17/09/2025
As Caite said to me during our Pt 2 episode of , “living in the woods with your sheep and your kids is kind of a vibe.” Personally, my lifelong challenge - and it’s a CHALLENGE - is to make a daily and conscious effort to shelf the preconceived notions I have of others, to say less or say nothing until I have learned more, and to listen to people who I couldn’t be more different from. What would actually be in my nature would be not to leave my slice of the woods where I keep my sheep. We’ve been driven into a culture in which we are all isolated in our family units, kept discrete by driveways and mailboxes. We are segregated by our sense of duty to keep our “own” safe from everyone else out there. What could be more radical than engaging with your community, when everything past the mailbox just seems so unsafe? For me it seems unfathomable, to continue to step out. What could be more of a rebellion, than to bring your neighbor a bale of hay or some children’s Tylenol when they run out, even though you don’t really like each other? (This is just an example for the sake of an example, I actually love both my neighbors). What could be more of a revolution, than to show up for the guy down the road even after what he said last year? I can’t think of anything I’d rather avoid this week than a chatty crowd, and that’s exactly why you’ll find me at the farmer’s market this week, choosing, against my own will, to radically be amongst my community members. It’s scary sometimes, but I’d rather not take the chance of what our lives will turn into if we don’t keep challenging ourselves to engage with each other.
