Jenna Woginrich blogs on the Mother Earth News as the Happy Homesteader.  She recently posted a fabulous entry she entitled ‘Yearning to be a Farmer.’  Many readers have commented that her term ‘Barnheart’ will be this year’s ‘locavore.’  I’d have to agree.  I am relieved to hear that many people share my affliction.  If you have a chance you can read her blog post here.

Barnheart is essentially the heartfelt, intense longing for the outdoors, of growing our own food, building our own shelters, and raising our own livestock for food and clothing.  It’s our longing for self-sufficiency and breathing fresh air while we live our conventional lives, working in our windowless, stuffy office cubicles.  It’s that calling we feel while discussing average percentages and quarterly reports with co-workers.  That longing for a quiet and peaceful life based on simplicity and nature is what wakes people with Barnheart up at night.

I have had Barnheart all my life and now it has a name!  I grew up in suburbia with its developments, soccer games, traffic lights with congestion and honking, and strip malls.  On paper my hometown had a wonderful school system and safe neighborhoods.  During and after college I continued to live in suburbia for years.  But I longed for large open fields of lush grasses and wildflowers.  I longed for large expanses of land that beckoned to be hiked in solitude from crowds.  I longed for that smell of fresh air.  I longed for hearing nothing but birds singing and the wind rustling grass and leaves.  I longed for that life where joy is found in pulling up that first unperfect carrot grown from the soil you created and rainwater, baking bread from grain you grew, upon finding that first egg in your coop in the springtime, vases filled with flowering weeds, attending to animals in an old barn, and running your hands through freshly sheared wool.  I longed for wearing wool from animals I raise and care for.  I longed for working my land, for having dirty hands and knees and unbrushed hair and for that to be my fashion statement.  I longed for starry nights that can be seen from my porch, my land, my homestead.

I longed so much and for so long and now joy is here with my little farm.  The longing never really goes away, yet with each step forward one’s smile becomes wider.  For all of you with Barnheart too, may you find your joy soon and may that joy bring you peace. 

My name is Mona and I have Barnheart.