Free-Range Living

 'Motivation's ---- moved --- ?'

  August has been a changeable month here on the eco organic micro-holding in the UK north midlands, with quite a lot of coolish wet weather the second half of the month - hopefully September will improve as it did last year, warm and sunny. Stuff in the veg patch has grown on well, though, noticeably the winter veg plants, the purple sprouting in particular. All young brassica (cabbage type) veg plants have to get netting protection now that pigeons have taken to living closer to habitation - five years or so ago there was no need, with no bird damage occuring. Still, flinging a bit of netting over the plants isn't too much of a hardship and good to know the bird population here is healthy. There's a lot of vegetation for a relatively small plot - half an acre ( .2/ha), particularly now that the fruit trees covering half the small paddock have started to grow up, as have the paddock's surrounding trees and hedges, making it a secluded, quiet spot, wherein lies 'The Retreat' - a chalet that was 'expanded last year using no-cost re-cycled materials lying about the place.

The potato experiment this year to try to beat the blight disease has only been partly successful. The variety - Pentland Javelin - seems to do the business, and the early planted section yielded pretty well before the blight caught up with it, but those planted later (first half of June) didn't really yield quite as well. So next year, the whole lot of Pentland Javelin (an early variety which apparently has the advantage of being then able to bulk up to be an early maincrop) will go in early, the first half of March, initially under plastic. Most of this year's crop is now dug, reminding how useful a crop it is to clean the soil of weeds/roots etc.The process of digging spuds lifts the crop, cleans the ground and prepares it for the next crop - a 'three-in-one' operation, giving then a triple dose of satisfaction --- ? Word came through the other day that two foxes had been shot on the adjoining farm, one of which could easily have been the culprit that had three of the original 'wild bunch' chickens. Foxes tend to be a traditional 'foe' of rural people, but the thought that some cubs could have then starved to death after their mother was shot, is not an easy one ---, especially as it was a relatively easy job to 'fort-ify' the chicken run for the replacement chickens against any further fox depradations.

Onions, though, have been a success, in spite of the alium leaf miner attack they suffered, making them twisted and 'manky' -a sorry sight. Good ol' nettle juice though, came to their rescue, and they look good drying in the sun. Well, two-thirds of them that is, the other third was grown from seed rather than sets ('baby onions')and are still coming to fruition -interestingly they didn't suffer an alium attack. Stored, the onion crop should comfortably supply onions for the whole year.

This year a rough-ish 'converandory' (half conservatory, half verandah) has been added to the Retreat and is nearly complete, again mainly using materials to hand, although this resulted in a leaking roof which has had to be fixed by the purchase of a couple of clear plastic sheets - £20 quid's worth, not too bad - hey ho.  Early retirement brought the opportunity for a slower, 'freerange', organic style of life, so maybe now that such projects seem to be reaching an end point, there'll be time to actually spend some time in 'The Retreat', time for a spot of 'navel gazing', and some 'mature reflection' (snoozing - ?). Good, though, to have the opportunity and to have what Bette Midler recently called 'a green, peaceful backwater', especially in modern fast-paced, pressurised times - ?

'Motivation lost ----- ?'

It may not too surprising that in a 'power and control' culture such as modern western-type versions appear to be, that 'motivation' has appeared to be a casualty. People these days here in the UK tend to be controlled by authority/fear (egs. recent report of one large firm continually threatening employees with loss of job, resistance from some employers to employee group defence, insecure working conditions (eg. zero hours contracts)), or to be 'bribed' to work by financial inducements - basically the donkeys years old 'carrot and stick' system of people management, which seemingly tends to ignore the possibility of 'internally motivated' work efforts. The Health Minister here in the UK exerted 'authority management' by announcing new contracts for junior doctors which were seen as a 'hit' on them; now there's apparently the signs of a mass exit of young doctors from the UK to other countries -presumably 'authority vision' and 'short-termism obscure any longer-term view, especially if effects are likely to be negative - ? Authority is one thing, but then again,  'counterproductivity''s another - ? 

One recent report concerned a 'shareholders revolt' at a large modern retail concern. The shareholders were reported to be unhappy with the way this particular firm treated its employees, operating a 'fear regime' with most staff on 'zero hours contracts, carrying out body searches of staff as they left the premises, unwillingness to deal with employee organisations and 'strongly discouraging' employees to take sick leave. Perhaps not quite the type of firm 'freerangers' might choose to work for, preferring  probably an organisation that at least practised basic levels of human respect - ? 'Carrot and stick' management styles are of course 'external' influences over employees therefore offer 'power' opportunities, whereas 'motivated work performances', according to one leading motivation theorist back along, stem from internal desires and efforts from the individual to do 'good work'.

 It seems though that conditions have to be right to elicit motivated performances from people - another motivation theorist suggested that the oft-quoted reason of employee 'resistance/unwillingness', used to then justify 'control' measures, could be inaccurate, it being rather due to workplace factors in the first place (eg. long periods of boring work) and should therefore not be interpreted as lack of innate motivation or personal responsibility. This tends to be borne out in a study of effective and successful rural employers, 90%+ of which employed the 'motivational management' style rather than control/authoritative styles, and by recent reports (UK radio 4) of various manager-less modern firms run successfully by the staff themselves (freerangers supreme -?). Modern culture appears to even want/need to control even the professional class of individuals, traditionally accepted as 'natural self-motivators', which may then in the longer run be counter-productive if motivational energy is then foregone - ?

'Finding motivation ---- ?'

One recent paper report highlighted the  plight of one unhappy billionaire, who had found himself somewhat in a void and feeling 'alienated'. It could perhaps be easy to be somewhat unsympathetic, but maybe this individual was, due to his situation, sharply feeling a life effect that applies to maybe quite a few - ? Kunihiro Yamate , in his original work 'The Way of No-Mind' (in the sense of transcending mind, rather than losing it) argues that the chase after wealth and material superfluity stems from existential insecurity, which in actuality can only be countered by gaining inner personal security via 'self-questing' ('freeranger' territory - ?) Such 'self-questing' may then lead this particular billionaire individual to having more meaning and therefore fulfillment in his life - ? (self-questing to find 'real self' as against 'cultural conditioned self').

'Freerangers' may well of course tend to be people to whom their own internal motivation and sense of self-responsibility are particularly important - ?  (modern texts on people management/motivation often illustrate the individual situation as expression of 'self-actualisation' (realisation of self-potential)).

'Rural motivation idyll --- H's story'

Wandering leisurely, a few years ago now, in the bright early May sunshine down a lengthy leafy west Dorset lane with farmer H, seemed to give a feeling of timeless seclusion, and a sudden awareness that these were moments to be savoured and succoured. Then, rounding a bend, there they were - not necessarily everyone's delight, but to cattle men, a sight for sore eyes. A hundred or so dreamy neat cream and light brown dairy cows contentedly grazing in a lush, emerald green field, their neat frames and udders giving 'a picture of perfection'. Leaning on the gate, there was no immediate need for words, drinking in the gorgeous scene ----.  Eventually H, a quietly-spoken, taciturn sort of man, did speak:

'They want me to out these beauties and get they girt black and white milk machines in', he said, slowly and softly.
 
Well, that was understandable - his Ayrshire breed of cows was now generally considered to be somewhat 'passed it', and the modern trend was to go for the high-yield black-and-white version.

'My, but ain't they a picture ?' he sighed.

They were indeed, and it seemed in that moment intolerably sad that these beautiful creatures might well have to go down to the knackers yard.

Although H was under a lot of pressure from advisers, the bank, family and so forth to go down the modernisation route, which he understood, head-wise, was the way forward and 'progress', his dilemma was that such a route conflicted with his 'heart'. He'd started out as a farmworker, scrimping and saving some capital together to then be able to rent a small farm. Over the last forty years or so he'd worked hard to get to his goal of having an 'A1' herd of dairy cows, sacrificing other material comforts and returns in the process. And now that he'd just reached the zenith , he was having to face its sudden loss. When he'd asked why he should change breeds, the main response was that he'd then make more money. He'd been a canny operator, though, not given to over-free spending and borrowing, having a useful reserve fund built up, and now that he owned a bigger farm, plenty of asset value behind him. It didn't totally add up to him to lose the love of his life over which he experienced so much pleasure - he often went down half-an-hour or so early to collect his cows, just to spend time admiring them, and enoying them - in return for more money, which was relatively meaningless to him.

In the end, and with the support of one or two trusted friends, he hatched his 'cunning plan'. He would continue to farm his beloved cows for another seven years or so and then retire. This by and large got people off his back and also gave him time to carry out his secret mission - to find good homes for his beloved 'gals', and this he was broadly able to do, to then retire to a little 'hobby' smallholding, along with one or two favourite 'gals', at ease with himself. There was too an 'un-sting' to the tale. In his seven-year wind-down period, the price of the 'black and white' breed milk fell, whilst, due to it's good cheese-making qualities ( having small fat globules), the price of his scarcer 'old-fashioned' Ayrshire-breed milk rose, making his 'gals' competitive with their modern counterparts. 

'Now ain't that a funny thing'  he would say, a wry smile playing about his weatherbeaten features -----

'Motivated efforts ---- '

H had very strong internal motivation, unsurprisingly, built up over a long time, and he knew better than to give up this, and the love of his life,  to 'jump for the jellybeans', as one motivation theorist put it back along. 'Jumping for the jellybeans' does seem to have been the flavour of recent times, relegating heartfelt 'labours of love' to 'second division' - ?

 Bob Dylan, though, was/is with the second divisioners :

  'Money is of secondary importance, if a person can get to do what they want to do all day'

Ah well, better get at some motivated 'labours of love' hereabouts, those hedges won't cut themselves ----.