For permaculture enthusiasts, the word Permaculture carries so much significance that sometimes it seems to be lost on people with less time and bandwidth to understand what some may term as a lofty aspiration. We have all heard before that to make a difference in the world, we must first change ourselves. As many practical takeaways as there are in permaculture, that may be the key one. We all start with our own individual unit. To have a beautiful, productive, self-sustaining, and eco-friendly homestead (don’t be shy of the term), we must check in with our life – is integrity lacking in our self-care, relationships, finances, our aspirations for meeting a higher need? When we check this… then the home and garden making tends to become an effortless thing, that brings abundance and balance in all aspects of life.
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We are all so very conditioned by our time preference. We want everything immediately, the instant satisfaction bug. We are also immensely conditioned by a concept called the “Big Here”, which implies that through globalization we have come to develop a keen taste for foreign things – be it food, music, exotic plants and places – which all become easily accessible to us…
What we have lost is seeing the beauty in our local landscapes and sometimes even culture, and the deep knowledge that exists within.
Next, tied with the time preference issue, we have become conditioned on the aesthetic of success. A sort of perfectionism misdirected towards superficial things.
How often have we used it as a distraction from addressing something in our life that’s not working quite well? Become dependent or overwork or over serve to a point of self destruction? How often have we neglected to help someone because we are too focused on our own “success”; or neglected ourselves?
We don’t have the tools to address these “personal” problems in a way that’s not commercialized, or subliminally conditioned… We have yet to embrace the “Long Now” – a concept that engages our intelligence and wisdom to embrace the long trajectory of human race… and to slow down, both in a literal sense and with our expectations.
Tips for Embracing Permaculture in Your Life (and home landscape)
With all of that in mind, here are a few fun tips for home owners really wanting to understand how they can embrace this thing called Permaculture.
See Clearly That You Are an Organism, Part of a System
Accept the current conditions as they are. Understand all the systems that you are working within. Dig deep.
Count Your Blessings
What is currently working well? What brings you joy – in your life, in your home… anywhere you are.
Honor those things, notice them and become acutely aware.
Learn to become a witness of your life to become a good observer.
Accept Impermanence
Permaculture is a lot about cultivating a permanent culture. We look at nature, which is ever-changing and try to understand “her” patterns.
This demonstrates for us that life is constantly changing – your situation is constantly changing. Your home is constantly changing.
Accept the beautiful ever-changing world we live in – nothing stays the same.
Accept Failure with Open Embrace
Know that your failures help you discern the real from the fake. The things that “look” like success straight away are probably worth a closer observation.
Drop the ego.
The more the ego is involved in what you do, the less curiosity for exploration, experimentation and ability to make partnerships is available to you.
When we become humble, we become good.
Honor the Teachers
Know you are the first Guru of your homestead, without having spent time observing and noticing every little thing – no one could help you get “started” with Permaculture. Then dive into research… understand your landscape from the Long Now perspective.
It might take a lot of time and effort, but that is it with Permaculture.
It’s 80% research.
How much research you put in now will determine the level of absolute uninhibited joy you will get out of your garden 5 years from now.
Accept Abundance
Your lifestyle, job, hobbies – do not have to change immediately. You might now even understand this immediately… but the paradigm you’re now subscribed to MOST LIKELY is one that spells out lack.
When we see what working with “nature” in an intimate way can mean for us, we understand the incredible freedom that lies within Permaculture. Nature is abundant, and we are the most sophisticated (potentially) of nature’s manifestations.
We have an incredible ability to observe our way into abundance, when we are thinking as an organism in a system.
When abundance strikes, share the harvest. The more you give, the more you will get!
And finally… remember:
Good Solutions are Beautiful Solutions
Sometimes you will recognize the beauty immediately, and sometimes the beauty will take time to reveal itself.
Patience is one of those things… You don’t know the longevity of a thing unless you give it an opportunity.
Be in it for the long run, consistency is way more important than perfection.
