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There is nothing better than getting up early in the morning, driving out through the countryside, popping on a pair of gum boots, and getting to work on the farm with cows, pigs, and sheep. I have been blessed with the ability to do this about once a week since arriving in New Zealand five months ago. I’ve always wanted to learn about farming; and when I found out I would be working in New Zealand, an agricultural kingpin where there are twelve sheep to every one person, I practically salivated at the opportunity.  I have learned heaps about farming: I now know that calling a cow a cow showcases ignorance. If you want to sound a little less nascent you say cattle, if you want to sound even more knowledgeable you say bull or heifer, and if you want to be “in” you say Galloway, Friesian, Jersey, Belted Galloway, or whatever breed is applicable. I’ve been to a stock sale and seen how much is communicated via grunts and flicks of the hand; very little is done with actual words. I’ve learned that New Zealand farmers may soon be taxed on their cattle’s gas “emissions” – one instance in which, I believe, environmental protection goes a tad bit too far. I have noticed that cow crap is part of life -- and that if you can’t handle it, then you’d better get out of the cow shed. But while my increased proficiency in cattle breed knowledge, stock sales, and, well, crap, may be salient enough, the most significant lesson I’ve picked up these last few months is to live and work in such a way as to let the field lie fallow.
In our world today it is all GO…no wait, go harder…no, even harder.
Leaving a field to lie fallow simply means leaving a paddock or field to be unseeded, uneaten, and unspoilt for a season or more. Farmers let fields lie fallow because it is one of the best ways to allow the land to replenish its nutrients and regain its fertility without resorting to the application of fertilizers. It also helps prevent erosion as the roots of the plants left to grow on the land help to hold the soil in place against the ravages of wind and rain. Sounds extremely important for farming doesn’t it? Sad thing is, farmers have so many demands on them that most don’t let fields lie fallow anymore, or at least find it difficult – and this in turn is slowly sapping the ground of all its cornucopian goodness. Some of you have never, and may never, touch agriculture with a ten-foot pole. Regardless, I think the notion of letting fields lie fallow is something we all need to understand. In our world today it is all GO…no wait, go harder…no, even harder. We are caught up in the rat race, pushing past our economic competitors as we climb the corporate ladder. We push through education, maybe some more education, and then start at the bottom in a job, work our way as far as we can go, and push harder and harder our whole lives through hoping someday to achieve retirement. Then we find that, upon reaching retirement, we didn’t work hard enough, so we need to work a little bit more. We work until we kill ourselves, and then we work some more. I just remarked to my wife the other day that life seems to be consumed by either work, or putting off work. We never let our fields lie fallow. I agree with Marx when he argues that capitalism is self-destructive because it lacks rational control. I agree, not because I think capitalism will someday collapse into communism ushering in a rise of the proletariat yadah, yadah, yadah, but because capitalism is, as an economic system, a nutrient draining mechanism that sucks dry the very lifeblood of its primary means of production: people. Our capitalistic culture sometimes (who am I kidding? most of the time) does not comprehend the notion of leaving a field to lie fallow. the opportunity to breathe
Some sectors of the working world might seem to have picked up on this concept: academics take sabbatical years off, though this is a period which, paradoxically, they use to write papers and do other work they do not usually have the opportunity to get to. Furthermore, some newer companies are starting to realize that ruling your employees with an iron fist and enforcing early-in/late-out schedules or stringent dress codes coupled with other rules and regulations is not the path to long-term success. These companies are relaxing their rules, throwing parties for their employees, and giving their people the opportunity to breathe. Recently, in the magazine Fortune, Larry Page of Google was quoted saying, “Yes, you’re going to work, but you’re also going to have fun as well.” Yet, one can quickly discern that faculty sabbaticals and “fun” work still don’t fully encompass the idea of letting fields lie fallow. In order to really grasp this idea I think we need to move beyond enlivened work and time off to do other work, and instead explore the full range of possibilities in metaphorically letting our fields lie fallow. Even vacations or holidays don’t quite cut it. Taking time off for a little rest and relaxation is good, yes, but sometimes it simply amounts to putting off the inevitable work we all must return to. To let our fields lie fallow means a totally different approach to life and work. I think as young people in the workforce we can be pioneers
I think as young people in the workforce we can be pioneers in the exploration of a new world of working, and of the rituals and codes surrounding how we work. We can do this by insisting on time off expressly for down time and family time. We can even take our own steps at home and not fill our timetables with extracurricular activities that soon fill the schedule to the brim and never allow us any real time off. For me, this means allowing my wife to have veto power over my schedule. If she doesn’t like what she sees in my calendar, she gets to veto activities, work and all. We have the chance to allow time to explore ourselves, our friends and family, and the world around us. – to be, as one friend I know puts it, perhaps a little more open to that mad wild wonder of the journey for its own sake. We need to stop looking at our lives as chess games, with strategic moves to be made and a game to be won, and instead start looking at it as an artist’s canvas. Maybe we can all be a lot better off if we realize there’s a reason that the field lies fallow. Maybe if we take the time to take a rest we can change the way we do things, and reinvigorate the working world with fresh, rejuvenated, and emboldened people who are better off as employees, family members, and friends because of it. Maybe if we keep the journey at the forefront of our mind, and for a while ignore the end goal of life and the corporate ladder, we can make both the workplace and the world alike a bit better. As I mentioned earlier, I love going out to the farm to do some good hard work, to get my hands dirty, to feel like I did something with my day. But the best part of my time out on the farm is breakfast, when after milking and feeding we take an hour or so to eat some eggs on toast, drink some coffee, and shoot the bull. It is just one small way we take some time to let the fields lie fallow. this generation can and will begin to rest
In fact, I believe the people of New Zealand understand the value of taking time off better than most. In my line of work your average week is somewhere between 50-60 hours. But here I was told that I will not work more than 48 hours a week. Additionally, the same people who told me this also encourage me to spend time on the farm, take a day or two off occasionally, and even pay for me to go on holidays. Not to say that my employers are the only people in New Zealand leading the way. All employees in New Zealand get four weeks of holiday each year and although the farmers all work hard day in and day out, they also make sure that their schedule is open for family, recreation, and down time. They also have this thing called the Big O.E. or the Gap Year, where before plunging into the workforce students and young adults take a year to experience the world and learn something about themselves at the same time. I reckon people in New Zealand just get it more then others. I want to encourage those of us in the United States to do the same. Can we take that bold step forward to truly take some time off? Can we resist the temptation to use a field that is resting; can we resist the temptation to feverishly climb the corporate ladder at the sake of our family and sanity? I think we can. As depressed as I sometimes get over the current state of the workforce, and the constant beating that employees young and old put themselves and their loved ones through, I am simultaneously hopeful that this generation can and will begin to rest, to let their fields lie fallow.
- Ken Chitwood Illustration by Gustaf von Arbin |
