Jumping...

People always talk about maturity and responsibility in young people and how we need more of it, but how are these attributes applied in a young person's life? Is it by staying the course in a path where we will make a decent living while exploring our true passions in our free time? Are we willing to reduce ourselves to a paycheck and save happiness for retirement...because lets be honest nobody really has free time anymore? It seems that this is what young people are doing more and more these days. I was not raised this way, and I am quite happy about that. I believe that true happiness is found when our passions are in the forefront of our lives not pushed to the side for a later date. I have always tried to follow my passions because I think that they are God-given, and I have given up fighting Him. When I left Belmont University after spending one and a half years studying Audio Engineering and Koine Greek under some of the amazing teachers and mentors I have ever had everybody asked me if I regretted Belmont. Psshh...my time at Belmont is what shaped into who I am now with the passions that I have now, and I would be a fool to regret such growth. Also, I was just as passionate and excited about going to Belmont as I am to learn and work on a farm. Yes, I did take a risk in leaving Belmont with no definite future, but in my little experience with this thing called life I have found that very few good things come without a risk upfront. This past fall I realized that I love Audio Engineering more than I thought I did and I love studying Greek more than I thought I could. I guess this is why so many people were surprised when I left Belmont in December...to be quite honest I was surprised too. But, my true passion is not in audio nor is it in Greek. I found this out slowly as I began to envision my life. I dreamt of being an audio engineer in Nashville with a family and tiny farm on the outskirts. This past summer after having my eyes opened to the reality of our food system, my ideas for said tiny farm began to grow into a larger farm to support not just my future family but also my local community. As my ideas of pro-audio as a career waned, I began to read more about small scale organic or semi-organic growers. Surges of passion struck at the most ridiculous moments such as when I was reading a chapter in Eliot Coleman's "The New Organic Grower" about fertilizer and pest-positive management outlooks...yes ladies and gentleman I was on my feet quivering with joy about encouraging rich, healthy soil instead and dousing our tomatoes with chemicals (or organic fertilizers). So, just after Thanksgiving I decided to make the jump into the life of a farmer. I am the first one to admit that I do not know what it is like to be farmer and work long hard days everyday with your livelihood on the line, but all that I can say is that I believe that passion is God-given. I feel like depriving myself of such passion would lead to a deprivation of happiness. The past couple of months as I have been in this state of limbo I have become the happiest and healthiest I can ever remember being. So that in a nut shell is why I took the jump from Belmont to life on a farm. Oh yes...and this whole idea of maturity and responsibility...I think that many people my age are stuck in the college track even if they don't belong there. I felt stuck at Belmont this fall because my passion and joy moved elsewhere, but I felt obligated to remain in school. Like I said before nothing good in my life has ever come without a risk. So I took the risk of leaving Belmont and with no certainty in my future I find my self being so very certain about so many things...