Work

There's an article in tomorrow's NY Times magazine about the value of working with your hands in a 'knowledge worker' world. The article does a much better than I usually do about explaining the general inclination I have to transition from an office job to a 'real' job.

It made me kind of reflect on what it is that I've been good at in the past and enjoyed and what I would like to look forward to. I have always enjoyed, and I think succeeded, at jobs with the word analyst in the title. I was once an intelligence analyst and now I'm something like a media analyst and I think I'd do well as a policy or political analyst and maybe even as a business or financial analyst.

What I'm starting to realize, and I think this article helped make this more concrete, is that this general desire to figure things out, piece things together, and plan and execute ideas, is a desire at least as well, and probably more, suited to something like running a small farm. When I plan my farm I think of it as a complex system that I am the manager. I want to have a number of different animals and a diverse market garden all working together. Plant waste feeding animals (like pigs) and animal waste (as fertilizer) feeding plants. Time and labor thoughtfully organized to make sure that nothing is picked too early or too late and that every piece of machinery is in good repair when I'm ready to use it.

How much more fulfilling of a use of mental energy that would be. Talk about analysis. Everything working in sync is the ideal but probably never the reality. The analysis would come in constantly trying to figure out why some aspect isn't working and trying to devise a way to fix it with out upsetting the rest of the system.

That to me is the appeal of farming. Or the mental appeal anyway. I also physical rather enjoy the smell of trees and grass and water and manure. Not to mention the wonderful feeling of laying down for the night physically exhausted. That's a feeling a I haven't felt much in the last few year, maybe only when I've been moving furniture or something.

But back to the mental side of it. A good question might be, "If farming likely requires the same mental processes you enjoy now in office jobs, why change?" Well, aside for the aforementioned physical aspects, there's an element of independence I lack right now. I have some liberty to use my judgment on certain aspects of my job right now, but generally I am working to meet standards set by others to create a product fulfilling the needs of others. I've always been a little bit more independent-minded than that. I need to feel like I can just decide to grow rhubarb one year if I want and then never grow it again if I don't want to.

Also, the stakes aren't that high in the average office job. Sure, I could really screw up and maybe even publicly embarrass my employer. But the worst that could happen is a stern talking-to or a write-up or, at worst, termination. Negligence on a farm means living things, as well as the profits they could bring, can die. Somehow I think that pressure keeps your mind sharper.

Now that NY Times article is actually more focused on motorcycle repair, but I started the above train of thought so maybe it's worth a read for you too.