I think it always good to encourage everyone to be artistic; it is a form of expression.  I have been trying to help Gnome make the time to relax and do more activities just for the sake of passion and fun.  With some of the physical labour on the farm, he does sometimes feel that the work is never-ending…it just ends up being a to-do list.  He actually does the farm work out of necessity (who else is going to do it?) and to keep himself very healthy and strong.  Pulling out heavy logs and brush-mowing are not his primary goals in life.

His likes are very simple though.  he loves growing vegetables especially tomatoes and aubergines.  And one of the things that he does for sheer pleasure is just to walk about his garden, taking the time to look at the fruits of his labour.

He enjoys the process of making things.  He likes to make wine: the pressing of fruit, the fermentation and bubbling away and then waiting for something special.  It’s all about time and love and I don’t mean it in a wishy-washy sort of way…it’s solid.  It’s not for the end product anyway because he rarely drinks.

Another thing that I am encouraging him to do is to grow tobacco. This is again about making something good and proper.  He enjoys the curing process which takes about a year: hanging it up inside the house (yes, we need a barn or we’ve ended up making our house into a barn!), the flavouring, curing and blending.

This allows Gnome to express himself and these are his arts.  Yes, he will have lovely, aromatic pipe tobacco and cigars in the end but its the artful journey that releases the joyful spirit.

Gnome has been making rope twists with his tobacco; it is a form of pressure curing.  Once he’s done his work of art, he gives them to Munchkin to store away for a year or more.

I have written about the history of tobacco.  Click on link if interested.  Personally, I really enjoy the presence of the plant (not sure if you understand what I mean).  You almost form an affinity towards certain plants and they draw you to them and you can sit for long lengths of time just staring at the beautiful velvety leaves or inhaling the spicy aromatic scent of the flowers.  That’s what I mean.

These are the things that we should be doing in our lives.  It’s a fine balance of labour properly done to meet your necessities (shelter/food/clothing/energy requirements) and after that, we should foster an attitude of relaxation and enjoyment without filling up our lives with only monetary orientated deeds.  And we need each other to remind ourselves that we are supposed to be having fun on this journey of self-discovery.