New Year Goals: Dreaming Big.

In my humble opinion, writing down New Year Goals is a great activity before starting the new year. Although, New Years is my favorite, if you would have told me last year that I would be able to write this post, I wouldn’t have believed it. This year started with some loses and some letting go, but it was the beginning of something even better.

This year I’m dreaming big. This past year, was tough. When you experience so much failure, it’s hard to believe you can ever get past it. It’s hard to believe that you’ll ever succeed at something. Sure, I was planting tons and tons of seeds, but it wasn’t until the end of the year that I saw the tiniest of little sprouts. But in 2019, I’m dreaming big and I want tell you all about it.

Love Can Change the World

Maybe in 2014 or so, I was inspired to start a farm in Oklahoma for people recently released from prison. That sounds crazy and it probably is. I have no money, no sociology degree, no connections, no nothing to say this. For a few years it was just an intense thought. After a tough personal situation, I decided to move to Tulsa to pursue some other kind of dream. Long story short, that didn’t work out either. Between those points, there was just a lot of things that can really make anything good happening seem impossible.

That situation did a couple of things for me. One, in a way it made me fearless. People still scare me because rejection just sucks. But I am not really afraid to fail. I decided to just go for it. I made a four step plan to gain more connections and resources needed to start this farm.

The second thing it did, was break open my heart. I had always kept myself closed off. These situations could have exaggerated that problem, but instead God used it to show me who I really was, which wasn’t a very good person. Anxiety drove every action, which showed up in a variety of other things like anger. That part had to be removed and in it’s place I have much more room for compassion and love.

Even when people don’t do what I want or what I think they should, even when they hurt me, I can still look past (mostly) it and continue to love them anyway. For the things I want to do, this is very important. And though the process is not at all pleasant because me and a lot of people in my life get a front row seat for every flaw and mistake, it is necessary. I had to be aware of these flaws, so I could be open to correction.

2018 New Year Goals

For 2018, my first goal was start a community garden. In January, I joined the Master Gardeners program in Creek County in hopes of finding someone who would be interested in helping. I found out about a past member, who volunteered for the local food bank. They had an empty lot next door and were interested in starting a community garden.

There is a lot of planning involved with community gardens, so they helped get a group together and we started getting necessary information together. In September, the United Way hosts an event called Day of Caring, which encourages people to go out and volunteer in their community. Hundreds of people and companies help local organizations with a certain project. During that day, we got 17 beds built and filled with dirt. What we planned to take two full days only took about six hours. It was a pretty amazing sight.

Prison Programs

In May, I started a hunt to become involved in a prison program. It was a difficult process because understandably, most people want you to have to have some kind of experience or education. I do not. Before volunteering with a prison program, you have to get a Department of Correction volunteer badge. I did not have a badge, nor did I have a place that would let me come on. But then I found a church with a church service in a low security prison.

It was a perfect place to start, and I was able to get my badge, but it turns out I had something in common. They wanted to start a rehabilitation ranch. There is some overlap between their plans and my dream. I get to learn from the entire process and that experience will be huge when it’s time to start the farm.

New Year Goals: 2019

In 2019, I will continue building a website to promote the local food movement in Oklahoma. There are several possibilities coming up in the beginning of 2019, but as I know more, I will give updates. You can follow Replenishing Oklahoma, where I have a more detailed outline of the plan, but I will also share more information about community gardens, solutions for food deserts, prison gardens and rehabilitation gardens. Not only will it promote local food, but you can get tips for starting your own garden programs, inspire people to start growing their own food and empower them to get their independence back. Visit the Replenishing Oklahoma website here.

What Seeds are You Planting?

What about your new year goals? I love hearing about people’s hopes and dreams. Please leave a comment and share that with me!