Permaculture Guild

I reveal my intentions to the world and suddenly doors open. I could be looking for a car of a particular make, year and color, but no, I'm looking for a permaculture community. And wouldn't you know, I get an e-mail that a permaculture guild is forming right here in Anchorage, and they are looking for people to help form it. I jump in, head first. The people sitting around the table are a diverse group. Many are just curious about permaculture, a few have studied it extensively. But there is a palatable excitement in the room. They want workshops, a demonstration garden, and possibly a Permaculture Design Certification (PDC) course right here in Anchorage. I want to hold workshops, and create a demonstration garden, and help teach a PDC!

We meet next at my house. I make pumpkin cookies and soy chai, and my neighbor, Patrick brings chips and salsa. The group is smaller and more focused, and still very diverse. Allison wants to create a statewide network, Patrick wants to work at the neighborhood level. Libby is connected to and interested in politics. Terri still wants to organize a PDC. We decide that we can all head up our special projects, form subgroups, and support each other. It will be an informal group, with everyone finding their own niche, their own way to contribute to the common goals of learning about, practicing, and promoting permaculture. There is no hierarchy, we are all leaders.

I am amazed at the fluidity with which we come to these conclusions. But maybe that has something to do with permaculture. It helps us to see things in in different ways. Think outside the box. Make designs that are functional and encourage creativity instead of stifle it. I go to sleep and dream of the possibilities that have opened up to me because I opened up myself to the world.

Designing my Life

I have my work station set up in front of the wood stove in the living room. A stack of papers next to the couch, Bill Mollison's Permaculture Designer's Manual underneath this morning's coffee mug, a nest-like blanket wrapped around my legs. I've been peering into my laptop for days, as if it holds the magic answers to my life. What will I do? Who will I become? I've been writing my action learning plan for my first year at Gaia. How freaking cool... I get to design my own curriculum, based on my needs and passions. As someone who always has a multitude of projects emerging, it's not difficult to come up with some good ideas, the hard part is narrowing down what exactly I'm going to do and how. Spelling out who, what, where, when, why , and how makes my path a lot more clear to me. So few people ever take the time our to design their lives. To actually think where they are going and map out how to get there. I highly recommend this process to everyone. It takes some time, but in the end it saves a lot of driving around in circles.

In my own plan I listed my goals, skills I want, people who can help me, and projects that help me develop the skills and achieve the goals. I identified next steps in each project and areas of learning that I would focus on and write papers about through the year. Then I analyzed my plan for strengths and weaknesses and decided how I would evaluate my progress. My plan is six pages long so I won't include it here, but if anyone is interested in reading it, please e-mail me. Otherwise, stay tuned to see the learning plan in action!

*******If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.******Henry David Thoreau

Welcome to my blog!

I've never done this before- I'm not one to go on and on about myself. But I'm embarking on a new adventure that I want to share with everyone. No, I'm not galavanting across the world again!! This time the adventure is right here, on the internet, in my community, at my house, and in my head. I've begun a graduate program at Gaia University. My learning pathway is entitled Green Business, but I'm actually learning action learning. There's a lot of learning in that sentence! With action learning I study my own actions and experience in order to improve performance. So I begin by studying my past experiences and figure out what I've learned from it, then I look at what I want to learn next and develop a plan of how I'm going to do it. The important bit is taking the time to stop and evaluate what I'm learning and how I'm learning it. Along the way I'll have an amazing support network of advisors, peers, and mentors.

I've chosen the green business pathway for several reasons. I see money, especially the perception of and relationship to money as being a major barrier to personal success, happiness, and community. Every one of us can unlock amazing potential by becoming more financially secure. That does not necessarily mean earning more money, but also needing less and spending it in more satisfying ways. No person should have to sell a piece of their self for money. Happy, healthy people make better neighbors, community members, and citizens. I also believe that we can and should make money in ways that are beneficial to the entrepreneur, their community, their environment, and their world. Everyone has the potential to see creative opportunities all around them if they have the mental space to dream, and with a little support, they could make these dreams happen.

My dream is to unlock that potential in myself, and help other people to do the same. I have a lot of great ideas of how to do that, and I am hatching my plan as we speak. If you are interested in what I'm saying or what I'm doing, come along with me, I promise it will be an amazing ride!