ready, set, (mud) fight!
a full cycle of rice farming
in this week’s newsletter: participating in the long awaited farming activity, reflecting on time and slowing down, and mud fights
dear penpals -
long time no visit in your inbox!
life here in kamikatsu has been equally busy and calm, and it’s been an important lesson for me to learn to remain present in the big and little moments of life. which also meant that this newsletter, editing vlogs, and writing updates took a bit of a backseat. but i’m back and excited to share with you such a joyful update about a farming activity that i have been waiting to do since first arriving back in august 2022 - rice planting!
if you’ve been the following this space for a while, you would have read my old newsletter that talks all about my love for rice and my experience with harvesting my favourite food in the whole world. but as much fun as that experience was, what i really wanted to do was be a part of the whole process. so when this year’s little seedlings came, the fields were filled with water, and all the macro and micro organisms living in the fields had settled into their new home, it was time to plant the new crop of 2023 rice!
click on the image or link to the video here!
within kamikatsu, located at the very furthest area of the village in 八重地 [ya·e·ji], is a large piece of land with multiple rice fields. and in this space, people from within the village are able to rent a rice field and use it to support their business or for their own personal enjoyment! (the rice field we rent is definitely 100% for our own personal enjoyment hahah)
this community initiative allows for people from all around the village to not only participate in the joyful act of planting and harvesting rice, but it’s also a beautiful way to pass down knowledge, continue tradition, and gather people together over a nice bowl of rice (when harvested)!
someone recently asked me what is it about being in kamikatsu that i love so much, and i responded by saying that being here, in this little space in this big world, i finally understand what it means to truly be content with life. for the first time (either in a long time or in my entire life) i’m not rushing to accomplish something, complete something, achieve something. i’m not trying to get ahead to reach a goal that seemingly moves every time i get closer to it.
instead i’m happy. and satisfied. and grateful that there is a life that is full of ease, of laughter, of rest that is filled to the brim with joy. and participating in the yaeji rice fields for a full farming year has brought a deep appreciation for the passing of time.
as i look out into the rice fields, i often wonder how life flew by so quickly, and yet so slowly at the same time.
living in the countryside, it’s not hard to lose all sense of time when there are no deadlines, no quotas, no rush, no… anything - time passes differently here. and i love that now i see it through the perspective and guidance of nature and it’s pace. rice will be planted when it is planted. and rice will be harvested when it is harvested. there’s no amount of planning and fast-paced living someone can do to change it. you simply can’t rush nature.
so i’m leaning into this moment, this timeline, of allowing things to be as they are in the pace that it is. i will be like rice - sharing my home among the organisms, trusting that moments when i’m in the mud isn’t a bad thing but a fun thing, planting myself firmly to withstand against the winds and rain that will inevitably come, and trusting that even in the season of slow living, i am still growing.
This is so beautiful!
Awesome and interesting post Mina. You're country is beautiful and I'm so happy that you are enjoying life so much.