To: Permaculture ibiblio <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>, Peter Bane <pcactivist@mindspring.com>
Subject: [permaculture] Teachin' fer change - Cap'n Peter Bane
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:10:07 -0400
*
Followin' a trail o' slightly mysterious clues, I found me way into a
Permaculture Design Course some nineteen voyages ago, in Janree o' 1990.
Emergin' on th' other side a rainy fortnight later, I felt a bit like
Alice after she disappeared down th' rabbit hole: nothin' be quite th'
same as 't had been before. Or perhaps 't be, only more so. Whaterewords
I put t' 't now, me life had changed: Thar be nay goin' aft.
That heady combination o' camaraderie, intellectual stimulation,
intimacy, an' holistic learnin' provided a peak experience, one I can
still summon vividly t' mind.
But what ha' changed?
On th' surface an' in short order, everything: job, career,
relationships, residence, studies, daily activities, associations, me
mates. What had changed basically be me view o' th' world an' me
relation t' 't. As me core values had at last been linked wi' a coherent
means o' expression, all th' outer forms o' me life underwent an
upheaval. I had found a way t' live responsibly on earth, learned t' be
seein' through present problems toward future solutions, an' I think
most importantly, discovered that thar be important work t' be done an'
that I could do some o' 't. Th' power o' makin' these discoveries in th'
company o' others similarly "turned on" be profound an' long-lastin'.
Why ortin' ta any o' this matter? O' course, th' turmoil an'
transformation be excitin' an' full o' personal meanin', but th' changes
I embraced in me own life be havin', I b'lieve, made a positive impact
on society.
Moreover---an' this be why I write---this **personal** experience o'
change offers some insight about th' process itself. An' th' process o'
**personal** empowerment an' transfermation, engendered as I suggest by
takin' th' Permaculture Design Course, lends credence t' th' strategy o'
teachin' as a vehicle fer progressive social change.
't would be lily livered t' imagine that me callin' be th' only way good
work can come about in th' world. Certainly permaculture be nay th' only
answer t' th' world's woes. But 't does be havin' a role t' play. An'
them o' us who carry this gift need t' reckon th' value o' sharin' 't.
Ya scurvy bilge rat!