In the winter of 2021, after spending a semester largely indoors that left me feeling disconnected from my peers, my body, and myself, I decided to take a semester off to work and live on a goat farm in Washington state. In exchange for my labor, I would receive food and lodging for the duration of my stay.

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     What I found on that plot of land in rural Washington was a way of life different from what my body had come accustomed to over the years I spent defining myself based on academic success. After months of stagnancy in Ann Arbor, I began to move again, feeling at home in my body for the first time in years. As I let go of my restrictive mindset, I learned the joys of building strength, building community, and sharing the products of my labor.

 

     This project follows me through my routines on the farm, from milking goats to selling products at the farmer’s market, as I learn to let go of my desires for control and perfectionism. Drawing inspiration from bell hooks' All About Love, I explore what it means to live with an ethic of love. 

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*Content warning: Food / Eating

**Names have been changed for the purposes of this project.