Our Rural Roots

Jennifer Campbell, Contributor

Winnie The Pooh has a "thotful spot." It's a special log with a special sign where Pooh sits down, taps his head, closes one eye and says: "think, think, think."

My "thoughtful spots" aren't as clearly defined, but like Pooh, there are certain places that help when I need to clear my head or find the right words -- for things such as this article.

Thinking is hard. I used to force myself to focus only on what needed thinking about. It took years to recognize "my thoughtful spots" may not be as easy as sitting on or falling off a log.

There's a saying that "idle hands are the devil's workshop." For me, idle hands make an idle brain. I've discovered I can clear the cobwebs and think more clearly if I'm busy.

Give me a dirty hog barn and a pressure washer, and I could potentially solve all the world's problems. Put me in a tractor and tell me to stay until the field is done, and my mind is more productive. I call it "brain washing" and "cab therapy."

Activity is good for mental health, productive thinking and creativity. This may be common knowledge to some, but it has taken me years to figure this out for myself.

I'm not Pooh Bear! If I sat on a log forcing myself to think, it would ultimately lead to me realizing I can't think, and my brain would likely start to focus on something like the need to eat donuts. Like Pooh's friend Piglet said: "The things that make me different are the things that make me, me."

These past few months have given us all a lot of serious things to contemplate. I, for one, won't be complaining (much) about long hours in the tractor cab this spring. It's time to renew, refresh and gain some new perspective, and lucky me: I've got the perfect thinking spot to do it.

> Jennifer (Jent) Campbell can be found sometimes thinking on her Indiana farm, where she writes a blog called Farm Wife Feeds (farmwifefeeds.com). Follow her on Twitter @plowwife and on the podcast @girlstalkag.

[PF_0520]

(c) Copyright 2020 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.