Gratitude
As my first WWOOFing experience draws to a close – I have a lot to be thankful for, and a lot to look forward to. I’m looking forward to seeing my wife again. I’m also looking forward to more travel adventures, starting to put down roots in the UK, meeting new people and starting my new job.
It has been such an incredible, beautiful time here in the French countryside, and I wish I had started WWOOFing earlier in life. It has opened my mind to the incredible adventures, meaningful cultural exchanges and learning opportunities to be had in this kind of volunteering relationship.
This experience has been incredibly healing. Gazing up at the stars at night, eating fresh, home-cooked meals together, working with my hands everyday, really truly living my values, and of course being immersed in French language and culture has been an absolute pleasure. Not only that, but it has helped me to carve out a clearer vision for my own future aspirations. This is the bohemian life, at its core.
Doing it Differently
I have met so many people who are approaching their life, work and household make-up in unconventional, striking and ultimately wholesome ways. Communal living, existing without having a full-time or even a part time job, having meaningful, regular meet ups with friends, creative collaboration and being unplugged (or offline) as much as humanly possible. All of this shit is actually soul-nourishing – would you believe? I mean, it comes as no surprise, but for the majority of us, it’s just not something we end up doing a lot of, either because we’re too busy, burnout out, or even shamed into all these bizarre cultural norms. Norms that can eat away at us from the inside out if we’re not careful enough.
I know I’m speaking from a place of immense privilege here, but real talk – none of us were built for 40, 50+ hour weeks. Humans crave connection, and work best in shorter, more purposeful bursts, not long hours slaving away at a desk, clicking until we give ourselves RSI or stressing about stupid deadlines until we make ourselves sick. But many of us live like this. Falling into the weekend where it takes first day to recover and the second day is fraught with anxiety and dread of the Monday-itis to come. Fuck that.
What I have witnessed feels like a return to some of the best of humankind’s pre-capitalistic ways. Melding the old with the new, trying to carve out something magical and pure within a system that is build on profit-driven greed, individualistic motivation and a dogmatic perspective that the land and its resources are there for the taking, no questions asked, without regard for the consequences.
I didn’t mean to get so political, but there you go.
Genuinely, thanks for reading this far. Switching gears – if you feel like it, I’d love to hear your thoughts below. Have you ever been WWOOFing? Where did you go, and what did you get out of your experience?
As for me, it’s back to reality. Almost…!
bohemianhumanist.com 