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What Comes After 30 Days of Thanks?

30 days of thanks

Having spent the month of November doing my series of posts being thankful, I have to say, it was a great way to focus some energy in a positive way. I took time everyday thinking about the things I have to be thankful for. Some of the topics I came up with were things I absolutely knew I would write, others just struck me at the spur of the moment.

Having the commitment to be thankful everyday and to share that thanks on the blog, well, it seems to have gotten me more generally in the mindset of gratitude. Although I haven’t continued writing posts of thanks this week, the mindset remains and I am still getting thoughts of gratitude together.

When I decided to do the 30 days of thanks, I talked to a couple of friends about it. Others joined in doing 30 days of posts on other topics. I wanted to say thank you to all of these friends who also spent the month upping their blogging game. Each of them has a unique way of telling their story and it is fantastic to see so many others willing to spend a month focusing on something they would like.

I have pulled a photo and maybe a couple of lines from some of the select posts by each of these people I call friends. You can click on the image or the link to read their awesome posts!

angel tree

Val Wagner of Wag’n Tales

Val Wagner of Wag’n Tales said she was in almost immediately upon hearing I was doing 30 days. She decided to do 30 days of thinking. Lord knows we can use a lot more of that! In her series, she came to talk about a variety of topics that get her thinking. I was lucky enough to be part of the post she wrote about distance and how she’s come to rethink it. Val wrote “I can now say that I have friends that live entirely too far from me, when you figure it in miles, yet are right here with me, when you consider true distance. It’s amazing, and mind-boggling, all at the same time.”

It is no coincidence that I was in Hershey, PA (and later wrote a post about loving chocolate!) Despite I think my favorite is probably her post about charity and recruiting others to help her bring the spirit of the holidays to people in need through her Christmas Angel Tree project.

Michael Wojahn of Minnesota Farm

Some of you may remember me talking about Michael before. He’s one of the farmers that blog I met through my blog shortly after I started it, but I finally met him in person last winter. Michael wrote his 30 day series on blogging after harvest! It was perfect since he had finished harvest and a lot of people mistakenly assume that once harvest is over, farmers take a vacation. He took the month to talk through the various things farmers do including being in the board room of large companies, reviewing various farm quality assurance programs or checking into the latest technology (he gives a great overview of tech on his farm over the decades)!

Roshini Cope of Glamazini

glamaziniOne of my St. Louis peeps — Roshini Cope who writes the Glamazini blog — did a series of 30 days of thanks too! Her posts cover a range of topics but the one that really stood out for me was when she gave thanks for the perspective gained from the past year. She’s had a year of great personal growth as a mom in knowing how to care for both her son and herself, as an individual working on her personal health physically & mentally and in some areas where she simply was able to take care of some things she needed as well. Reading that post made me think a lot about the last year for me as well and like Roshini I am looking forward to the new year!

Shannon Latham of The Field Position

Sustainable-Ag-WordleShannon Latham’s family has a seed company in Iowa and she decided to do the 30 day challenge for the blog which is largely read by farmer customers. In her day 25 post, she asks “Do I Dare Say the ‘S’ Word?” What is the “s” word? Well it is sustainability. She provides some insight on sustainability, as defined by the World Commission on Environment and Development, is “…development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.” and talks about how that fits with farmers today.

Carolyn Olson of Carolyn Cares

30 days of thanks farmer

Carolyn was another blogger who signed up for the series of thanks fairly quickly after I mentioned my decision. She did a great job of providing personal stories with many of her posts, including the one on her thankfulness for farmers. She talks about her grandfathers as helping shape that gratitude and traces it across time. She writes, ” As an adult, I’ve learned that farmers come in all shapes, sizes, colors, genders, religious, and political beliefs. Their farms are very diverse, growing everything from apples to zucchini. The one thing they have in common, is an appreciation for the land and animals in their care. Some days the work is difficult, and some days pretty easy. Even with all of the uncertainty with weather and commodity prices, farmers are a pretty optimistic bunch.” I agree with Carolyn and totally appreciate the diversity!

Michele Aavang of Willow Lea Stock Farm

Michele did a series covering 30 days on her Northern Illinois farm. One of the posts she wrote highlights “girl power” on the farm and talks about some of the jobs there are to pick from. “There are so many roles to fill on the farm; driver, purchaser, laborer, bookkeeper, mechanic, marketer, etc. It takes different skill sets and abilities to cover all the bases. Some women are doing everything that their male counterparts are undertaking on the farm, while others are taking on the traditional female tasks like record keeping or payroll.” While Michele has chosen a more traditional role, she celebrates her niece Hannah’s (photo at left) different choices in the post.

Holly Spangler of My Generation

“One of the greater perks of being a farmer and of interviewing farmers for your job is that they will often say something that changes the way you think. Maybe about farming, or cattle, or family, or life.” That is what led Holly Spangler to include short quotes from five farmers in a post called “Five Things Farmers Said” and I have to tell you, there are some great quotes there!

Barbara Womack of Homestead Hill Farm

I have to remind myself sometimes that natural fibers can come from plants or animals. Barbara Womack is one of the folks who helps remind me of that. Barbara’s family has sheep and shares the story of caring for them. In her post about the best thing sheep do, it gives you a lot of insight into some of the things farmers have to go through with their animals. The relationship farmers have with the livestock they raise and the lessons learned day-to-day are amazing. It’s a great honest post.

Jessie Wyrill at Snapshots of a Kansas Farm

Jessie is a newly wed who writes her blog about farming with her husband. She’s got a great sense to her writing and a sense of humor pops through sometimes too! She wrote a post about 5 things this rural housewife doesn’t want to admit that all five are understandable, but this one made me laugh out loud! The photo shows a different side of her. 🙂

3. I don’t mind getting dirty…as long as I have WORK clothes on! – I have never been accused of being a REAL country girl.  I love participating in activities like working on the farm, hunting, and fishing, but I really like being girly, also.  I suppose I don’t let people see the “farm girl” side of me much.  Most people see the dress and heels on Sunday morning kind of girl.  I am learning to embrace my “farm girl” side.  This starts with putting on Redbeard’s hunting clothes and walking around the wilderness in oversized head to toe camoflauge.  Would I rather be dressed in purple head to toe with jewels and sparkles all over?  Yes, but somehow I think the deer would see me.

Those are some great posts!

My 30 Days of Thanks

Doing the 30 days of thanks one at a time was a great process, but I have to admit, I truly have enjoyed reading through the list in full. It’s interesting to see it as a fully collection. Some are really personal, others are more global.

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Comments

  1. Barbara says

    What a great post!
    The 30 days challenge was a great experience. I loved reading the other bloggers’ posts.
    Thanks so much for including me, Janice!

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