Where to Begin

Where to begin?

Is there ever a perfect space, place or time to begin?

This year I have found myself more and more in the place of farm.life.psych - the parts of my life merge together, frequently overlapping. And I guess that makes perfect sense - because it is all part of me. I can't switch off my psychologist, thinking, creating, imagining brain when I'm farming. Although, the focus on the farm job in front of me often creates clarity that I struggle to find when I sit down at my computer.

I have a phone full of voice memos, quick notes and ideas - ready to bring to life the everyday thoughts that circle in my mind.

And yet, I haven't. All year, or honestly, for the last few years - I have envisaged bringing a blog to life. Yet there has always been a reason why it hasn't happened.

All of the what-ifs:

- What if: My website and blog space are too hard to navigate?

- What If: I can't start a LinkedIn newsletter or blog because what if the first one isn't spectacular and no-one decides to subscribe?

- What if I chose the wrong platform to host my website and blog on, then have to start all over again?

- What if: There is too much content in the world - who am I to create more?

And probably the reason my mind has brought to life more often than not - "I don't have time". In my mind, I have created the story that I need to be in the right time and space for deep content work. I need to have an hour of time to myself to write the blog, plan the podcast, or create the course. And yet, I can find 5 minutes of space for a quick social media post.

For too long, I have been listening to the reasons and stories in my mind. For too long, I haven't been showing up and creating what I would love to create.

Last week, I worked through a values exercise in preparation for a presentation I ran on Tuesday with a group of entrepreneurs and founders. Values are a funny thing to reflect on. While I know on the surface what many of my core values are, when I paused to reflect on them deeper, it was a confronting reality check that often I am not taking action towards my values.

When there is a gap between how I am showing up in the world and how I would ideally like to be showing up in the world (valued actions) - discomfort, frustration, disappointment - and generally messy feelings show up. Starting to take valued actions doesn't magically erase the uncomfortable feelings - in fact, I need to make space for a whole lot of other uncomfortable feelings as I start to engage in valued actions. But, as I do, I start to realise that my life becomes richer, more vibrant, and more meaningful.

So, as I sit here - taking 2 hours to write this imperfect article, with frequent interruptions from my 2 year old so that I can help him shift his farm machinery, reap a paddock, stack blocks, knock the blocks down, and generally embrace the world with toddler enthusiasm, curiosity and determination. I find myself back at the start. Where to begin?

After 5 days, I've found time to return to the article, and I'm determined to press post before the close of another month.

Where will I begin? Showing up, perfectly imperfectly. Showing up, consistently inconsistent. Showing up, sometimes with reflections, sometimes musings, hopefully sometimes with something that can help you to navigate your own journey.

What can you expect in these newsletters and blog articles?

• Musings and reflections from my life on the farm
• Learnings that will help those living the farm life juggle
• Learnings that will help if you work with those living the farm life juggle

Ready, Set, Post.

You can also find this article via my LinkedIn Newsletter