on being a Jane of all trades

I am a "Jane of all trades" or better still, a "Renaissance woman."  I have never been able to fully specialize, as my interests are vast, and I become bored with the same thing ad infinitum.  It occurs to me that this quality of diverse interests and skills is part of being an artist and a farmer.  The global, corporate world seems to pressure us all into specialization, but I reject the merits of that.  To me, having diverse interests and abilities in many fields is a more natural and healthful path than specialization.

In Vermont, I am right at home with these ideas.  Vermonters, as a general rule, have several jobs that fade in and out depending on the seasons and the cash flow.  It is rare to meet a true Vermonter who has only one job.  Perhaps it is simple survival skills adapted to a harsh climate that have created this situation, but it is also reflective of country life in  general.  Not only does the money come in spurts from varying avenues, work needs to get done at certain times and often there are only so many people to accomplish everything, so everyone ends up wearing a lot of hats.  To me this is completely natural and as life ought to be.  Specialization is what seems peculiar.

So, with Full Circle Farm, I offer the goods and services that I have learned to provide for myself.  Of course there is still some specialization.  My skill set includes art making, growing things, sewing, cooking, design, teaching, problem-solving, and maybe a few other things, but of course not everything.  I am interested in an economy of "the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker..." but not in the limited sense of each person doing only one thing, but of each doing an assortment suited to individual taste, and communal need.  I am interested in a local exchange because exchange at a local level creates strong and healthy communities.  When exchange is centralized as in a corporate system, local communities lose their power and vibrancy.

Being a Jane of all trades is a holistic way to work.  The patterns of my work and production become tuned to my own daily needs.  I grow food for myself at the same time I do it for others, likewise with cooking, making winter wares, or preserving the harvest.  There is a natural rhythm to work that coincides with the needs of my family.  I make provision for myself by providing for others.  This feels right to me so much more than giving all my time to a job that is not connected to my own daily needs other than through money.

I know these ways are not for everyone.  This is why I said in my last post that both art and farming are vocations rather than jobs.  They are a way of life.  I wholeheartedly and enthusiastically embrace this way of life, despite it's inherent uncertainty and spontaneity.   I really can't live any other way, or certainly don't want to.  I embrace the "Full Circle."