The Hidden Side Of Farming | Mental Health Talk

regular, this week I want to

talk

about something that concerns us all and that is

mental

health

and in the last month, in the last few weeks, there have been many farmers around me who have opened up about some of their problems that We are now dealing with problems of anxiety, obviously a lot of producers right now are pretty exhausted in their fields, it's been long seasons for many and I think all the effects of Kovid are kicking in and we've had different personalities here. in our Quebec community they come out to you, saying that they have been facing deep anxiety issues and

mental

issues, and the word is that we need to

talk

more about it, about the fact that it is a reality and that it is something that needs to be said, addressed and understood better and you know, obviously, I'm not a psychologist or I'm not trained to talk about mental problems and give advice and that won't be the purpose of this video today, but you know that I can really relate because I myself have had, already you know, pretty stressful times and I've had issues, I've had issues mentally, uh, mentally, you know, I don't know how you say it, but I've had issues with my mental

health

and yeah.

I think I think it's important to recognize them and talk about them. I'm not going to expose my entire life story on YouTube and I don't think anyone should. These are personal things, but there are some. things that I know that I can share or at least point out to others is that you know there are signs that this is happening, you know, you break your finger, you break your leg, you know, you have problems with your lungs, there is a symptom, it is It really is clear that there is a medical problem and you know that there is a clear prescription on how to cure.

You know if you broke your arm, okay, it's in a cast for four months and that's it, so you're, you're. We're going to be inactive for all these months and that's just because your arm is healing, when we're dealing with anxiety or other, you know, depression or just, you know, other mental issues, it's not clear and it's not obvious what the remedies are. , but you know, for me, where I was at was very simple, I was dealing with the fact that I was creating pressure for myself, pressure to be someone who delivered, maybe when I started FQT Farm there was a lot of pressure to do something like that . think of something that would be amazing keep it together there's a lot of things that were moving with my family and me being there and it was just and then I was still touring and lecturing pretty much all over the world and every time I do it it comes very commercialized and then I travel and people expect something from me and I just wanted to help and give everything I could all the time and then there was the family and it was at one point traveling, the pressure of giving birth all the time just got to me and I had than to be very sick and I would go on these trips and I would travel and I would have 40 stamina and I would just keep doing it because I was because I am an achiever and I wanted you to know that I had high hopes and I wanted to accomplish my mission.

You know, at one point I couldn't function anymore and it became too much for me and the feeling that I can remember and that is my message today is that I wish I had talked to people before that or even a little bit after, I was keeping all these things together and I was really focused on that and just at one point, like the pressure and everything that it meant to hold all these balls to juggle all these balls, I just couldn't do it anymore and I dropped some balls and my body He couldn't stand it anymore.

Only my mind was still, go, go, go, but my body was. You know, he was sick and that's what you know. There were some events that again I don't want to share. These are private, but I think Covid for me was great. because it stopped all my traveling and gave me time to really rest and heal and anyway I think when I listen to those around me there are a lot of similarities, maybe you know these farmers are not on tour or giving master classes or doing Things like that, but it doesn't really matter, it's the expectations that we're setting for ourselves and you know, a lot of things happen sometimes when we see others, when we see Instagram, when we see well, maybe when we see JM on Youtube. and we're like, okay, my farm isn't like yours and then there's this whole vicious cycle of just comparing ourselves to others and setting expectations for ourselves that might be too high or unrealistic or not who we are and that can be really complicated and when I hear these stories I feel a lot of empathy and I think there are many of us who are struggling and who don't talk about it, who don't share the fact that it's boiling in

side

and then it's just too much pressure so if that It's something you've felt or are feeling right now again, I'm not going to give you any advice, it's not at all my area of ​​expertise, but do you know if this can relate to you?

I think from what I experienced myself and from what I understand from listening to others, it's really important to at least talk to someone about it, maybe not your wife and maybe not with a close friend, maybe with someone who be trained for that. Say hello, you know I'm feeling a lot of pressure and I'm breaking down in

side

and it's intense and I'm having a hard time doing what I need to do and you know there's so much stuff out there about overachieving and you know mourning for glory and getting up. in the morning at four before everyone else and get things done and you know, I think we all need to recognize the fact that the bottom line is that we are all very vulnerable and we are all fragile in some ways and we all need to take care of each other and Most importantly, we must take care of ourselves.

You know, you can't be a great dad if you don't feel good, you can't be a great gardener if you're not taking good care of yourself, and you know you can't be the friend that you can be to others if you're not a friend to yourself, so I practiced a little bit of this to be able to do it. I don't cry because I don't want to cry because my problems have gotten better. I feel better. Kovid was a great thing for me and not traveling as much and not having to live by expectations that were all in my head.

I just cleaned that up and yeah, I think I'm inviting everyone to reach out if you feel like the pressure of

farming

or horticulture is getting to be too much, you know, talk to a friend. or talk to someone and I think it's really okay to step back and say, okay, I need, I need a break, and if that's what you need, remember the cast analogy, it's like your arm is broken, there's no need. If you keep working with it it's going to get twisted and it's never going to heal you need to take the time to heal and it's never about being weak it's just about being real and it's about being real so I don't know if some of This is interesting, It helps or makes sense to anyone listening, but for me it's just something I wanted to share and yes, we all go, life is a long journey and there will be different steps for me.

I have been through many. of ups and downs, I've had a lot of super good highs but I've had some lows and some of them have been really painful and from what I understand I'm not the only one out there so we're all human and we really need to take good care of ourselves others and take good care of ourselves, so I think that's my message and chopping wood for me has been a great way to disconnect and reconnect with nature, and nature is a great way to connect with who we are and who we should be nature is never wrong nature is perfect nature is the temple where if you can we all have access to some nature take the time to go to nature if that can help I said I wouldn't give advice but that would be advice so that's it, so that's it for this week.

I hope you liked the episode that we call this channel going deeper because the goal is to talk about what is real and what is happening in my world, but also in the

farming

community as a whole and this week's episode really was that yes If you liked it, subscribe to the channel, that gives us the signal that you like it and that we should continue producing this if you want to learn more about my agricultural practice. Check out the work we do at the Horticulturist Masterclass enjoying the community of growers around the world, it's really cool stuff, issue three of Growers, Growers and Co magazine is out next month, be sure to check it out , it's a bomb.

You guys are going to love it, it's amazing, I really like it, I hope you are well, I hope your spirit is good and I hope your heart is good. I'm fine, I wish you all the best. See you next week.