In this day and age of cookie cutter homes and lack of uniqueness, people are painted with the same brushes, with expectations that we are all the same, or we want to be. There is a lot of truth to that, but why? Why are people wearing the same styles, decorating their homes with the same colours, and following the same rituals? What happened to the celebration of our uniqueness?
On the farm, within the sheep and the goats, or all of the animal groups, there is one that stands out. She is different, nonconforming, and usually troublesome, the one that other farmers would be rid of much sooner than later. Nix, the goat, does not think fences are for her, for example, and can easily escape from any I have put her in, including the 4 foot high wooden fence. She is just a little smarter than other goats, but she is exactly what farmers do not want. I think we should breed for this primitive quality of innate intelligence, not cull it.
We do cull uniqueness, disdain and shun it, in our own human community. Kids who are like Nix, the goat who does not abide boundaries, are drugged to conform, sit still, pay attention, stop dreaming and come back to reality, and so on. It comes down to a case of management. It is much more taxing to look after a goat like Nix, or an autistic child with different limitations, than it is a 'normal' one. Society has been conditioned to prefer sameness. Since the industrial revolution and the institution of schools, people are trained to sit in rows, raise their hands, think the same and never interrupt. Kids are focused on getting a career and becoming self sustainable, instead of using their gifts to change the world. Nix does not want to get out of the fence to go anywhere, but just to see what is on the other side. Most of us never look that far in our own lives. We just go along with those current styles and buy the pretty things in the stores, discarding last year's items that are slightly out of style. Who says we need to do that?
I used to be stuck in that continuous roller coaster of buy, buy, buy, consume, consume, consume. Though I still did not fit the norm dictated by society and managed to fit in highly creative and unusual occupations or occupations in which creativity was encouraged, if not required, I still succumbed to fashion and style. So, I opted out of polite society and became me again, that little unique soul connected to my animals and nature, growing gardens and eating food as it was intended to be, I am no longer lured by fashion and style. I get out of the fence to see what is on the other side and I like it. My farmhouse is a mix of antiques and unique things and they are not painted white simply because the style says we need to do that. I must say, I sleep well, eat well, am working hard and am very content. It is so wonderful to be me. I bet, I know, it would be equally freeing and wonderful for you to be just you, that unique beautiful person you are. Like my Nix, the goat, step over the fence and see what is on the other side and for goodness sake, don't let society paint you white!
On the farm, within the sheep and the goats, or all of the animal groups, there is one that stands out. She is different, nonconforming, and usually troublesome, the one that other farmers would be rid of much sooner than later. Nix, the goat, does not think fences are for her, for example, and can easily escape from any I have put her in, including the 4 foot high wooden fence. She is just a little smarter than other goats, but she is exactly what farmers do not want. I think we should breed for this primitive quality of innate intelligence, not cull it.
We do cull uniqueness, disdain and shun it, in our own human community. Kids who are like Nix, the goat who does not abide boundaries, are drugged to conform, sit still, pay attention, stop dreaming and come back to reality, and so on. It comes down to a case of management. It is much more taxing to look after a goat like Nix, or an autistic child with different limitations, than it is a 'normal' one. Society has been conditioned to prefer sameness. Since the industrial revolution and the institution of schools, people are trained to sit in rows, raise their hands, think the same and never interrupt. Kids are focused on getting a career and becoming self sustainable, instead of using their gifts to change the world. Nix does not want to get out of the fence to go anywhere, but just to see what is on the other side. Most of us never look that far in our own lives. We just go along with those current styles and buy the pretty things in the stores, discarding last year's items that are slightly out of style. Who says we need to do that?
I used to be stuck in that continuous roller coaster of buy, buy, buy, consume, consume, consume. Though I still did not fit the norm dictated by society and managed to fit in highly creative and unusual occupations or occupations in which creativity was encouraged, if not required, I still succumbed to fashion and style. So, I opted out of polite society and became me again, that little unique soul connected to my animals and nature, growing gardens and eating food as it was intended to be, I am no longer lured by fashion and style. I get out of the fence to see what is on the other side and I like it. My farmhouse is a mix of antiques and unique things and they are not painted white simply because the style says we need to do that. I must say, I sleep well, eat well, am working hard and am very content. It is so wonderful to be me. I bet, I know, it would be equally freeing and wonderful for you to be just you, that unique beautiful person you are. Like my Nix, the goat, step over the fence and see what is on the other side and for goodness sake, don't let society paint you white!
This is Stevie, a purebred Nigerian Dwarf goat. He was raised with Nix.
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