The 230th recipient is Catherine Nguyen of Mora Mora Farm @moramorafarm in Gresham, OR.
Catherine writes, “I began farming as a way to slow down. My first experience was volunteering on a small farm in my college town, and it wasn’t long before I was hooked. More than anything, I loved the type of labor that it was - pulling me into my body and settling my thoughts. Anyone who knows me knows that I really value making space for quietness. Farming, for me, affords me that opportunity.
Looking back, farming started more as an escape from my hectic schedule (c’mon…you have to appreciate the irony of that :). But now, farming feels like the real-est thing I do. It somehow is able to hold the tension of opposing values and skill sets. It’s both solitary work and community work. It requires both patience and decisiveness, flexibility and a plan. It is hilariously ordinary at times and yet, still the most profound thing I think I'll ever do. Farming is beautiful to me because it holds these multitudes.
Self-care, for me, looks like cultivating balance. To remind myself that there are always two sides. Work must be balanced with rest. Community engagement must be balanced with self-reflection. Aphids with ladybugs, voles with snakes. A sense of drive with a sense of peace. For me, life has been the most remarkable when I'm floating somewhere between the tension of things.”