Growing up with an adventurous parent who liked to travel the world, get off the beaten path, and drag his unwitting offspring with him, instilled a sense of adventure in me that never seemed to fade. For as long as I can remember I’ve also found total peace and tranquility from being in nature. It’s always been the place I go to reset my internal world.
And even during my (fairly misspent) youth, I had a strong desire to be a guardian of the natural world in some way but had no idea how…….
By the way I don’t claim to be perfect – far, faaaaar from it! I’m as big a hypocrite as anyone when it comes to the environment – I can’t seem to stop eating crisps (literally like a toddler…. I have quite a serious problem – and yes I know, I KNOW how bad they are for people and planet).
I’m still using beauty products in plastic but trying to cut down and use eco products as much possible whilst avoiding going full ‘feral child’. Until recently I had a big, diesel, luxury car and I’m still bloody flying way too much!!
Having said that, regardless of my human flaws I think it’s better to try and be part of the solution than to bury my head in the sand and give up hope of a better, fairer world. A quote I heard recently struck a chord and summed up my feelings …..
Wes Nisker asked Gary Snyder, the famous US environmental activist and poet, on his 80th Birthday, “How do we live with this magnitude of crisis without slipping into fear and blame?” Gary replied, “Don’t feel guilty, save it because you love it…”
This makes sense to me. Fear and blame will not get us out of our current global problems, but if we really love something we will hopefully tend to it and care for it in the most meaningful way.
So why am I doing this? Why (oh why) – at the ripe age of 39 – did I decide to chuck the deck of cards up in the air and see where they land? Well my work very generously offered me voluntary redundancy, I have no kids – so no ties to where I live.
I also needed to sell my house this year as it was far too big for my needs. So all the stars aligned. When my boss broke the news of voluntary redundancy to me I had a flicker of panic. I kind of knew I should go for it but what the hell would I do?
Then I remembered I had done some research into Permaculture* about a year earlier. It had really sparked my interest and seemed like a practical, accessible and fast way to align the way I live my life with the things I really care about.
‘Care of Planet, Care of People and Fair Share’ are the main ethics within Permaculture – a term invented by Australians Bill Moleson and David Holmgren in 1978 to imply permanent agriculture…. So I just took the steps.
Finding myself jobless and homeless, I booked myself onto a Permaculture Design Course (PDC). And here I am – sat in my brothers flat in Valencia, no home, no job. But with enough money to last me possibly a year, off to Brazil – and hopefully Uruguay, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia – to volunteer, learn as much as I can and see if I really can change my lifestyle to live with care for the planet, care for other people and in a completely sustainable way.
I’m not the most graceful of people, I am a slow learner and I’m really set in my ways so all of this is very exciting and completely terrifying… And it could all go horribly wrong. Follow my blog to watch the potential success or hilarious failure unfold……..
*Permaculture explained (sort of)
The most difficult (and most common) thing you will be asked about Permaculture is ‘what is it?’ Most of the literature I have read so far seems to be about practical solutions which are achievable by ordinary people.
Energy efficiency, organic growing, community finance and making do with the resources available, explains the principles in a very broad sense but this still doesn’t quite clarify what it is – infuriatingly you can get a different explanation from each person you ask.
The best explanation I have heard to date was from my PDC teacher Aranya (total legend and permaculture Gandalf).
In his pre-course reading notes it stated that, “Permaculture is a set of non-rigid guidelines that can meet differing needs at differing times to achieve a green planet”.. In slightly more detail he continues “Permaculture (permanent agriculture or permanent culture) is a successful approach to designing sustainable environments which have the diversity, stability and resilience of natural ecosystems, whilst also providing for the needs of the people who use them. It is based on the philosophy of collaborating with nature and caring for the earth and its people”.
