Regenerative farming has been a hot topic that continues to fire me up. As I’ve read more and more about this way of farming that seems to be the only path forward for our species, I have found that the concept of regenerative farming could also apply to us as humans.
Regenerative farming is a type of farming that focuses on “regenerating” the earth while also producing quality food. Most of what has become conventional farming has turned out to be extremely extractive to our earth, depleting it of its resources at an alarming rate while providing us with food that contributes to poor health.
While more and more environmentalists and activists are realizing that we can’t keep extracting from our earth without giving anything back, I think we should be realizing the same about our personal health.
We work ourselves to the bone. We put a ton of effort into our jobs, our families, our hobbies, and our habits (both good and bad ones). We are continuously “extracting” energy, attention, and health from ourselves.
We are so focused on production that we rarely put effort into regeneration. As writer Wendell Berry puts it, “Production’s tendency is to go “all-out”; it always aims to set a new record.” Simply put, we push ourselves every day and often in ways that are far from sustainable.
Berry goes on to say that, “Reproduction is more conservative and more modest; its aim is not to happen once, but to happen again and again and again, and so it seeks balance between saving and spending.”
This is what we should be aiming for. Reproduction. We want to be able to reproduce that mood, productivity, focus, or friendliness that we had yesterday. Like farming, to achieve this, we must put a little effort into regeneration.
So what does regeneration look like as a human? It’s taking a day off from work or the gym. It’s spending time in meditation, prayer, and thoughtfulness. It’s fueling your body with the right foods that will allow you to function as an optimal human. It’s getting quality sleep so your brain and body can heal from a hard day’s work. It’s spending time with quality folks who bring you peace and energy and less time with those causing dysfunction, stress, and anger.
It’s noble to want to produce for your future, your family, your job, and your community. But it’s essential to understand that doing this through continuous extraction of the self with no focus on regeneration is not a sustainable path and will likely lead to burnout.
Take time during the holidays to “regenerate” yourself and gear up for 2021!
Thanks for reading,
Chris Irvin
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