I’ve been thinking about legacy lately, and what that means to me at this point in my life. Merriam Webster defines legacy as “a gift by will especially of money or other personal property,” followed by “something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past.” A financial legacy is not something I’ve focused on so far, but I do long to leave a contribution I can be proud of. 

My housemates and I watched a documentary recently called the Biggest Little Farm. John and I watched it again the following night with friends who came over for dinner, and I skimmed it the next day to retrieve some quotes I wanted to remember. Clearly a keeper!

It’s about a couple, John and Molly Chester, who dream of ‘one day’ moving to the country and learning to farm in harmony with nature. He’s a wildlife photographer and she’s a chef—not exactly farming stock—but their dream gets turbo charged when their new rescue dog, Todd, refuses to be left alone while they attend their day jobs. They had, after all, promised Todd that their home would be his last. 

The photography is as extraordinary as they story they tell. Now focused, they attract the necessary financial backing and buy a farm about an hour outside of LA. Then, with the support of their mentor, Alan, they begin the long, hard work of reviving soil that has been completely devoid of nutrients due to years of poor farming practices. 

The resiliency of life is what struck me the most. Alan had promised them that within seven years they would attain an equilibrium with nature and see things they’d never seen before. “Complexity, diversity, all supporting and enhancing each other. You will see a web of life.” And he was right. “As we added cover [crop] and life on top, a process billions of years old awakened. And they returned. Now, on this little farm, there is up to 9 billion microorganisms churning away at decaying life forms. Purpose driven organisms. Alkalizing death to life in just one clump of healthy soil. Everything that dies gets broken down into minerals and nutrients to feed plants. Our farm is energized entirely by the impermanence of life.”

As I begin to think of life as this kind of full spectrum, where everything is feeding everything, I start to settle more deeply into myself. I feel reassured by the perfection of it all, even in its inherent messiness. Like biodynamic farming, the cycle of life is simple but not easy. 

At one point John expresses frustration over how much was going out with not much coming in. Alan wryly responds “There’s never enough time to do it right, but there’s always enough time to do it over…”  If we bring reincarnation into the picture, this is surely true in the larger scheme of things as well. However, this life we’re living now is finite. 

John learned a pivotal lesson from watching their dog, Todd. “It seemed he was looking at infinitesimal details; decoding how the world around him works.” So John started doing the same. “Observation followed by creativity has become our greatest ally.” 

Our legacy is not only what we leave behind, but how we live our lives. In this film the couple models not only courage and creativity on a daily basis, but the legacy that is possible when like minded people gather together in support of a common dream. 

I’m still a work in progress when it comes to dreaming big dreams but there is no question that I am passionate about bringing people together to support one another as we live, age and die. What form that will take is yet to be determined but I’m excited about the Lifebook program I signed up for a couple of weeks ago, that I started yesterday. It will support me to do a comprehensive review of my life as a whole—something I’ve never done before—and that feels like a necessary step on my quest to live a full-bodied life and make the contribution I long to.

Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? Let me know, I’d love to hear!  

(Thank you, Mary Oliver, for your beautiful question!)