In agriculture, weather is often the first thing we think about in the morning and our last prayer at night. Weather is a topic that unites us all in our daily experience as humans. We celebrate the moisture together. We complain about the drought together. We endure the highs and the lows together. Weather is a comfortable, safe topic.

But, if we spend an entire conversation talking about the weather, we miss the chance to hear and share the deeper hardships and opportunities a neighbor might be experiencing. Just like when checking heifers in a snowstorm, you have to grin and bear it, too often we grin and bear the internal clouds alone.

Thoughts and feelings are also as universal as the weather. As a community, we need to start talking about those dark places our minds go, so we can eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health. If we get beyond the weather and start talking about our mental challenges and strategies, we can help each other be more content, more productive people. And eventually, a strong mind will help us figure out a way to weather the drought and pass along our way of life to the next generation.