My Diploma Adventure

INTRODUCTION

When I embarked on my Diploma journey years ago, it was founded in a desire to utilize my wide experience in many, yet related, fields and find ways to use my energy more effectively.

The purpose of my Diploma has been to use permaculture design to kindle my fire, and support the direction and continual exploration of the expression of who I am, and how I can serve what I have to give to the world. 

My past experience in permaculture was been with organization, gatherings, education and the community as a whole. I wanted to redirect my own energy in this field to include more learning for me about teaching, so that I can share more. Also I wanted to explore my own creativity- artistically and communally- to re-ignite this aspect of my nature.

My experience is also enriched, through my deep experience of Tai Chi (TMW) and its embodied principles, in listening to the body and guiding a deepened experience of our natural, connected expression. This is work that naturally continues alongside permaculture, and experiences that I facilitate within permaculture courses. 

I am an artist and my creativity is embedded in all that I do, yet I also wanted the diploma journey to support more room for my artistic expression to be more alive in my life and sharing with the world.

Many years ago, I realized -with some surprise- that a great deal of my professional experience is in the field of teaching and group facilitation. In my childhood and teenage years I was shy and insecure about speaking in public, so by stepping into oppportunities to ‘grow the ropes’ I now have many years of experience in leading groups, in a great diversity of fields. My greatest strength here is the integrated knowledge I have, and continue to develop, with Tai Chi and its principles; an understanding of how to listen to ourselves and our true nature.

During my years being involved in the Norwegian permaculture association I have also learned more and expended my experience in facilitation; within organising teams in the board, managing gatherings and festivals, and through workshops and courses.

Another valuable experience for me in flexible facilitation is numerous years of group facilitation in creative activities and movement for and with people with special needs. 

In our time of converging complexity and world crises, to find a place of rest, beauty and inspiration and learn to love our nature, is an important aspect to support our balance, and will to take the action necessary for the earth’s wholeness. It is my wish to be a positive force aligned with the natural world.

GRATITUDE

I celebrate the achievement of being close to completion of my Diploma Adventure! What a journey it has been, and continues to be! I celebrate my fellow travellers and how we have learned a lot together, grown in our group connection and in our own deeper connections to life.

Deep gratitude to Delvin Solkinson and Looby Macnamara, with your anchoring and encouraging guidance I have managed to sail this Diploma ship from shore to shore!

Gratitude to Bess and Dharlyn my Action Learning Group, and others I have shared Action Learning with on the way.

Deep gratitude to the whole GDA community, and new constellations growing from this.

How my family has been a support in the safe haven they offer by simply being who they are- where I can go and feel at home.

How my friends step up and encourage me, by their warmth and sharing, by dancing playing and finding mutual nourishment. And by direct help in my processes.

Friends in particular (in random order): Andrea, Georgiana, Angela, Jen, Tim, Simon, Nicole, Julio, Eirik, Andy (Bennet), Morten, Andrew (McMillion), Dene, Joachim, Kevin, Damian, Else, Catherine and others.

I feel grateful for variety of all my actions in life; From friends and family activities, to Ringsby-time, to School work, to local permaculture groups, to GDA community

Places that hold me: ‘my’ ash tree, my home, Ringsby, Opsal, Gjettum, Norway, UK.

I celebrate my incredible tenacity and enduring power to see things through- even when it seems overwhelming. My capacity to find joy in the smaller tasks within the big pattern; my capacity to re-member to activate my creative power to support connection and deeper meaning, encouraging momentum also at times when movement is slight.

ETHICS

My original diploma vision included deepening my understanding and integration of the permaculture ethics in my life.

The essence of the three ethics has been a strong companion in my life. And in this writing moment I recognize that when I first discovered permaculture, it was the familiarity that struck me; the familiarity arising out of how actions ideally are anchored in these ethics.

In designing I feel a recognition that my actions – when I am conscious in them- are ‘sifted through the mesh’ of the ethics.

I care for the earth and my actions reflect earth care. My practices and lifestyle support earths resilience. I am actively engaged in regenerative growing of food and food-growing communities.

I care for people and my actions reflect compassion and respect. By fluent designing, and also by facilitating courses, gatherings, community-building, networking and  ceremony, I disseminate knowledge and experiences that will support earth care. Energy in my life is effectively used to nourish myself, and to support others.

I care for equality, solidarity and a viable future for generations to come, and my actions reflect justice, and fair share. I aim to run my business fairly and to keep designing it with consideration for cultural and ecological inclusion and balance. I aim to share fairly from surplus and abundance.

ACTION LEARNING

This heading is still under development and will include a summary of my ALG, GDA group

VISION AND AIMS

The Vision of my Group Diploma Adventure has been:

• I am resilient and confident in my capacity to share my gifts in life, in community and through my livelyhood.
• The work that I offer contributes to ‘the better world that our hearts know is possible’ .
• Life fills me with wonder and excitement as I am present in changes and continuity.

Some of the Aims have been:

• The Group Diploma Adventure is a journey where I learn, share and gain skills and confidence in myself and my value.
• The strands of my essence, gifts, passion, experiences and skills are woven into a tapestry of substance and clarity.
• I activate my abundant creativity to integrate my passion and work-life expression.
• I deepen in my nature-connection, resilience and integrated regenerative practices.
• I am a mature woman in a transition during menopause and  keep in tune with the moon, and natures cycles to inspire and relate to my own balance in stillness and movement in life.

Some Goals have been:

WHAT WENT WELL – Roses

My vision has to a large extent manifested- of this I am very happy. I have felt that I am continually weaving the strands of how I connect with, communicate and express what I have to offer the world

I am happy with the habits I have created, especially setting next achievable steps, and taking notes and my 20 minute practices of art, which also ripples into other fields of my life.

I have developed further ways to incorporate my experiences with earth- and human connectedness

Documenting my considerable activities over the years – in the ALP- has been really encouraging; acknowledging the work I have been involved in alongside the GDA designs, as well as my ‘day job’ at the Steiner school, has given a sobering reality check on my achievements. (This timeline can be seen on this site under the heading Action Learning Pathway Summary)

HELPS ALONG THE WAY

Helpful, supportive and inspiring friends and family.

GDA community

Economy through my job to support me alongside developing business income.

A stable and cheap place to live. 

The support of my practice of TMW/ Tai Chi the inner support.

My wide past experience. 

The knowing that all is well.

WHAT WAS CHALLENGING – Thorns

Seeing patterns of engaging with activities and ‘good causes’that ultimately distract or dilute my focus and avoidance to share more of my true gifts and passions. My first design was a threshold, illuminatig how the deeply embedded ‘doing’ muscle of :”Im just gonna …” can divert attention from deeper needs. Although painful to meet; as I gently notice patterns like these something is invited to loosen judgement and so a healing and redirection can happen.

Scarcity mindset: seeing limiting self-belief in how I envisage a right livelyhood manifesting. Again an opportunity to notice what my need really is, and how I can connect more deeply and activate my resourcefulness and creativity to invite and embody more abundant new possibilities, and heart enough to act from a deeper truth.

REFLECTIONS 

To sum up the immense journey of the Diploma pathway encompasses all aspects of my life; relationships spanning inner and outer realms of my self, Family, friends, work, economy, home, community, creativity and earth connections

At the outset of my Diploma journey I identified a wish to deepen my tools for teaching. It has been heartening to re-discover what I wrote then and see what I have actually completed:

• I will do this by joining the PPU in design, art and crafts, and thereby include a formal teaching skillset that enables me to get work more easily within the educational system. Through this I will also give focus to ways I can share creative artistic activities and link them with an ecolocical focus. 
• I will also join a training of permaculture Teacher training as soon as I can- and as long as my work allows time off for this. 
• To include my exploration of workshops to design for the body and inner/outer listening focus. Like Soul Moves.  
• To make a website so I can promote and communicate my work; making a logo, defining the profile/ words/ pictures to reflect the essence of self, beings, nature.
• To develop and maintain a timeline of action.  
• To design a performance/ experience of permaculture through embodied listening.

WHAT HAVE I LEARNED?

“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” T.S. Elliot

The Group Diploma adventure has been a long journey. and at this stage I feel a sense of once cycle completing, leaving open space for the next steps. I feel a growing sense of completion and acknowledgement in how the journey has unfolded, and how the experience in itself expands past design practice and into an integration of who I am as a designer, who I am as an artist and what I have to offer.

I am glad I still have work to do in developing the vehicles for my work. Thankfully there is always more to discover. An important recognition for my self is to have come to a point where I can feel confident in the foundations that this diploma adventure has provided.

The unfolding of the diploma journey has moved differently than planned. Naturally and thankfully it is so. And yet this has been a challenge to the achieving mind that reaches ‘over there’ and is ‘not good enough’. Aligned with the essence of “you are already that which you seek” and Tai Chi principles I feel a sense of coming full circle as I realise that I dont really need more to have anything to offer. I can see that weaving my experiences together into a cohesive whole is indeed what has been happening. I had intentions to deepen into greater understanding of 8 shields, The Work That Reconnects, and Starhawks work, and much more, yet it is also good to have an abundance of future experiences ahead as well as what I have integrated on the diploma journey. In the process of working with the variety of designs there is a part of me that has grown; the container of my experiences- me, I am here and I am enough.

As I have continually revisited my Action Learning Pathways I have also been tuning and tweaking my direction. And re-discovering past points as I sum up also feels inspiring; a cycle returning. Acknowledging that the core essence of my work and passion is about embodied listening, and that I am also curious to explore how I can develop this in new expressions and formats.

Here is a summary of my first Action Learning Pathway:https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1K_MFK0hAGhd4szLDLgTSQagVVNTDPrP3/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=115327501024071797272&rtpof=true&sd=true.

I was encouraged to read through it recently and realize that much of what my vision was, and the ideas for designs I had has manifested and implemented. Though the timescale has been very optimistic I am glad to have had this document to now revisit and rejoice with.

GOLDEN KEYS

This heading is to be written out more fully.

Never forget what you have already done- dont do twice: Store (and remember) documents in the right place.