Love as a Compass
Kamille Mirkin
2023-2024 Idaho FFA State Sentinel
My favorite part of competing in the Forestry CDE was always compass and pacing. I loved being able to so precisely tell a direction and exactly how far it took to get there. I have always moved through my life in a similar way, very focused on an end result. I set an end goal and strictly follow that path. However, I’ve learned that sometimes the compass guiding us may be more important than where you are going.
Growing up on my family’s small dairy production, my dad’s dairyman friends would always ask me if someday I wanted to take over the family dairy. I would always laugh and say that, no, probably not. This answer was not because I didn’t love the industry or that I had no interest in being a part of the family farm. For years I had seen the hours and hours of hard work, only to barely profit in good years. Early on, I decided to place my goals for my future elsewhere. I started to picture moving to a bigger town, working as a corporate attorney so I wouldn’t ever have to worry about finances. I let these goals of making money guide me and didn’t look back on this path. When is a time you have been so focused on a goal that you forgot why you wanted to accomplish it in the first place?
It wasn’t until this past summer that I started to reexamine what was acting as my compass. I had the opportunity to meet with the very inspirational 2022-2023 National FFA Secretary, Jess Herr. One day at camp, we sat around the breakfast table talking about our future goals. I proudly shared my plan of going to law school and making big dollars as a lawyer. After we all finished, Jess asked the question, “Now what would you do if money didn’t matter, and you could truly do whatever you loved doing?” I was surprised at how much this question stumped me. I had never taken a second to consider that my answer might change. Looking back, it was clear to see that my goals were being centered around what I thought it looked like to be successful. I had the end picture set in stone and had placed blinders on to stop myself from considering if chasing this goal was actually going to make me happy.
My perception on what should really be guiding me was quickly flipped this January when I had the opportunity to travel to several family farms in Australia. Stop after stop, we were greeted with the entire family at these operations. The young children helped hand out tea and cookies as we sat in their backyards and heard about the rich history behind many of these operations. It was viewing the compassion these people had for allowing 75 American teenagers into their operation, and their passion for their work, that taught me a valuable lesson. I started to realize that it didn’t matter to these farmers if they were making the most money. It was a family business that brought them all joy. They explained that they stayed in the ag industry through every hardship because someone has to do it and they love it.
This is a theme we see through small farms across the globe. Their passion for the industry and the work gets them through the longest of days. They let love be their guide. Love is what allows us to be happy as we chase these dreams. Love is what makes the chapters within our stories worth telling. We must re-examine what we would consider to be successful, and think about whether chasing that goal will truly make us happy. To me, happiness is not found through only our own motivation and goals, but through loving everything around us to reach dreams we allow to grow and change.
“To me, happiness is not found through only our motivation and goals, but through loving everything around us to reach dreams we allow to grow and change.”
Since going to Australia, I have been able to reexamine my career goals. While I know I may not return home to the family farm, I now want to focus my career as an attorney working on policy that will make it easier for these small producers to stay in business. I also will have less reservation about jumping at the opportunity to change life paths, if it is something I care deeply about. I will chase passion in life, rather than setting goals and getting stuck in trying to achieve them.
It is okay not to have a set direction of end destination in mind. Explore and discover what will truly make you happy. Chase every dream if you are truly passionate about it. Let love be your compass and trust that it will point you to happiness.
