No.847: Last Week at the Farmhouse // We Are Not Machines

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A theme I keep coming back to in 2024 is the idea that despite what society tells us, we are not machines.  Have you ever noticed the language we’ve adopted that is completely technology/machine-focused?

• well-oiled machine
• a cog in the wheel
• pulling the plug
• brain download
• run out of steam
• push someone’s buttons
• firing on all cylinders

I am not a machine.  I am a human person.  This revelation (and what a crazy revelation to have!) has transformed my expectations for myself and my children.  Our value does not come from what we do or accomplish, but who we are fundamentally: souls made in the image of our Creator.

Being in the image of God the human individual possesses the dignity of a person, who is not just something, but someone. He is capable of self-knowledge, of self-possession and of freely giving himself and entering into communion with other persons. And he is called by grace to a covenant with his Creator, to offer him a response of faith and love that no other creature can give in his stead. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, §357)

So in that light, I’ve been pondering how to proceed with the upcoming school year.  This time always feels like a mini New Year, a time for re-orientation and new focus!  Here’s what I’ve got so far:

For my little boys: I’ve been heavily inspired by John Senior and his Integrated Humanities approach to education.  While these boys may have reading challenges, that does not negate their ability to engage with good ideas!  I want to increase their exposure to good things, both in the physical world and in story.

For my middle kids: This is a a transitional time of maturity.  I want to help them understand the complexities of growing up, teaching them discernment and prudence.  They also should be intentionally exposed to good things, especially outside the tempting realm of technology.

For my high school kids: As these boys grow older and more independent, I want to focus on relationship and life skills.

And for myself: I no longer want to live a stress-filled life.  It’s not a healthy behavior and I certainly don’t want it to be my legacy.  Instead, I desire an increase in discipline and wisdom.  Two mottos to repeat often: “one task at a time” and “does it ultimately matter in the eyes of eternity?”

Hoping to document the abundance around me all year long!

Around here, abundance looks like…

+ receiving a ChipDrop!  We use woodchips in many areas around the farm and I’ve waited patiently all summer for a delivery.

+ using my “New Walls Fund” to pay for renovation supplies.  I mentioned last year that I was saving the cash back from our credit card rewards program to eventually hire a professional to fix our walls.  Fast forward to today and I’m DIYing the walls myself!  I was able to use that savings account to pay for putty knives and painting supplies, making the project “free.”

+ rain from Hurricane (Tropical Storm?) Debby.  SO MUCH RAIN.  We even had a tornado warning with an actual on-the-ground sighting about 45 minutes away from us!

+ selling thirteen unneeded items for the Car Loan Payoff Plan: two pieces of clothing, nine books and two pieces of movie memorabilia.  After shipping and fees, I made $75.37!

Reading //

• Home Is Where the Welcome Is from Gregory Thompson at Comment // “For my entire life I craved these moments with desperation and, when they came, experienced them wistfully as mere fleeting reprieves from the howling loneliness I believed to be the inescapable core of my life. But what I could not see—not until I was invited to see it—is that these were not, in fact, transient aberrations in a life of homelessness, but were, to the contrary, fixed and constant invitations to the reality of home. They were reliable witnesses to what I most longed for but least believed: that the story of my life is not a story of unwelcome, but of welcome. And that this welcome will be found not simply in one, but in a thousand shining doorways.”
• The hidden economics of kinkeeping work from Jim Dalrymple II at Nuclear Meltdown
• Resisting the ‘Machine’: An Interview with Peco Gaskovski from Jonathon Van Maren at The European Conservative // A new dystopian novel to add to the list!
• St. Michael’s Lent from Around the Year // Starts August 15!
• Quality Against The Machine from Hadden Turner at Over the Field // “The ultimate question, therefore, seems not to be ‘how can the Machine be defeated?’, but ‘how can we develop habits of healthy disengagement?’, ‘How can we become expertly attuned to recognising when the costs of utilising the Machine outweigh the benefits?’, and ‘How can we reflexively turn it off when the Machine starts to erode what is good?’. The success or failure of our modern age may well be hinged on how adept we all are in answering these questions — and how steadfast we commit to our costly and difficult conclusions.”

New Additions to The List // 

• Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age by Douglas Rushkoff
• Beauty Will Save the World: Recovering the Human in an Ideological Age by Gregory Wolfe

Watching/Listening //

• The “Modern Day Slaves” Of The AI Tech World from Real Stories // Eye opening.
• underconsumption core // reverse haul & tips for frugal living from Gittemary Johansen // This is the first I’ve heard of this social media trend and I love it!
• Purgatorio Cantos 17-33 of 100 Days of Dante from Baylor Honors College // Two-thirds of the way done!  On to the Paradiso…

Loving //

• this household planner // I’ve tried many different homemaking plans and this one is my favorite.  I’ve used it off and on for years and while it’s no longer a free download, I felt it was worth the investment.  Right now, it’s 50% off and goes until December.
• Samplize // I purchased a handful of samples last year during a sale and with the wall project now in full swing, I’m finally able to use them!  Decisions, decisions…