To Build a Farm

I didn’t ever want a farm growing up, I wanted an office job in a fancy high rise with copious amounts of free coffee. I would be wearing the newest trendy clothes and always have my hair up in a bun so everyone knew I meant business. There would be no glass ceiling for me! I was my own propeller to the stars. Everyone would look upon me and knew I had made it, they would never guess I was born in the grips of poverty.

I achieved this through years of hard work and dedication, power bun and all. So why did I spend more and more time, staring out the giant windows in the high rise overlooking the city feeling like I was missing out on life? The windows were a wall between me and something I couldn’t quite identify, holding me back somehow worse than the glass ceiling I feared. I moved my seat closer to the windows just to be able to look outside unbothered with the monotonous office cubicles in the way desperate to see whatever it was that beckoned to me. Could it be possible that my dream was wrong? How could something that sounded so amazing turn out to be a weight I bore, mentally preparing myself for each day to keep a positive attitude and not feel the crunching tight claustrophobia that I didn’t even know existed until a year into my dream job.

The window called to me, calling to me outside the artificially lit building urging me forward in a direction I couldn’t see. What was I missing? Why did I feel like life was passing me by and I was missing out on it? I searched for the answer for years, but what I found wasn’t what I expected.

Enlighten came to me, late night my dog was due to give birth. I had followed her around as restless as she was waiting for our much anticipated puppies to arrive. The excitement of the little squiggly pups was almost too much to bear and I knew no one would be sleeping that night. I knew it was going to be a difficult journey raising puppies in our dinning room, but I was ready for the challenge and we were as prepared as could be after two years of waiting and researching.

Finally, a tiny helpless puppy made his way into the world and hearing his little cry was everything to us. A healthy, chunky little pup born in the middle of the night was the wake up call that I needed. I wanted more from life than a grey canvas cubicle could ever give me, happiness wasn’t found for me in the latest meeting invite or corporate gossip.

Happiness for me was a farm with my animals I loved and could dote on, spoil and love, train and respect. The only issue was I lived in an HOA where puppies were NOT welcome. The ire their existence brought to our neighbors who were half an acre away was excruciating. How could anybody not love their sweet little faces? I knew we needed change, bigger than just a job change, we needed a house change. After three more years of searching for the right house with enough land for us and finding neighbors that love our dogs, I have started to feel that overwhelming sensation of something missing leave to be replaced by a bright happiness that lingers endlessly.

We have a farm now, with chickens, ducks, goats, and of course our silly rambunctious dogs. Everyday I wake up and see their happy faces and a burst of life awakens in me that fuels me in a way no promotion could have.

I seek to enlighten and guide people who want to start their own journey, but are too scared to or simply don’t know how. I wish I had a mentor to help me through the beginning days when we first made the decision to build a farm. I didn’t know how much land we would need, or what to look for in our farms new additions.

With each day my passion grows stronger and I meet new people who share the same passion for living life to the fullest getting to experience the ups and downs of farm life. Whether it’s just making homemade yogurt, or figuring out how to keep my plants alive, I am there going through the same thing they are and together we can all find our way out of the glass building we look through everyday waiting for something…for life.