I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends....

Hopefully, you all won't be mad at me for having that lovely Beatles song stuck in your head for awhile, because I am writing to ask for help.  This is not something I do lightly; in fact, I have always been a ‘go it alone’ sort, even going hungry in college rather than asking my parents to send me money.

So, what makes it possible this time to reach out to my community now?  I have unexpectedly come upon an opportunity to serve the planet and its people in a way that I know in my heart cannot be passed up.  A Cooperative Permaculture Design Course is being offered here in my home place, this spring, at roughly half of the usual price.  I will not need to travel far away, but can commute from my home, reducing the cost significantly.  This opportunity will allow me to complete work that I started over a decade ago, and to be a much better resource for both the non-profit, community-based organization where I work, and for the larger community of people that are associated with me.  I don’t have time to plan, save, work an extra job - the sorts of steps I usually take when I am inspired to expand my view of life in some way.  I have only about a third of the funds I need and less than a month in which to gather the rest.  I need to trust in the universe and my dearest friends to help me pull this together.

 Now why should you support me?

 First, those who are regular readers have seen a lot of writing about sustainability over the years here, and know that I walk my talk.  I live a life that involves walking to work, growing part of my own food, supporting my local food cooperative and CSA, crafting many of the items we use in daily life and finding much of the rest secondhand, keeping it out of the waste stream.  Though none of us in the US can claim to live the low-carbon-footprint lifestyle that people in the third world live, DH and I manage to live much more lightly than many of our counterparts.

Some of you have even known me since back when I took the Permaculture Design Course training online while obtaining my MA in Culture, Ecology and Sustainable Community in 1999-2000 from New College of California.  As part of my MA thesis, I hosted a design workshop, taught by Dan Hemenway, that created a permaculture design for our land, Slate Range Camp, much of which we have been able to implement here over the past decade.  I want to obtain my own certification so that I can go out and help other people learn to achieve their sustainability goals.  I have learned the hard way over the years that it takes credentials to get people to let you do the work you know how to do.

Additionally, I have spent most of my adult working life building social capital, rather than a large pension fund or stock portfolio.  Profit has never been my bottom life; people have.  DH and I both chose to work in professions that sought to better life for all of us… in my case I have worked as a nurse, a teacher, for county government and for non-profits in the early childhood and medical fields.  None of these jobs pay what they should, but I have been happy to do my part in making the world a bit better place.  There have been times when I have been pretty well off, but overall I have lived that was “spiritually rich” (to quote Jimmy Clif) but haven’t much money to show for it. 

Therefore, I have decided to ask those I know to invest $5 or $10 in me, and I will give it back, maybe not directly to you, but to the planet and the people.  The three primary tenets of permaculture are “Care for the Earth, Care for the People, Share the Abundance”.  I will be doing all three, and will be sharing what I learn with all of you through a series of “Sustainable Sunday” columns that will appear almost-weekly on my blog for the coming year (I do plan to take a few holidays off).

I need to raise these funds by the end of April, so have put both a Paypal "Donate" button and a ticker on my blog... neither of which appeared in the pretty way I wanted.  These will come down as soon as I am done, and I will also be posting 'windows' into my course process, so stay tuned.  And help me spread the word!  Thanks from the bottom of my soul!

*** Breaking news - On Munday morning, I learned that the cooperative class fee has been reduced to $1000, and that I had already received a significant amount of donations.... thanks to all!!