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From Isolation to Belonging

It’s become easy to isolate yourself with the ever present cell phones, facebook and many of us living miles away from our families. We tend to go about our business; work and keeping up with our own chores, forgetting about our deep need for connection.

When this need to belong to a greater community than just ourselves became overwhelming, we found the 18th Street Farmer’s Market.

Below is an excerpt from Julia’s new book, “The Long Road to Market”, the story of how the women of Five Feline Farm moved from isolation to belonging.

The seclusion of country life can be a curse as well as a blessing. We moved into the new home at the beginnning of September, headed into the fall and then winter in a new place. The nearest neighbor is over a quarter mile away and someone we have never met. We are nine miles from town. It is not a great distance yet a long trek in the dark days of winter with snow piling up. We found our self-sufficiency skills would be tested in ways we were not expecting.

Slowly neighbors started dropping over to introduce themselves. They were surely curious about these two women who built such an enormous house. We struggled to remember who was who and how they all fit together. Many had been living in the area for a long time, some for all their lives. We were the new kids and didn’t have relatives or connections here. Until we could figure out who to trust in the new neighborhood, we retreated into our own world, working feverishly to reclaim the land from years of neglect.

So, for the most part, we were on our own with some help from our families. All of our spare time was consumed with various projects around the farm to make our dream a reality. It was a relief to be away from the loudness of 20,000 people vying for their place in the world all at the same time. When we could, we planned our shopping to get as much as possible in one trip, making it commonplace to pick up necessities before or after work.

It was glorious to be removed from town life, yet after a period of time lonely. We yearned for connection and belonging to a community.

The Long Road to Market is available in both print and digital formats by clicking here.

Let’s Start a Revolution!

Remember customer service?

Attendants pumped gas, checked your oil, put air in the tires and water in the radiator.

The era when all grocery stores had people who not only checked out your groceries but also bagged them and carried them to your car?

A time when shop owners knew their products and were willing to talk to you about them. Actual honest-to-goodness human conversation.

Do you miss those times?

We do. At least some of the time. Really we just want a choice to go to those places when we want. There is definitely a place in our world for drive up or grab and go, but surely there is also a place for customer service.

We’ve moved into a self-serve society. It is the inevitable result of our desire for fast-pace and instant gratification. There is no more free service. We bag our own groceries, use the self-check lanes, pump our own gas, and are shocked if a greeter at a retail store actually speaks to us. We can even order the vast majority of our needs on Amazon to have it arrive on our doorstep with no human interaction.

At Five Feline Farm we strive to bring back service. We know our products because we make them and would love to tell you all about the BEEk balm or scones. Just ask about when the basil and tomatoes were harvested. You will get the answer you won’t receive at the big box store.

You work hard and deserve to have someone take an interest in you and your needs. Maybe even help you feel a little pampered. Our goal is to be small scale, high quality and provide you with a positive experience.

We want to provide quality, service and conversation.

But it goes beyond our service to you. We want to start a revolution.

A revolution of kindness. Isn’t that what service is all about?

What can you do today to serve someone?

Start small–

Smile at someone.

Hold a door.

Ask someone how they are and really listen to their answer.

Join our revolution.

Give us a shout on social media or email and let us know what you did today to join our revolution.

Don’t forget to sign up for our email list. Subscribers get a free ebook and no spam. Guaranteed.

Episode 2 – Introducing Us – 2:4:18

Meet the owners of Five Feline Farm and hear about how the Farm got it’s unusual name.

Stop by our on-line store at fivefelinefarm.com/mercantile.

If you are interested in Julia’s book “Simply Delicious”, you can find it through this link: www.books2read.com/simplydelicious