Permaculture...shifting my paradigm - beginning a blog series

A wonderful friend and sister ( +Rhonda Baird ) first introduced me to the term "Permaculture" a few years ago.  With a brief explanation, I deduced it was some sort of practice that supported sustainability.  I knew she was involved in teaching this practice, usually once a year, in a residential 2-3 week course.  For me, that wasn't going to fit into my life any time soon.

I was interested, but tucked it away for the distant future when my life might afford that much time away from home.

Then, I received a facebook invite to a weekend version of the course to take place this fall over the course of 5 weekends (skipping one in between each for homework and integration).  One of the weekends, I had a pretty important event, but at the last minute, it was rescheduled and I was able to sneak into the course!

The format has been: Friday evenings, Saturday (All day) and Sunday afternoons totalling roughly 15 hours per weekend of class and lab.  There are 3 wonderful people facilitating/teaching the material and each have their own set of valuable wisdoms to impart.
The student base is an awesome mix of people with a variety of backgrounds and goals for the course and their personal practice of the principles we are learning.  It's a great group that meshes very well.

So...  What IS Permaculture?

It seems that there is no set, or concrete answer to this.  The practice is so organic and is comprised of so many layers and facets that it is difficult to sum it up in a one-size-fits-all definition.  From my limited understanding of it at this point, I'd explain it something like this.

The practice of Permaculture allows you to provide for your own needs in a self-sustaining way through the nurturance of a healthy home-centered ecosystem.  This ecosystem would work WITH natural flows and patterns and would Decrease your dependence on consumerism.

Permaculture Design is the thoughtful practice of observing natural occurances and designing landscapes, buildings, homes, farms, villages, communities, etc. to be self-sustaining while also providing an opportunity for everyone's involvement in their own livelihood.

Both of these things are done with the greatest care of the Earth (All living creations of Gaia), People and Community.  They are all done with the understanding that peak oil is past and we must begin living within our means (From our paychecks to our natural resources) by not only conserving energy but in producing it and also by not only reducing our consumption of 'products' but by supplying our own needs as much as possible.

This is only a small piece (And a novice's understanding) of a huge concept from only a few days' exposure.  But it's more than I understood a week ago and maybe you understand a bit more than you did before reading this!

I plan on blogging about this process in a series.  Stay tuned for more to come!

For more information about available courses and Permatulture in general, check out
The Permaculture Activist

Also, you can check out what Rhonda is doing here at:
Sheltering Hills Design
and
Vital Connection Blog

Creative women



One of the walls in my studio.

 I have been so blessed to be surrounded by highly creative women all my life.  Grandma, aunts, mom, sisters, neice, daughter, friends and even neighbors have added such beauty and inspiration to my work and my life in general.  Up until a few weeks ago, I thought I was in some sort of vast network of creative women and was patting myself on the back for building a facebook page and etsy shop to market my creative wares.  (Oooo watch me go!  lol)  That network turned out to be but a dot.. a mere blip on the epicenter of creative women that is Google+.

I am by no means diminishing the amazing relationships I already have with these super creative friends and family of mine - they are the life force in my creative veins.  But the access I now have to all sorts of highly creative women of all walks of life is too much to measure.  Even at the slighted percentages, the fact that 10% of google+ is women is encouraging.  Through one of my Circles on Google+, I found this website Women of Google+.  It targets women who are on the frontlines of the Google+ test drive.  There are some truly amazing women there.  And I'm not talking just the techy chicks either (who totally amaze me with their talent as well!), there are artists, writers, college students, homeschoolers and everything in between.  A whole wide range of women who are on the cutting edge of social networking in a whole new way - and many, many of them are incredibly creative.

The flood gates have opened wide.

At this point, I am still really just processing how I will utilize Google+ and all it's wonderful bells and whistles, but the diversity of creative women is what's on my mind today.  And today, I will add at least ten of them into one or more of my many Circles.  Oh yeah, did I mention that I get to be creative there too??  Mmmhmmmm  Lovin it!

Women of Google+ is not owned nor managed by me and I make no claims on any content therein.

In the stillness of center

It amazes me sometimes just how much energy is held in the stillness of center.  Here, on the dark moon, I am focusing my intent on the gestation of a dream.  I'm holding it is the safety of the darkness of the Great Mother's womb.  The energy there-contained is ready to burst forth in its beauty and unbridled passion.  Even though I have already set this course; the bulk of the energy which will manifest it fully, is still gestating.  That raw, fearless, authentic passion is like water behind a dam...ready... ever-ready to flood forth at the releasing of the gates - the full recognition and birthing of my dream.

And here I pause, in the stillness of center, to honor all that has been, all that is, and all that is becoming.

And the day came...

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."

Anais Nin

And so blossom, I shall.

I'm embarking on a new venture and would love to share that with you.  I've been searching for a way to Live my Bliss for quite some time now.  I believe it's found me after all.

I've found that I absolutely love all things fiber.  I could quite literally spend my entire day and evening working with fiber arts.  I get so much enjoyment out of all the facets of this art that it became obvious that this is the Bliss I wish to Live.  I couldn't be happier about it and I am thrilled to shout it to the world!

I'm only in the beginning stages of making this a way of life, but I welcome you to see what I've got going so far.  I'd love it if you would 'like' my facebook page Shores of Avalon and be on the lookout for my Etsy shop to go live soon.

Some of the things I'll be offering for sale include:

• Handspun yarns of wool, alpaca, mohair, cotton, etc.
• Handwoven textiles like shawls, scarves, placemats, bath mats, rugs, blankets, dish towels, etc.
• Handmade quilted items such as wall-hangings, bags, and blankets.
• Commissioned work will also be considered.
• Eventually I plan on offering classes and workshops in various things!

I'm very excited and so very, very blessed to have the opportunity to realize this dream!

Getting back to my yoga practice

Wow... I've been a slacker for the last few weeks.  At first, I slacked just a little bit.  Then I got out of the routine of eating breakfast... and just getting right into the tasks of the day.  Somehow in there, yoga dissappeared entirely.  (slaps hand)

So I'm thinking to myself "why am I tired all the time?  Why do I feel like shit?  Why am I in a bad mood?"  Duh.
Yoga - gone.
Breakfast - gone.
Daily spiritual practice - slim.

Sometimes my blissful ignorance amazes me.

So... back to breakfast.
back to daily gratitude practice.
back to yoga.

Almost instantaneously, I feel better.  (rolls eyes at self)

I'll get it one of these days.

Women's health, Planned Parenthood and Abortions

I stand with Planned Parenthood.

The agenda is now clear.  It's not about fighting abortions, it's about relocating women to their 'rightful place' as second class citizens.  There is no taxpayer money going towards abortions.  This money is solely for health and wellness - mostly of women.  And of those, mostly low-income women who have no other alternatives.

For all the pro-life people out there, I respect that you have an opinion, but really that's all it is.  It's yours.  So... you can feel comfortable in knowing that abortion is not an option for you.  And that is perfectly fine.  Well, that is, until you, your wife, daughter or mother become pregnant from something that allows you to challenge that moral ground... rape... consented sex while under the influence of drugs or alcohol or whatever may make it 'ok' for you at that point.

However, my body, my daughters bodies, my sisters bodies are not yours.  They are mine and theirs.  And our understanding of life, death and the divine will shape our decisions about it.  Not yours.

I say this in a very definitive way.  That these things WILL shape our decisions, not the government or your personal moral beliefs.  Why do I say this as though nothing the government does will change it?  Because it won't.

Guess what... women have been terminating pregnancies since women have been able to conceive.  This will not change.  How do you think women did it before the invention of modern medicine?  Yeah, the wheels are turning, aren't they?  Any good herbalist knows.  Any good pharmacist knows.  Any woman in a line of healers knows.  No party agenda, No religious body, No crazy, in-everyone's-business-when-they-should-mind-their-own idiot is going to stop that. 

What the attack and shut down of Planned Parenthood WILL do is make healthcare for HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of women unattainable.  Period.  It will deny testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases.  It will keep birth control out of women's hands so that more unwanted pregnancies will result.  It will let cervical and breast cancer go undetected for thousands of women.

I won't stand for it.  Will you?

Signed,
Bobbi...  herbalist.

Healing Fear

It seems as though the winter would never end.

As I moved through my work towards becoming healthy, the winter lingered.  Goddess and the universe knew that My inner work wasn't complete.  I needed to pass another spiritual test before my spring could come.  That test came in the form of the scare of breast cancer. 

Before I go any further in this blog, I will let you know that all tests came back as benign. I am cancer free.  Blessed.

The tests for me here were all about fear.  Would I be able to let go of the fear that this disease had found a home in me?  Would I be able to release the hold that this fear had on me?  When things start to line up; like you hear of 3 people who've been diagnosed with breast cancer in less than a month, you tend to start thinking the worst.  You think that the universe has been preparing you for this news.  You start to think that it's all connected in some way.  In essence, you (I) start to take on the disease by association.

I am so blessed to have a true treasure of a friend who worked on me after my biopsy with energy work and reiki healing.  This friend gave me the best advice.  It was "stop taking it on".  I knew exactly what she meant and I took that advice to heart.  I let it all go.  Right then and there.  I knew I had to.  I went home and prepared a releasing ritual in which I Released All That Does Not Serve Me.  Cancer doesn't serve me.  Dis-ease doesn't serve me.  Fear (in this case) doesn't serve me.  I released it all back to the Mother so she could transform that into something balanced and healthy as only She can.  The Mother, Earth, Gaia, She heals all. 

Several days later, I received the results letting me know that it was not cancer.  This news came only hours after hearing that a friend had lost her long battle with cancer that very morning.  Bittersweet news putting it all in perspective.

Perspective.  There's a word for you.  Going through something like this has a tendency to change your perspective on things for sure.  You start playing out scenarios of having a life-threatening disease.  What are the things that rise to the surface as being most important in your life?  What things do you see as not so important anymore?  I did a lot of reflecting in the weeks that this process was ongoing.  I have changed my perspective on some things and  I can feel that others will change still.  The thing is - I don't even have the disease... or any life-threatening disease for that matter.  I can not imagine the profound impact of being faced with the opposite news would have.  My heart goes out to all who are faced with this right now and will be in the future.

As I end this entry, I am thankful to be full of life for another day on this beautiful planet and I personally send healing, love and support to all of those who are not.  May Goddess Bless our journeys here today and through the end of our days until we are with Her once again.

photo by author