties to the best of their ability? I would offer you a challenge - tomorrow morning take ten minutes and a pad of paper and go somewhere without distractions or interruptions and spend some time creatively thinking about a problem you have. Write down any idea that comes to you - don't judge those ideas, just let your mind pour itself out on the page. What you discover after doing this for a week will amaze and delight you. Allowing yourself to really think, rather than just responding to outside stimuli gives you a freedom you may not have explored since childhood. Who among us couldn't use more of that?

This all leads to taking oneself completely out of the rat race for a few minutes of the day. You can always go back to the rats if you want to, but by doing such an exercise you may discover the things that are really most important to you resurfacing in your to-do list and find yourself reconnected to the things that money can't buy. Your family, friends and relationships cannot be bought, nor can they be maintained without effort on your part. Like the example above on physical effort, effort spent to improve personal and other relationships can be pleasurable as well. Think of the last time you really visited with an old friend or family member - out of doors perhaps, no cell phone or pagers to distract you. Being completely aware of the person you are with - and involved in the conversation. Multi-tasking may have its place - although I've yet to find it - and it takes some time to mentally come back to really concentrating on one thing at a time. This notion is entirely contrary to the current "do more in less time" thinking, and yet just because it is an old idea, doesn't make it wrong.

I'll use another example from Gene Logsdon. "Grandpaw Logsdon was good at that too. He pounded a stake into the middle of his large, grassed barnyard, and attached one end of a length of rope to the stake and the other end to his lawnmower out on the edge of the lawn. Sure enough, the mower would run by itself in an ever decreasing circle as the rope wound around the stake, mowing most of the grass while Grandpaw cackled and drank hard cider in the shade."

These are the things that memories are made of, and the stuff of stories that get passed along for generations. Read something for inspiration, take a walk in the rain, roll down a grassy hill with your children, have a long talk with a relative, but DO something! Put it into your planner as personal time if you must, but get out of the rat race and make some memories of your own… it is well worth every contrary moment you spend on it. ***

Photo of Karen Beth Pike courtesy of the author