{"id":159,"date":"2013-02-02T15:10:53","date_gmt":"2013-02-02T23:10:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.joshvolk.com\/blog\/?p=159"},"modified":"2014-11-12T07:14:27","modified_gmt":"2014-11-12T15:14:27","slug":"lazy-sunday-afternoon-repost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.joshvolk.com\/?p=159","title":{"rendered":"Lazy Sunday Afternoon (repost)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"lazysunday\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here’s a repost from my old blog. This was originally posted Sunday, September 14, 2008<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Last Sunday I was up visiting my good friends at\u00a0Foxglove Farm<\/a>\u00a0on Salt Spring Island in BC.\u00a0 It was a beautiful weekend, sunny and warm, with that low, late summer sun.\u00a0 After working a long market day on Saturday, as well as sun up to sun down every other day the previous week, Michael declared Sunday a lake day.\u00a0 We had a leisurely breakfast of blueberry pancakes, with strawberries and melon.\u00a0 How much better does it get than fresh fruit right off the farm.\u00a0 Well, then we headed off to the lake for an afternoon of sunning on the banks, eating fresh goat cheese and home made bread, punctuated with intermittent dips in the perfect lake.\u00a0 Incredible, so beautiful and relaxing.<\/p>\n

The next part might not sound amazing, but to me it really fit in well with that afternoon.\u00a0 To top things off we headed back to the farm to do a little harvest of bunched beets and carrots for Tuesday market before making dinner.\u00a0 In a world where major efforts have been made to shorten the work week to most it would seem anathema to work another hour.\u00a0 I\u2019ve questioned this kind of work week myself ever since I started farming, worrying that it must be a sure road to burn out and beyond that exploitative.\u00a0 Recently I\u2019ve come to think that it\u2019s less about the number of hours worked than the spirit in which they are worked.<\/p>\n

In the language of\u00a0Nonviolent Communication (NVC)<\/a>\u00a0there are four skills:<\/p>\n

1.Differentiating observation from evaluation<\/p>\n

2.Differentiating feeling from thinking<\/p>\n

3.Connecting with the universal human needs\/values<\/p>\n

4.Requesting what we would like in a way that clearly and specifically states what we do want<\/p>\n

In defining the fourth skill there is no particular wording that goes with a request, it is simply that the intention behind the request needs to genuinely be a request:<\/p>\n

\u00a0a request that is truly a request and not a demand (i.e. attempting to motivate, however subtly, out of fear, guilt, shame, obligation, etc. rather than out of willingness and compassionate giving).<\/em><\/p>\n

Labor laws and conventions attempt to create universal definitions that are objective and easy to regulate.\u00a0 An industrial society where owners and managers are far outnumbered by employees necessitates some protection for workers rights.\u00a0 When the workers are the owners and especially when the work is done in an atmosphere that is supportive and open enough that the workers may meet their needs without overworking themselves, then there is no motivation \u201cout of fear, guilt, shame, obligation, etc.\u201d\u00a0 The work is truly done out of willingness and is also truly rewarding in the way that only compassionate giving can be.<\/p>\n

This is complicated.\u00a0 It is difficult to assess ones own feelings and thinking without evaluation and perhaps impossible to do so with other people.\u00a0 In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the most significant text on yoga, there are eight components of Yoga, the first of which is Yama, or our attitudes toward our environment.\u00a0 In Desikachar\u2019s translation of the the second pada (chapter), line 30,<\/p>\n

Yama comprises:<\/p>\n

1. (Ahimsa) Consideration for all living things, especially those who are innocent, in difficulty, or worse off than we are.<\/p>\n

2. (Satya) Right communication through speech, writings, gesture, and actions.<\/p>\n

3. (Asteya) Non-covetousness or the ability to resist a desire for that which does not belong to us.<\/p>\n

4. (Brahmacarya) Moderation in all our actions<\/p>\n

5. (Aparigraha) Non-greediness or the ability to accept only what is appropriate.<\/p>\n

Looking through this lens on the work that we do provides a more meaningful assessment of it\u2019s appropriateness and sustainability than any labor law can.\u00a0 If we could all follow these guidelines for ourselves, and not worry about the next person there would be no conflicts and no need for labor regulation.<\/p>\n

Even labor law acknowledges that farming is different, and small scale farms are more different still.\u00a0 There is probably nowhere that the sense of ownership, reward from giving, and satisfaction from accomplishment is more tangible.\u00a0 This is not to say that there aren\u2019t moments of burnout on small farms as well, but to say that the idea of what work is in farming reflects the difference between a farm which is wholistic in it\u2019s work and an industry which is specialized.<\/p>\n

What it all comes back to for me, personally, is that I have to clearly look at each moment and ask myself if I am doing the right thing at that moment.\u00a0 So, on this lazy Sunday afternoon, I\u2019m sitting down to write, and then I think I\u2019ll go work in the garden, because the difference between work and leisure is mainly one of attitude in my mind, and both can be enjoyable or not, you decide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Here’s a repost from my old blog. This was originally posted Sunday, September 14, 2008   Last Sunday I was up visiting my good friends at\u00a0Foxglove Farm\u00a0on Salt Spring Island in BC.\u00a0 It was a beautiful weekend, sunny and warm, with that low, late summer sun.\u00a0 After working a long market day on Saturday, … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Lazy Sunday Afternoon (repost)”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reposts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joshvolk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joshvolk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joshvolk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joshvolk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joshvolk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=159"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.joshvolk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":162,"href":"https:\/\/www.joshvolk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159\/revisions\/162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joshvolk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joshvolk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joshvolk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}