May 31st, 2025
I bought a book.
I know, I know… a book. Shocking.
But this little book caught my eye on a day I wasn't looking.
This little book may just be the little spark I didn't know I needed in my life.
The book is called The Boy, the mole, the fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy.
A beautiful illustrated book of sketches, quotes and inspirational moments that pinched my heartstrings.
Although every page moved me, there was one I read on this day that stood out to me as a freshly crowned fifty year old woman.
The line is spoken by the little boy to the mole and says “I wonder if there is a school of unlearning”
I read this page over and over again.
It must have done something subconsciously, because during my lunch break the next day, I broke down to Mark.
No idea where the tears came from, but a deep unsettled feeling of discouragement sort of devoured me and took an hour to shake out of.
I've never been one to sugar coat problems, or hide the fact that I constantly struggle with self doubt and second guessing myself… both in the barn and my life in general.
But what I haven't openly admitted, is the mental gymnastics I put myself through when I'm sharing all this online.
Every job I do, I envision a peer jumping in on the comment section telling me how I'm doing it wrong, so I immediately add a dose of self-deprecation to dismantle a comment that at this point is only a potential one.
Every time I leave the house with my roots showing, I now find myself running back in to spray stupid root touch up colour to hide the fact that I'm privileged enough to age, because I predict the passive aggressive commenters advising me to ‘take better care of myself’ or my husband will leave me.
Not to mention the online trolls, porn bots and scammers trying to hijack my channel and confuse my actual true fans.
And finally, the feeling of becoming irrelevant.
The worst part??
I brought this all on myself.
As one commenter suggested, I deserve it and should expect it by putting myself online.
So when I read this one little phrase on Wednesday night, something finally shifted.
Is there a school of unlearning?
If so, sign me up.
I want to unlearn staying small because I was told once that I was a lot.
I want to unlearn the constant erosion of my confidence because I'm repeatedly told I'm wrong.
I want to unlearn the self-doubt and second guessing because I always felt like the dumb one growing up.
I want to unlearn the pressure put on women to look never their age… when we're young, we are told to look older. When we are older, we are told to look young.
I want to unlearn constantly raising the bar in business, because when is enough, truly enough?
I want to unlearn the fear of becoming irrelevant, because if I'm becoming irrelevant, it must mean at one point I was relevant and meant something to someone.
I want to unlearn so many things that I've ingested over the last fifty years of my life that are intended to make me a lesser version of me.
Instead, I want to learn how to regain my confidence again.
I want to learn how to trust myself, and be ok with failure.
I want to learn how to once again be comfortable in my own skin and stop feeding into our toxic beauty standards.
I want to learn to celebrate my wins, and be ok with status quo instead of always striving for more.
I want to learn how to not be caught up with relevancy, but to fully embrace legacy.
Because another quote from this heartwarming little book said this…
“what do you think success is?" asked the boy
“to love” said the mole.
…and isn't that the truth of it all.
Perhaps to succeed in the school of unlearning is actually learning to love.
25 comments
Sandi,
I can’t even articulate what reading this blog did to me. You said it all so perfectly, as if I had written it to myself. What a light bulb moment! I feel blessed to have taken the time to read it and I thank you for being vulnerable enough to share this story. I can’t imagine how many of your true fans were moved and inspired by it. You are relevant, you are smart, you are beautiful, and you are loved! Not just by your original family, but by the new online family you have created as well. God bless you and your family!
Sandi, I’ve been watching you for several years now, but have watched all your videos. An I’ve come to know you to be 100% authentic. You are so real in all you do. So unfortunately that brings out the trolls. Please, and I know it’s hard to do, but don’t let those peons get to you. You deserve so much credit for how far you’ve come from that lady with sheep, to a very smart knowledgeable sheep farmer, small business owner that features YOUR, you got that YOUR WOOL and ideas which are AMAZING.. so take that knowledge and shine, because you should be proud of where you are, cause WE ARE!! Much love to you and your family.
I’ve been following you for years & you have been a blessing to me. I lived in the Detroit area for 27 years (I’m now 77; retired at 75) & last year moved to central California to live with my daughter & son-in-law. The weather is hot, hot, hot here – it’ll be a 100+ from here on in. I was glad to see that all of your collection has sold out; Canadians supporting Canadians. I look forward to the day that the dRumpf regime (I prefer to use his grandfather’s spelling to remind all of his German heritage) has been overturned & we can again be close neighbors. I am so proud of Mark Carney & the way he is leading your country; he is smart, educated & savvy – truly understanding the ‘art of the deal’ unlike our orange buffoon. In fact, I have said on Facebook & other platforms that Canada & Ukraine are now the leaders of the free world. Elbows Up Canada! Slava Ukraini! 🇨🇦🇺🇦