The Growth Phase

This is the first part of my personal « Design Web » inspired by the work of Looby Macnamara in People and Permaculture. It reveals potential, limits and helps.

Vision

In my vision, I live my permaculture reality. I have my own micro-farm within a community that shares the same ethical values. I developed skills for designing systems and building the new sustainable world. I help a lot of people to realise their projects and visions. I teach permaculture and see hapiness and serenity emerging from autosuffisiancy all around me.

Helps

I am full of gratitude to all those people around me and whom I love. This list exercise is very interesting to become aware of the strong network to which I belong.

My children are my greatest motivation to go to a new and more just world, aware of natural and human limits.

My partner is my biggest help on many level. He support me every day in all factual and material as well as emotional things. He makes me laugh when it’s too difficult and it’s priceless.

I can’t deny the help my parents are giving me. My mother is incredibily available to babysit my two-year-old fantastic daughter. My father, a retired engineer, spends his time studying global, energy and climate issues. To repair the mistakes made by a few gennerations of promising technologies but destructive of our environment and culture, we are working together to find solutions.

My daughter’s nursery allows me to concentrate on my work and free myself from some stress. At the same time, this structure allows her to develop a huge number of skills at the social level, creativity, language learning, motor skills and fine skills… She can observe different ways of doing things and thinking that can help to adapt to any situation.

My sons are now grown up and that helps on a lot of points. My 18-year-old is on the road to independence and I don’t need to take care anymore. Well, almost ! We have good communication and it helps at home. My 16-year-old son is old enough to take the train alone to his father’s in Italy.

I’m lucky to have such wonderful friends. In addition to socializing, making music and having fun, I was helped to learn English, make my website, be coached for my degree, my no-poo transition and organizing my home, explore the divinatory arts, make a vision board, exchange around permaculture, create an association, participate in women’s circles, be supported in difficult moments…

My work as a teacher offers me several opportunities. Not only to earn a living but also to collaborate with colleagues and set up interdisciplinary projects. I have already enrolled in the optional course of photography, fitness, we have assembled a volleyball team, a rock band, an educational garden, a choir, made a zombie movie … I even learn technical drawing and how to build models. The possibilities seem infinite to me.

My location allows me to enjoy a bit of the system, the luxury of a city apartment and the proximity of the structures. My life today has moved away from my ideal but I have more opportunities for action and learning. It’s time to save money and study permaculture thoroughly by participating in many projects. I also benefit from the existing structures in my municipality reputed to be « eco ». I am a member of an association which aims to take care of an orchard belonging to the commune. I also want to join a group near my home to garden with asylum seekers.

I should also mention the global permaculture network. I can draw inspiration from it to a great extent. The UK Permaculture Association, in which I graduate, offers me different types of support, including my tutor, who encourages and helps me to see more clearly.

A big thank you to my automatic translator who is of an immeasurable help.

Limits

Time. My biggest limitation is time. Between the large family, a young child, work, household, trips, shopping and cooking, administration and the hazards of life, it is difficult to add studies.

Energy. The lack of sleep and long-term breastfeeding sometimes deprives me of my energy and makes me irritated or depressed. My lifestyle is disastrous. Poor diet, lack of physical exercise which does not optimize my energy.

Confusion. Lack of time and energy generates disorder, confusion and a decrease in motivation. I find it hard to stay focused on my work through interruptions and the huge list of things to do.

Distractions. I spend too much time on screens, whatsapp, telegram, youtube, movies and internet. I love management video games but I spend ridiculously too much time there instead of managing my own home and projects.

Skills. There are skills that I still need to acquire that limit me in my learning such as: make a website, draw better and faster, write a lot, improve my knowledge in computer science and English, make wooden constructions, …