Thoughts of a Mrs. Modern-Day Mountain Woman

Chapter 1: Life is too short to stay civilized

When I was growing up in Illinois, I used to ride bikes in the summer with my best friend, Abby. She didn’t enjoy getting dirty, couldn’t ride her bike if the roads were bleeding (which was every day in the summer), and enjoyed cheesecake more than mud pies. We were opposites in so many ways, but to this day, we’re still best friends. We used to talk about our futures and our future kids. She would always say, “If my child doesn’t eat their cheesecake, they aren’t allowed up from the table!” to which I would reply, “if my child comes in the house clean after playing outside, I’m going to send them back out!!”.

Abby is now the wife of a farmer. She went from wearing frilly Sunday dresses and shiny shoes to wearing Levi’s and T-Shirts. She gets her hands dirty and drives a farm truck. She’s raising her son to live a life in the great outdoors working off the land. Abby realized that life is too short to stay civilized.

How many of us have been there? Enjoying the finer things of life without realizing where those fine things came from? Everything we have on this earth comes from farmers. Adam and Eve were the first farmers that God put on this earth. The first profession of man was to tend the earth and tame the animals.

John Muir wrote, “The gross heathenism of civilization has generally destroyed nature, and poetry, and all that is spiritual.”

When we separate ourselves from the earth, when we live larger than our means, and when we consume more than we produce, we destroy nature and all that is holy on this land. Too often, people are wrapped up in living big and getting the most out of this world from a worldly perspective. Instead, people should be wrapped up in living a life that is spiritual and in touch with nature.

Reflecting on God's creation

Just like my friend Abby realized, being grounded in nature and the soil, produces happy and content individuals. She has learned to appreciate that sometimes the uncivilized act of getting dirt under your nails, makes you more well-rounded and happy.

Life is too short to be civilized. Science is showing that the germs and bacteria in soil actually build-up a person’s immunity. Research also shows that playing in the dirt and breathing in fresh air improves a person’s mood. As a mom, I’ve found that my kids can play outside for hours and hours with no toys and get along, work together and learn to function as friends. Bring them inside for very long, and they get cranky and bicker. There’s something to be said for a mom telling her kids to, “just go play outside!” Grownups and kids alike need to connect with nature. Allow yourself to be grounded to the earth and air. Get outside, climb a tree, jump in a pile of leaves, get dirt under your fingernails; just get outside and live!