week 50: and then...

this week on the little dream farm

A recent snowfall on the farm.

Ten weeks ago in the Week 40 Farm Note I opened up and shared with you the news that I found out my full-time Air Force contract that was supposed to renew for another year on 1 October was no longer going to renew. My awesome boss at the time did what she could and she bought me 60 additional days until 29 November.

All year long I’d been applying to remote jobs knowing there was always a small chance my contract might not renew even though I was being assured it wasn’t an issue. With 13 years of leadership and management experience, a business track record as an entrepreneur, and a masters degree and an MBA…I either heard crickets or got polite rejection letters from every opportunity I applied to.

I kept taking that as a sign, not of rejection, but that it was time for me to start pursuing my own path.

A few of you, without knowing the significance your words meant, said something casually to me like, “Maybe you will make your living as a writer after all” or “I can see you as a full-time writer.”

Rather than keep banging my head against the wall applying to jobs, I decided to start considering the ways I could make a go at writing—putting together a few outlines for some book ideas, writing more on a daily basis, and learning a ton from copywriters, course creators, and newsletter writers.

I sort of took myself back to school these past few weeks, if you will, and am beginning to get the sense that there’s something there. Exactly what, I don’t know yet, but I’ve had enough trials in life to know by now that the harder you push something to happen the way you think it should, the less likely you have any control of the outcome whatsoever.

So instead, I’m listening to some of my hunches and then letting it all go completely, trusting that I’m on the right path. I don’t have all the answers yet, but they will come in time, and as they do, I will know.

Back in early October I caught up with an Air Force mentor of mine about a few next steps I’d like to take in my Air Force career. From that conversation she connected me with a few other Public Affairs Officers to speak with, two that I know and one I just met, and I had fulfilling conversations with each of them.

That third person, the woman I’d just met, is working on this really exciting small team of Air Force Reservists from different career fields (who all have really exciting jobs outside of the Air Force at places like Amazon, Microsoft, Marriott, etc.) who are in charge of an ongoing effort to streamline processes and systems that help take care of a subset of Reservists called Individual Mobilization Augmentees, or IMAs. I am currently an IMA Reservist. Anyhow, the work she is doing for this team is fascinating and she mentioned her boss was looking to bring some additional people onto the team.

She gave her boss my contact and she and I also had a really nice conversation. She said she’d follow up about possibly bringing me onto the team, but then weeks went by and I didn’t hear from her. Chris said, “Well, why don’t you just follow up with her?” But I let that go, too, not wanting to force what came next and spending time focusing on these hunches I was having and telling myself if it was meant to be it’d work itself out.

I got back from visiting my family in Florida for Thanksgiving and that next Monday I logged on to finish out my last three days of work before my orders were set to end that Wednesday.

At the top of my inbox at 8:10 a.m. is an email from this Colonel: “Hi Sarah, we spoke back in October about you possibly joining our team. We’d like to bring you on. What’s the soonest you could start?”

I closed my eyes, smiled, took a big deep breath and quietly said upwards and aloud: Thank You.

I replied and let her know I became available starting 30 November, and as luck or fate or God or the Universe (for me it’s all four) would have it, I received a set of fully remote orders starting the day after my last set ended until 30 September 2024, with an option to renew for another year after that.

I will serve as an action officer on this team and will be directly responsible for devising the research, writing, planning, strategy, and possible courses of action to present to the head of the Air Force Reserve in a few months for a big programmatic change being proposed. This is far outside the scope of my normal PAO duties and more like personnel work, but it’s doing the kind of systems and processes, change management, and strategic planning work that I am obsessed with! My first two weeks in this new role have been fantastic, the team is wonderful, and I couldn’t be happier for how it all panned out.

I always suspected I was a writer. It’s something I’ve loved since I was very young, always journaling as a kid and devouring inspirational stories as a teen and chasing the kinds of words strung together in a way that make you physically go, “Mmm.” I’ve always been moved by words and have found over the years that the hardest things to say are the easiest for me to write.

In these last few weeks of reflection I can also see how I’ve resisted writing—or being a writer—over the years. I’ve had words moving through me for so long that I’ve ignored or pushed away, thinking it was somehow silly to jot them down or ever share them. Now, it’s feeling a lot like I don’t have any good reasons not to.

So, if things look a little all over the place here or on our Instagram or you’re wondering how this all connects to us sharing our life on the farm, know that I’m feeling things out and trying some new things on and following some little hunches that I’ve ignored for far too long. And above all, I’m trying to share that openly and honestly in the event that it becomes a light for someone reading this who is feeling the pull to follow his or her little hunches, too.

I was recently helping my brother out with a tough situation he was going through and shared with him these two sayings, “Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together,” and, “Trust that what is coming is better than what is gone.”

It appears I was needing to hear that…and that in some miraculous way it also became true, too.

I’m taking it all as one big sign to enjoy this new exciting role and this incredible team I get to be a part of and to pay better attention and start acting on those little hunches.

Now, when the words flow to me, I’m intentionally writing them down. I’m exploring some ways to begin sharing them and I already can’t wait to see where that leads.

Thank you to every single one of you who connected, commented, shared, or checked in these last few weeks. It has meant a lot to me and really helped in navigating this time.

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1. Are you looking to improve your cat or dog’s health? Are you dealing with skin issues? Constipation? Diarrhea? UTIs? Allergies? Obesity? Disease? Your animals are your world, right? And you’d do anything to give them the best care and the best life possible. It’s why we switched to Darwin’s Pet Food in 2020. This fully raw fresh food, blended with the specific vitamins and minerals they need, has been a game changer for our cats. It gave us six more months with Boonce. It helped Mr. B lose six pounds. It completely eliminated Buist’s urinary crystals. It healed all of Black Kitty’s dental issues. And all seven of our cats today are the perfect weight, have healthy teeth, have excellent bloodwork, and are all-around healthy. Our vet loves that we feed fully raw. If you’re looking to make the swap, use our code FURMERS at checkout to get 10 lbs. of food for $14.95. When you use our code, Darwin’s donates that $14.95 directly to Project Meow, the rescue we fostered with in Philly. Have questions? Email me at bergsteinsarah@gmail.com and I’d be happy to help you make the transition.
   

2. You know when you pass by someone who smells so good you just want to stand near them and sniff them and tell them how lovely they smell? No? That’s never happened to you? Well it happens to me! Haha I’ve been known to stop a few people and ask what they’re wearing and how they smell so nice! That’s how I found out about this laundry detergent. A friend of mine was dying to know what our friend wears that makes her smell SO good all the time. Once I got a whiff I had to know, too…what the heck was it? It’s this laundry detergent. If you’re looking for something with clean ingredients and you also like your clothes and sheets and towels to smell really dang good, well here you go, my friend. Thank me later but don’t be surprised when you’re getting sniffed up in the grocery store!
   

3. Sometimes I get influenced by influencers. Does that happen to you, too? While I wouldn’t consider myself an influencer, per say, I do love sharing what I love because it makes me happy when someone else says, “I got that great X you recommended and I just love it!” You’ll feel that way when you grab these sunglasses. Turns out, I got influenced, and then when I put them on I was like, “No wonder!” Bonus? They’re so affordable and they come in lots of colorways so you can splurge on multiple pairs without splurging!

4. Since I shared my Hashimoto’s diagnosis I’ve had the opportunity to speak with a few of you who’ve dealt with the same. I wanted to share two of the books that were recommended to me in case you also suffer from Hashimoto’s and are looking for some natural ways to manage your symptoms. I started first with this book and then recently picked up this one too, and I highly recommend both as important tools for your healing library!

5. I subscribe to several newsletters from writers and creators I really admire. One of them shared this article this week (the article is a few years old but worth the read) from a father who wrote a reflection piece on the sudden death of his 8-year-old son. This really stuck with me this week. It’s a hard read but an important reminder about spending time on things that really matter. I just think you might enjoy it, even if the topic is really heavy.

*Note: Not all, but some of these links are affiliate links. That’s no matter to you, as it costs you nothing. However, if you make a purchase, we -may- receive a teeny weeny commission.

Some news about our cooking community:

It’s not you, it’s me.
Has this ever happened to you?
Something (or someone) can be perfectly right for you, but the timing isn’t.

We’ve decided not to move forward with the cooking subscription in 2024. There are several other (writing) projects and opportunities that have captured Sarah’s attention and will need greater time, focus, and commitment in the year ahead.

We’re deeply sorry to those of you who were really looking forward to it (because we were too!) and to everyone who signed up, you’ve already received email communication about your refund.

Sarah’s mom has this saying: “The hardest decisions you’ll ever have to make are the ones that are BEST for YOU.”

While this was a tough call, we know in our hearts it is best.

Thank you for your love, support, encouragement, and understanding!