IN DEFENSE OF IDEALISM.
I am idealistic, always have been. God willing, always will be. And although I have learned to mitigate my idealisms over the years, I've also learned not to let them go. It's easy to lose them. It's easy to forget we once wanted to make a difference, because admit it, even the words "make a difference" sound mildly childish, and people will let you know about it.It's hard to ignore someone when they say, "I used to be like you—you'll change," because deep down we know, if we hear it enough, they'll be right. And to some extent, they are right. We will change. But there is no reason to believe change and idealism are mutually exclusive—we can change, or mature, and remain idealistic. I'm proof.The other day my father and grandfather came for a visit. My grandfather is a relatively conservative man with a wit sharper at ninety years old than mine will ever be. His generation was about getting a job and staying there until retirement. And his generation purposely left the farm for greener pastures, which is probably why he's never fully approved of my farming. After showing him the cabin and the farm, however, and taking him to the Smith's cabin and outdoor kitchen, he said jokingly "I might have liked to do something like this when I was young and foolish,"––my grandfather's own form of approval.But who could blame him for his skepticism? Four years ago, when I decided to go farming, it wasn't entirely routed in rationality. It is simply not sensible to quit a perfectly good career, with a perfectly respectable salary, to learn a whole new trade—farming, a job notoriously difficult and low paying––especially not to my grandfather. It's idealistic is what it is. I wanted something better for myself, and for my future children. I wanted to work hard and I wanted to earn an honest living from it, a sustainable one. But I guess idealism, like wine, lowers one's inhibitions. Without it, without feeling like I was doing something greater than myself, I can't say that I would have ever left the city. Now, however, four years later, I'm living off the grid with my beautiful wife, proudly young and proudly foolish, sincerely thankful for my idealism.- Jesse.
