Thursday, January 27, 2011

A Dirty Life

A farm is a manipulative creature. There is no such thing as finished. Work comes in a stream and has no end. There are only the things that must be done now and things that can be done later. The threat the farm has got on you, the one that keeps you running from can until can't, is this: do it now, or some living thing will wilt or suffer or die. It's blackmail, really.

The above passage is from the current book I'm reading, The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball. Kimball's synopsis of farm life reminded me of the pursuit of dance. A dancer's "farm" is their body and also never finished, but that is the beauty and probably what compels many dancers to continue. Perhaps blackmail-like a farmer, being a dancer is steady work that has no end, but carries many rewards.

2 comments:

  1. So true Sara! Thank you for providing me with a provoking thought to contemplate as I go about my day!

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