The Farm isn’t asking you to slow down.. it’s telling you.
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My favorite podcast minute of all time (across all podcasts) is minute 13 of a podcast focused on slowing down. He introduces the minute by stating that while a black bear hibernates, its breath slows down to one to two breaths every minute, twenty seconds between heartbeats. My favorite minute is when he plays the sound of a heartbeat as if it was that slow. Bubum……. bubum…….. bubum…
He continues to explain that there is a correlation with our ability to remember, and speed. The slower the pace, the stronger our ability to remember. And of course, the inverse is true, the faster the pace, the more difficult to remember.
Have you had a chance to slow down yet this winter?
Inviting you back (or for the first time) to our farmstand can on the surface feel a bit like adding to the rush of getting things done, but hold on with me for a second.
The farm and the farmstand itself is a place to start slowing down. At least for me (Alyssa) it is like one of those drivers’ ed cars that has the brake for the passenger just in case. The farm is grounded in real time, in the time it takes food to grow and decompose and grow again. Christian and I can bend over backwards to cut a few days here and there, but a carrot only grows as fast as a carrot grows.
When you sign up for the season, you’re getting a weekly, gentle brake from your passenger driver. Each week you step on the farm, you are in the presence of your food growing, inch by inch, leaf by leaf. You can take a deep breath, find inspiration to eat what is in season, and frame your week ahead with pauses to enjoy fresh produce.
If slowness is associated with improved memory, we have to be conscious of what we slow down for. What do we want to remember?
For me, I want to remember to enjoy life. I want to remember to be grateful for what keeps me alive. And if I can’t remember to slow down to do those things, I know I can rely on the farm to keep pressing that brake so I can look out the window and not miss the view.
It gives us great joy to invite you to join our CSA, to come to the farmstand, and to connect with your food, your fuel, your soil, and your farmers. Hope to see you next week!
