If you Google ‘self care for farmers’, a flood of articles will populate with pictures of tired looking farmers with head in hands, and discussions of the rise in farmer suicide and telephone hotlines for acute stress and anxiety. It is a big problem in the agricultural world where there is so much uncertainty in the day to day lives of farmers and ranchers. Many of these factors are outside our control. Weather, commodity prices, consumer trends, global climate crisis, political situations, and yet we must continue to do our beautiful work. We are stewards of our most important resource, our soils, and we are tasked and called to work with the land, our animals and our human resources to create food and fiber for ourselves and the rest of society. There is a weight that every farmer and rancher carries. Sometimes it  feels heavy indeed. 

So there is a push right now, as we recruit new young farmers, and support the older generation as they begin to pass the torch, to focus our efforts on the mental health of our small cadre. Self care has become a buzzword. Taking time to refresh our tired shoulders, ease the stress, abate the anxiety, and recharge for the next challenge, is what the social workers and therapists suggest. There is a whole huge industry around self care, everything from yoga studios, to salons and spas, all the products, high powered gyms, Peloton, Om, Noom, nine bazillion apps, and a trillion downloadable workshops and courses to assist us in our self care. There are a lot of things we can buy, wear, put on our faces, or pay someone to do for us that qualify as self care. All have their benefits, we are told they are all useful, but… of course you know already…most farmers cannot seem to swallow the advice, or make the time to do them. 

There are a few reasons it is so hard. First off, there is the time. Farming and ranching is more than a full time job. Most times it is sun-up to sundown, and getting enough sleep is one of the most important things we can do for self care. Who has the time to run into town for a yoga class?

There is also the matter of cost. So many of these solutions have an accompanying price that many struggling farmers simply cannot afford. We weigh each expenditure and usually opt for one of the more pressing needs, or opportunities for children, or other family members. In the big holistic picture we tend to put self care ‘luxuries’ further down the list of priorities.

 I find this true in my life. As a woman of a certain age, ahem (56), I am just tired of all the focus on outward appearance, our youth obsessed culture, on fast fashion and shallow entertainment. I am concerned about what is happening to our environment, our climate and the future of the planet. Face Yoga seems small in comparison to the big problems in our world. My aging parents are more important than the wrinkles on my forehead. Yet, the tightness in my neck and sciatic pain are definitely hindering my ability to cope with the day to day life here on Brown Dog Farm. Farmers tend to be workers, always plugging away at the to-do list, self care smacks of laziness.

 So how do we figure out a way to make sure our physical and mental health stay strong and in balance? We are a small and unique slice of the cultural pie here in America. We need to re-frame self care and describe it with the aspects of discipline and routine that farmers and ranchers are familiar with. There is nothing more farmer-like than a disciplined routine that is focused on something other than herself. The simple facts that rural life that can be isolating and far from the opportunities that city or suburban life offer, and the paltry internet offerings, farmers and ranchers need to get creative with their self care. 

Creativity is within us all. There is a creative impulse in every human. Once ignited it can move mountains, build cities, play beautiful music, paint breathtaking images, tell heartfelt stories, cook memorable meals, design a comfort filled home. Creativity is life affirming, confidence building, has an inherent sense of play, and with regular practice in a fast way to get into a state of ‘flow’. When spending time in this flow state,the feelings that would consume you under normal circumstances (inhibition, hunger, fatigue, or aches and pains) melt away, and all that matters is your dedication to your craft. When we achieve a flow mental state —  it can leave us feeling ecstatic, motivated and fulfilled. 

Sometimes the antidote to stress and anxiety is not rest and relaxation, sometimes it is engagement in something that brings pleasure and confidence. Sometimes it is participating in something that you love to do just for the sake of doing it. Creative pursuits have the added benefit of producing or making something, a hat, a painting, a meal, a bench. This is not necessary though to receive the benefits of just taking time to practice a creative act, it is merely a side benefit. The outcome, the product,  can be a motivator for folks to pursue creative practice. Once engaged, the process is what becomes the most important thing for the benefits of mental health. 

Some of the effects of flow state through creative practices are: 

1. Heavy sense of concentration. Being able to focus on the work without getting distracted leads to a higher output of higher quality work.

2. Sense of clarity. In a state of flow, your body and mind will know what needs to be done without having to think about it.

3. Lack of obstacles. The thoughts and feelings that generally cloud our minds, such as stress, worry, and self-doubt, take a back seat when we achieve a flow state.

4. Good feelings. Being in a deep flow state is often described as an intrinsically positive experience. There is no superficiality driving this force, it’s just the pleasure that comes with being in the moment and doing something that you are passionate about.

5. Happiness. The type of happiness one can gain from being in a flow state goes beyond a temporary high — it is a general sense of well-being and a lasting sense of happiness and fulfillment.

So what does this look like for the farmer/rancher? When we look back in history, it is easy to see why farmers and ranchers have always had a tradition of creative practice embedded in daily life. It has not been until recent history that the ‘arts’ were quarantined off from ‘regular’ work. Almost everyone's farmer great grandmother quilted, crocheted, knitted, sewed, baked, cooked, sang in a church choir, and wrote poems or kept a ‘book of days’. Ranching men traditionally built furniture, played an instrument, tooled leather, carved wood, wrote poetry, sang cowboy songs. We tend to assume it was out of necessity and it may have been, but it was most certainly also out of a need for this ‘flow’ state, in a world of uncertainty, anxiety, stresses of life and death, and rural isolation. 

Today we tend to leave creative work to ‘the professionals’. We watch it being performed on TV, video, podcasts, youTube. It is a spectator sport, and being such, we never receive the benefits of true participation. It can leave us feeling, ‘less than’, and further isolated; feeling like oh I want that, I need one of those, I wish I could be her. We call them ‘creatives’ as if they were a different species. We need to turn off the performance and step up to the mic ourselves. Everyone can drink from the well of creativity.

We need to write our creative practice into our schedule. Give it a time slot in the day or week, and commit to it for our own health benefits. If we create something useful at the end, fine, if not, then still fine. It is the doing and working at something that lights us up, for the only purpose of igniting that creative spark within us all, and its life affirming benefits. We farmers and ranchers need to step into our heritage as creative makers, and continue showing up for ourselves and the ones to follow. This life we live has always flowed right beside the creative path, out of necessity for the artistic creations that enrich our homes and communities, and also for our own mental health.

Everybody born comes from the Creator trailing wisps of glory. We come from the Creator with creativity. I think that each one of us is born with creativity.

-Maya Angelou