I’ve been in a funk, and one of the best ways I’ve discovered to boost my mood is giving to others. So, let’s celebrate fall on the ranch with a simple giveaway!

First, go to The Writing Rancher on Facebook. Find the post I added on October 1. Love THAT post on Facebook, comment either ‘SD’ or ‘PW’, and tag at least one friend. Then, I’ll enter you in a drawing for either South Dakota Magazine or The Pioneer Woman Magazine.

Plus, you’ll all be entered to win this cute, comfy tee from my friend Calee @Blue Sky Boutique right here in South Dakota! Bring on fall y’all — Love, Comment, and Tag to win! #WeAreRanchers #southdakota #pioneerwoman

Our hearts grew with worry as the skies grew dark and the weather warnings screeched. We had both prayed and prepared as best we could. As the winds blew, those dark skies opened up. Like tears of gratitude from a weathered heart, nearly two inches of rain poured relief onto the scorched earth.  We are rejoicing in today’s rainfall. We are renewed in our perspective. We are using the past days and those yet to come to increase our focus. Above all, we are giving thanks for strength and perseverance, and we pray those blessings continue to flow for our fellow ranchers.  Your prayers for ranch country continue to be appreciated; many folks received only a little and still more received nothing. Your thoughts as our rural water system shuts down tonight for what we hope is a permanent fix continue to be welcome. Rain doesn’t wash away all challenges, but it does offer a much-needed bath from it all! #WeAreRanchers#drought#rain

Like the wedding vase I found the other day, The Rancher and I have been through some stuff in our 16 years of marriage. We’re a little cracked, even a bit chipped, but dang it, we’re still trying to hold it all together

Our 16th anniversary is playing out like many other milestones in this season of our life … No get-aways, no commemorative gifts, no special plans; hell, there have even been a couple disagreements. And guess what? That’s ok! Not everything has to be “Facebook” perfect.

Ranching, self-employment, marriage, kids–it’s all hard, imperfect stuff. There is truth in finding what you seek though, and if you don’t look for something good and worthy every day, all you’ll see is yuck. I think that’s really important to remember. Sometimes, the hardest thing to do is to look for the good, but the reward is always worth the effort.

Keep looking for the good, folks! It’s out there, even if you’re the one who has to put it there. #WeAreRanchers

The word focus swirled in my head throughout 2020. It was both a cuss word driving me to action and a plea begging me to reconnect with activities that fulfill me. Quite honestly, I was going too many directions most of last year to let the word do anything but swirl.

While lacking focus isn’t ideal, 2020 was a season for which I won’t beat myself up. It’s also a season I’m trying to prevent from playing on repeat!

I love ranching. So much of what we do brings me peace and purpose. For example, in addition to all the office work, kid trailing, and writing, you will generally find me driving truck in silage season, running the combine for corn harvest, and handling the feed wagon from November through May.

That wasn’t the case in 2020 for lots of reasons. I didn’t drive truck at all this silage season. And, though I worked hard to harvest 2019 corn well into 2020, I only ran the combine for two days come fall. Christmas Day was even the first time I fed cattle.

I also love storytelling. It’s what lights my fire and inspires my heart. I’ve even gone so far as to create a business model, develop a website, and dabble in more formal storytelling.

Yet, rather than focus where my heart screams joy—a mix of ranching and storytelling—I found myself scrambling, searching, and adding while clinging to what’s old and familiar. It all ended up being uncomfortable and unproductively stressful.

An acquaintance once shared her philosophy of taking on projects. If her immediate, gut response isn’t an enthusiastic, “hell, yes”; then, it is an immediate, “hell, no”.

I don’t employ her practice well, but I do love it! Saying yes when I really meant no left me disconnected and unfocused. I spent a lot of time doing a lot of things when I could have spent less time while accomplishing far more.

Which brings me right square to a new year.

What is focus, and why does it matter?

The good ole dictionary defines focus as “the center of interest or activity. The state or quality of having or producing clear visual definition.”

Without focus, life and work become a blur, especially when personal and professional lives intertwine like they often do in farming and ranching. Focus brings clarity, and with clarity comes purpose. Focus doesn’t prevent failure. Instead, focus helps give failure purpose.

Makes sense, right? So, am I the only one who finds it more than a little difficult to do?

I could be, but I don’t think so.

As 2021 roars in, I won’t be so bold as to suggest restructuring your entire business model, but I also won’t be so naïve as to think some of us wouldn’t benefit from doing so.

I think more of our businesses—our farms and ranches—could use a healthy dose of focus. I know ours can, and I think it’s rarely too late to give it all a try.

Focus isn’t all or nothing. It isn’t constant. Think of photography.

Sometimes, the best picture for a situation is the one focused on a singular subject closest to the lens. Background and peripheral objects become blurred. Other times, the best pictures focus on the distance, blurring what’s most immediate while bringing clarity to what lies beyond.

The greatest trick lies in recognizing when to focus close and when to look afar.

Bringing focus to our businesses won’t be painless. Focus often requires change, which is scary. Because our brains are wired to protect us from scary situations, even good ones, charging ahead into the change requires courage.

After the year we’ve left, I won’t dare to predict the year we’re entering. Far too much lies outside our control. Maybe that’s all the more reason for 2021 to be the year of focus. Focus on passion, on purpose, on profitability.

I don’t know what that means for you and your business. Quite frankly, my own pastures need too much tending to worry about yours. Maybe that’s another key for all of us. To find our focus from within before looking outside for answers. What ends up working here will likely make you shake your head, and the same can be said in reverse. Remember, that’s okay!

Though I’ve offered far more questions than answers, I hope this finds you entering 2021 with a deep, cleansing breath. The kind that fills your soul and releases the junk many of us store up so well. Although you’re the only one who can determine where you focus, you don’t have to endure the process alone.

I say it frequently, and a new year seems fitting to say it again: Find your people and love them well. The people around you directly determine your ability to focus and succeed.

As the COVID-19 pandemic wanes on and our country’s divisiveness grows, I find myself struggling to maintain a grace-filled, joyful heart. Social media once gave me a feeling of connectedness to those friends and family members living afar. Now, I often find it a combative space of isolation and wasteful comparison.

Fortunately, wide open spaces spanning river breaks and prairie hills offer me ample opportunity for clarity and conversation with God. I’m also quite fortunate for opportunities to see and hear a small circle of uplifting friends.

As someone who fights hard–yet still fails–to keep debilitating, often-unfounded fears at bay, the combination of those life-giving opportunities is priceless.

So today, as I felt the heaviness creeping back into my chest, I called a friend. Then, I stood outside, faced the sun, opened my arms to heaven, and breathed in all the life a crisp South Dakota fall air has to offer. When I finally exhaled, I realized something my hippy heart has always known: Heaviness creeps in and holds me down when I’m not being authentic.

Yes–I’m a rancher. I love the land, the cattle, and all the ideals and traditions wrapped up in a lifestyle running generations deep in my blood.

However, I’m also a writer, an observer. An artist with words as my paint and a keyboard as my brush.

When I let the busy and mundane parts of life outweigh the parts that fill my soul, I get stuck and crabby and uninspired to see or be the good.

All this is a long way around to say, I’ve been a bear for the past three weeks, and today, I’m going to change it!

On Halloween, my sweet friend Delila told me about a card project she and her three kids did one year. Instead of a traditional Advent calendar, they spent the Advent season writing to people in their community who were special or lonesome or in need. Tough, stoic Delila even got choked up recalling all the hugs and return correspondence her family received. She concluded by telling me, “It’s something you should write about.”

So, Delila, here it is!

In this time of divided, unsettling heaviness, consider moving your heart by merely moving your pen.

I’m committed to being online less and in life more. For me, that includes writing. If you would like to join the movement, here’s an Advent Writing Calendar to give you prompts and ideas throughout the Christmas season.