i think there's something that all of us look for in life, whether we do it intentionally or not: that one thing we feel we were meant to do. our calling, our niche. it's different for everyone. that one thing that makes us feel completely, entirely at home in our work; allowing us to feel we fit perfectly into the accompanying lifestyle like it was tailor-made. that effortless happiness. the knowledge that we're doing what we feel we're meant to.
i don't know what mine is yet (although i have a few ideas) so like a lot of us, i'm a little jealous when i see a person who's found theirs. but along with that envy, i'm also inspired to keep wondering + stay curious about what my calling/niche/thing is.
yan has found his.
yan's story is the first in a new series by husband + wife filmmakers matt + julie walker, better known as tiger in a jar. you might recognize some of matt + julie's work from the videos they've done for kinfolk magazine.
the first video installment of "the producers" was shot in burgundy, france in celebration of artisan food producers + the international movement supporting local farmers + sustainable food. yan is a shepherd + cheesemaker. "it seems that before i knew how to speak i already wanted to be a shepherd," he says in the video. after 6 years in the pharmaceutical industry, yan left + decided to follow his passion. "i had to ask myself what i really wanted to do, and i decided i wanted to make cheese."
matt + julie were inspired to create the series while filming a short video about the cook's atelier, a cooking school in beaune run by a mother + daughter team who collaborated with tiger in a jar on yan's film. the cook's atelier connects local farmers + producers with consumers through cooking classes + workshops.
"we tagged along with [mom] marjorie + [daughter] kendall as they picked up some produce from one of their producers, madame loichet," matt + julie told me. "we started talking to her about when she started selling produce (she is an older woman and has been doing it since she was little!) and we realized there was an amazing story behind her way of living. we knew we had to come back and share the stories of these producers and we started with yan."
"marjorie + kendall have been buying from yan at their local market that happens every week down the street from their cooking school (it is just as quaint + romantic as you would imagine a market to be in a small french town!)," matt + julie said (they're in france now, keeping an eye out for the next "producer").
yan's video offers an intimate look into his daily life: feeding the sheep, herding them to pasture, making cheese, selling his product (most of it done with the sweetest baby strapped to his chest). marjorie + kendall then use yan's cheese to make a beautiful souffle (visit the cook's atelier blog).
"people realize more + more that they're disconnected from what they eat, so they search in order to reconnect themselves," he says. "i wanted to be a real player in this movement + be at the grass roots of it."
"you can hope, you can dream, and of course the fact that i'm in a project like this, i place a lot of importance on this lifestyle, on this way of communication + communion," yan says. "i live my life in the way that seems right for me."
video + images featured on the homesteady with permission
