I hope this post will at least make some sense to someone out there. I was trying to explain this concept that I've been wrestling with since I began life on the farm a few weeks ago to Stuart and he gave me the *blank stare* back.
Apparently, I wasn't explaining myself very well. Perfect writing material, though. Let's just hope I don't leave you as confused as I left him.
The idea that I've been wrestling with is the idea, as we've all heard, time is money.
Eh, yes and no.
To some, this may ring very true. For the full-time employee making $20 an hour, it may be very easy to stick a price tag on things in terms of monetary value.
For example, a $5 loaf of bread may very easily translate to 15 minutes of time spent working. Simple math.
This mentality works very well for some – they work, make money, and then pay others to do the tasks at hand (and quite often, for less money than it would cost them to do said tasks themselves).
The idea that someone then would then want to raise a dairy cow, which involves building fence, feeding twice per day, watering, caring for, breeding, milking, and processing the milk seems obsurd.
After all, why wouldn't you just spend $5 to drive down to the store and pick up a gallon? It's convenient, after all. It's available year round, too.
And this continually begs an even bigger question – why do anything yourself at all? Why create with your hands? Why cook from scratch? Or draw? Or knit? Or garden? Or clean? After all, these are all tasks that can easily be outsourced or replaced with ease. There are factories to knit our scarves, factories to bake our biscuits, large commercial farms to grow our produce, and mass produced prints to hang on our walls.
Why create when the “time” spent creating is so great? And valuable?
Over the last few weeks, I've spent countless hours cleaning chicken coops, harvesting weeds, feeding hay, fencing pasture, hauling compost, planting seeds, and tending to crops. None of which is “necessary” by today's factory-minded-culture. I could, in fact, purchase zucchini for .69 cents a pound from the local Safeway right now, if I wish.
And for some, maybe they'd rather trade their time spent at work for the money to purchase such items. And there ain't nothin' wrong with that.
But my souls begs for something different.
It yearns to hear the call of the hungry chickens in the morning and to feel the soil beneath my toes. It longs to see the entire process of growing food from seed to harvest. It thrives off time spent in intimate relation with God's created world.
Why else would I contemplate raising pastured hogs and chickens? Or to do any of these homestead endeavors, really? To sink all that time and effort and energy into a product that's available (for cheap!) at the nearest supermarket (well, of course, that doesn't calculate for the incredible nutritional and ethical difference that exists between pastured animals and factory-farmed animals, but I hope you see the point I'm trying to make)?
If we live our life by the time is money idea, we fail to relate and create in an extraordinary way.
The knit scarf made in Cambodia will never satisfy in the way that a home knit, gifted scarf will satisfy. A tomato from the store will never satisfy in the way that a home grown tomato, babied from it's very beginning, will satisfy.
I think this is because of the fact that God, too, is an artist… a creator… a gardener… a Shepard. And the Bible tells us that man and woman were created in His image. Therefore, it stands to reason, that we too long to create.
Of course, everything we create is simply a ‘recreation' of what God has already created, but none-the-less, it's written in our souls to seek such artistic pleasure. I wouldn't do 90% of the tasks I do if I didn't believe this.
But I believe that such good, such foundational joy, such creative satisfaction can be found in:
…kneading bread…
…harvesting blueberries by hand…
…brushing the dairy cow…
…cooking dinner for the family…
…washing cloth diapers (ya, I said it, what)…
…utilizing home remedies…
…painting…
…drawing…
…knitting…
…reading…
…photographing…
…gardening…
…preserving…
…and yes, even cleaning….
I have to fight the mentality that all the hours in my day are labeled with a price tag. If I spend an hour in the pasture with Kula, I can't think of the $20 that was ‘lost' in that wasted time.
I've got to savor and enjoy the fact that lessons are being learned, animals are being utilized, soil is being worked, little ones souls are being shaped, husbands are being cared for, and God is being glorified.
And for our family, there just isn't a better way we could imagine spending these beautiful hours.
Keith Jones
Very well said, I love this.
Karrie
Yes, yes yes! There really is something to be said for doing things yourself, learning to appreciate all that God has given us and being a part of it. Thanks for your post, you always know just how to feed my homesteading dreams… π
DaNelle
LOVE THIS!
Heather Anderson
I get this! It is worth it to know that you can do these things, that you can take care of yourself and your family, that you can create and be creative, to know where something came from and what hands have touched it. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Amanda
I completely understand! Money isn’t everything and in my opinion isn’t anywhere near the top of my priorities list. That could be because I have money (I work full time) but what I long to do is your occupation.
Quinn
I’ve always struggled with “time is money,” first as a homemaker, and now more so as a homesteader. But even before homesteading, if I were to view time as money, it devalued everything I was doing. And let’s be honest, what do we need more time for? Entertainment? Recreation? I’ll work my six days, thank you, and it makes the whole day we’ve been given to break from work all the more sweet! I loved this post- thought you articulated yourself wonderfully- and am sharing this all around π Quinn @Reformation Acres
Shaye Elliott
Aw, Quinn, thank you! Coming from you, this means a lot. I so appreciate your love for your family and the homesteading life in general… I think you do a fantastic job of valuing that which needs to be valued. Truly, an inspiration.
Ed
I don’t know who originally said it (not me), but I prefer: “The cost of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.” That sums it up much better.
Ali Mygrants
Very nicely said.
Sue Taylor
In England they often refer to an expense as dear, as in it would be too dear a price.
I like that. I kind of sums up the concept of what is a cost vs. a value? I think you have your priorities grounded in values. Anything of true value is dear to us.
Erin
Great post! Makes me appreciate the homesteading lifestyle that I live even more!
Ariana Mullins
I love this, Shaye. It’s the things that I do the “hard way” that make life feel incredibly rich. Well said!
Ali Mygrants
You have a point. We all have the freedom to choose what “time spent” really means, but for me I believe in what you are saying. I believe the land being worked, the animals being utilized by my own hand, the children growing up in an environment that is true to nature is so important. It’s beautiful and it gives back just as much as we give to it. It’s okay to choose an alternative lifestyle, not everyone was meant to be a farmer, but for those who do choose that lifestyle .. may they do it to the fullest of their ability.
Loretta
Love it! So true…
Bethany McGough
I’m not sure how I stumbled upon your blog, but I’m so glad I did! I love your writing style…it cracks me up! And to this post I say…Amen! So hey, thanks for sharing your life! It’s super refreshing to know there are other young Christian couples out there who are striving to live a “simpler” life. I’m definitely a work-in-progress. π My husband and I just moved to Alaska where it’s quite acceptable to pick wild berries and stock your freezer for the winter with fish and game you hunt yourself. We are loving it! I’m looking forward to perusing your blog more…
Devon H
Shaye, I truly believe that God is using you to bless others with words and wisdom. I read this post tonight, and the one you mentioned on Facebook tonight from a year ago on contentment. I was struggling today with grief over the loss of my baby 2 months ago 5 days after he was born (3 months early…his due date is coming up on Aug. 9…), my 13 year old used car, our only source of transportation, acting up in 103 degree weather, my job of 10 years that I loathe anymore, not wanting to cook in this awful heatwave (I’m in PA), and I could go on. I was very discontent, even angry. And I believe God lead me to your post, this one, and the one from last year on contentment. I often find myself yearning to create, to leave the job I hate to be a SAHM and create things, and take pleasure in cooking dinner, cleaning, preserving the harvest, and feeling discontent with being unable to or limited in accomplishing those things. I just wanted you to know how much it blessed and humbled me to read the words God speaks through you, to be convicted of my spirit of discontent, and to be glorifying God and thankful for the things we have, the lessons being learned, and how He is shaping us through life’s ups and downs.
Shaye Elliott
Bless you, Devon!
Chloe
Absolutely beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing. This is a good life philosophy for us all to remember.
Bee Girl (AKA Melissa)
This is wonderfully written. I appreciate your honesty and perspective! I am looking at losing my job in the next 6 months (the non-profit I work for is “re-organizing”) and am going to try my hand at working from home and caring for our (due next week) Little One. The idea of trading my “time is money” attitude for a “time is life” attitude already scares me because I’ve never lived that way…but I want to…I long for it! It will definitely be a shift, but I look forward to it! Thank you for calling it out π
jessica
Well said! Although the phrase ‘time is money’ suggests we focus on being as efficient as possible, it can be a distracting where we lose focus in our daily lives. Instead of feeling gratitude for what we have and enjoying our daily routine of work, we rush because we feel we are ‘on the clock!’ I think that is where a lot of frustration stems from (especially when things don’t go as planned and require more time) Happiness is finding enjoyment in each task throughout the day. And I agree, there is nothing quite like working on a farm. =)
Teresa Messick
Love this! You are not just feeding your family, you are feeding your soul! So many of us go through life just existing and not really living! You my friend are LIVING! Thanks for sharing your journey!
heather
thank you for sharing this, shaye! beautiful. what a wonderful paradigm shift for mankind: time = life. no one can ever truly compensate us for our time. it is our most precious possession and meant to be spent creating in love and joy, as you have so eloquently written here!
Roxana
Thank you! This is exactly what I needed to hear. And yes I do totally get what you mean!
Michelle
Lovely post! Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Very uplifting and encouraging for this part-time homesteader-artist. π
Sarah
So delighted to read this description of time being valuable beyond the monetary amount that mankind desires to place upon it. Nourishing Traditions changed my life so positively that it is unrecognizable now, from what it was before. We need to be good stewards of this wonderfully complex and rich world that the Good Lord made for us, not complicate it or desire to become wealthy. Blessings to all.
Shaye Elliott
Me too! π
Joe
Thank you! New to the blog, and I love it already! I had been thinking on something similar, but hadn’t written it down yet. Time is Life! sums it up perfectly.
Crystal S
Love it! Gave me goosebumps reading this. This is exactly how I’ve felt for a long time but had never really put it into words or heard it in an explanative way.
Monika
I would give up everything I have, which ain’t sayin’ much…well except my cat, he stays no matter…to live the life you are living. To work for food that I grew or raised, etc. To live a simple life, yes with some electronics…haha.. I’ve been following you for a while now and you never fail to provide serious good advice with a entertainment value as well. This post was phenomenal and I thank you for writing it. My time is spent working for “da man” making way less than I’m worth but I have no choice. This post is inspiring enough to re-think this whole work for a living to make the almighty dollar. You are a beautiful soul!
Lauren
Thank you for freeing me out of this mentality of time and money. Amazing.
Christy D
Shaye! There are so many things I want to say to you! Can’t we just meet for coffee?? Oh wait…thousands of miles and what not; the blog-o-sphere will have to do! First of all, I discovered you via your cookbook “From Scratch” which I stumbled across on Amazon…that was 2 weeks ago…since then I’ve been devouring old posts and frantically cooking though the book. Your journey is so much like mine in so many ways. I found Sally Fallon’s book about 6 years ago and fell in love with Traditional eating, truly feeling convicted that, at least for me, this is part of God’s plan for what and how to eat. But it’s been hard to apply all of her recipes, and hard to find other cookbooks that honor such traditions as soaking grains etc — enter: your book. Thank you so much for taking the time and efforts to put it all down! It’s been such a blessing to me….oh, and THIS post. This post has been my personal struggle for years…we are fighting the systems of the world, girl, it’s tough, but we’re not alone! Thanks for putting it out there. I’m amazed at all you’ve accomplished! Way to go! All the best, your wanna-be-gal-pal – Christy
Shaye Elliott
Thanks for reading, Christy!
Margo
I love this! You are a creative person and so am I. God is also so creative! Creating is living…time spent creating is also living. Well written!
stacy
Yes…
Birdie
You are such an inspiration! So glad I found your blog!