Why You Shouldn't Try to Do it Right the First Time
What Joel Salatin Taught Me about How to Live More Happily
I was raised under the edict of: "Do it once, do it right." I know a lot of us heard similar when we were growing up. My Father is one of those controlling perfectionist types that held firstly himself and then his family to this standard. I'm sure we can all get it; if you can spend a little more time and care to do something properly, it will save you the time and energy of having to do it over again.
This idea holds up okay in a vacuum. In a world without beginning or end where all the citizens did not age, grow, or learn, this would make total sense. You know how to do something, nothing is going to change. The circumstances will never change, so this is the best way, it will always be the best way, let's do our best to make it happen. All makes total sense. In a vacuum. So I always tried to live by this standard....but it's hard, because we don't live in a vacuum....
I was raised under the edict of: "Do it once, do it right." I know a lot of us heard similar when we were growing up. My Father is one of those controlling perfectionist types that held firstly himself and then his family to this standard. I'm sure we can all get it; if you can spend a little more time and care to do something properly, it will save you the time and energy of having to do it over again.
This idea holds up okay in a vacuum. In a world without beginning or end where all the citizens did not age, grow, or learn, this would make total sense. You know how to do something, nothing is going to change. The circumstances will never change, so this is the best way, it will always be the best way, let's do our best to make it happen. All makes total sense. In a vacuum. So I always tried to live by this standard....but it's hard, because we don't live in a vacuum....
However, there have been times in my life where I didn't do this because the circumstances didn't dictate it. Like, the summer before we moved into this house, I wanted to have an awesome garden. And part of me said: "Is it even worth it? It will only be for one year. All the time setting up and getting it ready...just for one season of use?" But I decided to do it anyway. And I decided to do it awesome anyway. We built a raised bed, we filled it with compost and organic soil that we bought...I worked my butt off that summer (2013), EVEN THOUGH it was a temporary, one year only garden.
And you know? I have not, in ten years of having a garden, had a better garden EVER than I did that year. I grew all our carrots for the summer (and we eat a ton). I grew enough greens and roots that we had a juice and a salad out of the garden daily. I was absolutely shocked by our success, because, like I said, I had NEVER had a garden be so successful, before or since. That was a huge huge life lesson for me. I had to ask myself over and over what was different about my approach this time that made me so successful.
I think the number one thing was really that I was living in the moment and not burdened down by fearing doing something wrong. I kept figuring that even if I made mistakes, that it was only one year, it was only one season...I approached it purely as a chance to learn and enjoy myself without feeling a burden to produce something permanent and perfect. There was a sense in which I was set free by the ability to live in the moment, to plan for that moment alone without the burden of the future.
And you know? I have not, in ten years of having a garden, had a better garden EVER than I did that year. I grew all our carrots for the summer (and we eat a ton). I grew enough greens and roots that we had a juice and a salad out of the garden daily. I was absolutely shocked by our success, because, like I said, I had NEVER had a garden be so successful, before or since. That was a huge huge life lesson for me. I had to ask myself over and over what was different about my approach this time that made me so successful.
I think the number one thing was really that I was living in the moment and not burdened down by fearing doing something wrong. I kept figuring that even if I made mistakes, that it was only one year, it was only one season...I approached it purely as a chance to learn and enjoy myself without feeling a burden to produce something permanent and perfect. There was a sense in which I was set free by the ability to live in the moment, to plan for that moment alone without the burden of the future.
...but part of it also was that it WASN'T just that year. It was the LAST year that we lived at our old house which we owned for nearly a decade. The ten years before that, I'd tried mostly every year to have a garden or grow a few things at least...and every year I learned something, about myself, about my garden space and soil and weather. I wasn't in a vacuum. The most important thing I built every year was my experience and knowledge, and in the end, that was all I really needed to be successful.
So in the summer of 2013, I had learned (in previous years) that I got discouraged by lots of weeds early on, so I made raised beds. I'd learned that stuff grows better with supplementation, so I fed my soil epsom salt, trace minerals, fireplace ash... I'd learned that deer can jump a short fence so that year we made a tall one... basically, it was all my previous failures that translated into ultimate success. There is no way I could have "done it once, done it right"...I didn't know the best way until I learned through experience.
It wasn't until this summer, 3 years later, that I heard Joel Salatin (look this guy up if you don't know about him!! #JoelSalatinforPresident ) talk about this same concept and put into words what I had experienced years ago and learned so much from. He said (I'm paraphrasing) "Anything worth doing isn't worth doing right the first time....it's worth doing poorly so that you can learn how to do it better next time! It's worth doing over and over and refining over time." And I thought back to what I learned that summer with my garden....
Another real-life example of this... we built two kinds of chicken coops this year... two were about 2 ft x 4 ft x 3 ft and were designed for 9-12 birds (with pasture access daily). Two were 2x2x2 ft brooder coops designed for one mom and her babies (with pasture access daily). In each case, I'd planned to make 3 of the exact same small coop, but after making the first we weren't able to dedicate time to making the others for a week or two...by then I'd already observed failures and problems with my previous design and wanted to adjust it before constructing the next one. After this happening repeatedly I decided not to build another coop of either of these two types but to do something different again next year, after what I have learned this year. Since then we have changed the locks on these coops, we've changed the roosting bars, we plan on adding wheels for better mobility, too. Pure ignorance meant that it was impossible to do it right the first time...we had to learn through experience.
It wasn't until this summer, 3 years later, that I heard Joel Salatin (look this guy up if you don't know about him!! #JoelSalatinforPresident ) talk about this same concept and put into words what I had experienced years ago and learned so much from. He said (I'm paraphrasing) "Anything worth doing isn't worth doing right the first time....it's worth doing poorly so that you can learn how to do it better next time! It's worth doing over and over and refining over time." And I thought back to what I learned that summer with my garden....
Another real-life example of this... we built two kinds of chicken coops this year... two were about 2 ft x 4 ft x 3 ft and were designed for 9-12 birds (with pasture access daily). Two were 2x2x2 ft brooder coops designed for one mom and her babies (with pasture access daily). In each case, I'd planned to make 3 of the exact same small coop, but after making the first we weren't able to dedicate time to making the others for a week or two...by then I'd already observed failures and problems with my previous design and wanted to adjust it before constructing the next one. After this happening repeatedly I decided not to build another coop of either of these two types but to do something different again next year, after what I have learned this year. Since then we have changed the locks on these coops, we've changed the roosting bars, we plan on adding wheels for better mobility, too. Pure ignorance meant that it was impossible to do it right the first time...we had to learn through experience.
We've lived in this house for barely 18 months and moved/rebuilt our compost pile three times. I probably will move it a bunch more times. Different years or times call for different situations.
I've moved berry bushes, rhubarb crowns, strawberry plants... nothing you plant is permanent, everything can be moved.
More and more often I find myself grateful for the perspective of IMpermanence. I find myself growing so much under a perspective of learning. The more I shift my perspective to think that I am going to do something temporary and learn from it first, the more I appreciate the wisdom of this idea.
Justin Rhodes of Abundant Permaculture did an inspirational video about this concept. I loved this story....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjeBybhKdcU
And then just a few days ago I started to catch up on my homework for my herbal class, and came to find the whole story about the man who planted trees! And you know what? It's about someone who Raised Eden. Enjoy.
http://www.perso.ch/arboretum/Man_Tree.htm
I've moved berry bushes, rhubarb crowns, strawberry plants... nothing you plant is permanent, everything can be moved.
More and more often I find myself grateful for the perspective of IMpermanence. I find myself growing so much under a perspective of learning. The more I shift my perspective to think that I am going to do something temporary and learn from it first, the more I appreciate the wisdom of this idea.
Justin Rhodes of Abundant Permaculture did an inspirational video about this concept. I loved this story....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjeBybhKdcU
And then just a few days ago I started to catch up on my homework for my herbal class, and came to find the whole story about the man who planted trees! And you know what? It's about someone who Raised Eden. Enjoy.
http://www.perso.ch/arboretum/Man_Tree.htm
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