Herd Life

The snow has gone, the alpacas are finally grazing in the pasture and I'm at the farm every other day. My frequent visits have strengthened our bond and established my place in the herd. I've trained some of the more nervous characters and gained their trust. We've progressed from standing 2 feet apart to kisses on the the second date! This has been more rewarding than any monthly bonus I worked for previously. No matter how big. I'll tell you why.

My job always seemed so pointless in the past. 9-5 just makes no sense to me. You go to work to pay for a house. After work you come back to your house, eat, watch t.v, go to sleep. Do it all again the next day. You work a bit harder so you can go on holiday every year. FOR 40 YEARS. If you work hard enough you'll have a nicer house and more extravagant holidays (your boss will always have bigger and better). But you still follow the same cycle. For what? Retirement? I refuse to wait until I'm 65 to start having fun. I'm 27 and my knees hurt, I can't imagine what great adventure can wait until they get worse. I think it's important to see the world from standing eye level not scooter level from designated concrete paths. The defining moment in humanity was when we stood upright and stopped looking at the ground. Imagine how different the world will be in 40 years. How some of the things you took for granted earlier in life are gone for ever. They're all there right now. A meaningful, independent way of living is available to everyone. Everyday becomes a holiday. Work isn't work. Home isn't a pit stop before the next working day.

I'm making it sound easy. I know it's not. Especially for long term employees with financial responsibilities. I appreciate that I'm in a fortunate position right now. However, I made the extra effort to break the cycle. I've dreamed of doing it for a long time. Now that those thoughts are being put into action I wonder how I stayed in the cycle as long as I did. paidtoexist.com gave me a nudge in the right direction and I still follow the emails religiously.

Seeing the alpacas progress in their training is spiritually rewarding. The life lessons they're teaching me are invaluable; patience, alertness, compassion, appreciation, confidence, maternal instinct. After weeks of leaving the house with no make up, coming home with hay in my hair and smelling of poo I've come to the realization that I never want to step foot in an office again. This is the life for me!

As much as I'm living in a dream world, I still exist in the grizzly real one. It's a long way down the road until I can afford my own alpacas. In the mean time I'm brushing up on my felting skills to earn a living. I wrote previously about my experimenting in this field. Some of my creations included a whale/iceberg mobile, pug angel,  tentacle beret and finger puppets.

I loved experimenting with wool but I didn't have a focus. My rough and ready technique meant that one project could take more than a week to complete. It never occurred to me that a little patience, appreciation and confidence could be the start of an artistic career. I have the alpacas to thank. I'm sure their ears are burning by now. I've been patient in learning new felting techniques. I'm more confident in my ability and my appreciation for the alpacas is resonating in my work; I'm using their amazing fiber and making pieces inspired by their different personalities.

I'm in the process of making and love watching raw wool transform into works of art through my hands. But I'll tell you more about that next time.