THE ART OF REFUELING.

I had a chef once who often told me something––many things, really––that I've never forgotten. It was simple and anytime I've employed it, it has served me well. I would come down after a long day of work, or before one, and he would be flipping through a book in his office. Tired though we all were, he would remind us a professional should read for no less than fifteen minutes a day on his profession.And I realize that may seem like a small thing, but let's break it down:I don't know how many pages you read a minute, but I'm going to pretend (for my own morale) you're a painfully slow reader like me. I read, depending on what it is, around 1 to 2 pages a minute. So, let's just say 1.5 pages on (generous) average. That means I can theoretically read 22.5 pages everyday, only spending 15 minutes reading. That's 157.5 pages a week. That's 8,190 pages a year. And if you say the average book is what? 250 to 300 pages? That's roughly 30 books a year. Or hundreds of articles. I don't know about you, but I used to read a lot more than I do now. I don't always get to thirty books a year anymore. Sadly. Because what parent, what farmer/parent no less, has the time to read book after book these days? Few of us. Fifteen minutes a day, though? That, we may be able to find. I mean, when it's a good enough read, you will struggle to only spend fifteen minutes with it.Reading, though, is important. Because output––farming, writing, whatever you love––needs input. Fuel. Energy. You need something constantly coming in to influence all you have going out (and notably, vice-versa). To inspire it. To inform it. To craft it. To add perspective. To keep it coming.Personally, I find lethargy and repetition in my writing, and in my farming, when I slack on reading. I need to read a sentence that challenges me to challenge my own sentences. I need to see how someone else manages their weeds to reimagine my own management. Art, to me, has always been about inspiring other art. So when I am always just creating, eventually the tank runs dry. I need fuel. I need to stop, take at least fifteen minutes every day, and fill up.How does one define "on your profession"? Well, for me last week it was a book called "Grass, Soil, Hope" by Courtney White about carbon farming. This week was Melissa Coleman's memoir "This Life is in Your Hands" about growing up the daughter of famed farmer Eliot Coleman. Now it's The Atlantic's latest edition coupled with "Unseen City", by Nathaniel Johnson. So, obviously, it's a pretty wide spectrum. Anything really. It could be technical garden stuff, or fiction, whatever. My feeling is the diversity is as important as the dedication to it.So of course I'd love to know how you insert reading into your busyness (or business)? And what's on the nightstand these days?-Jesse.