Grow – Soil to Stars

Care for the earth is in my DNA and permaculture was my first road map of how this can be designed and envisioned into a living creative practice.

Permaculture (permanent agriculture) is a design system to harness, capture and enhance the cycles of energetic inputs and outputs of human, plant, animal and social interaction in a symbiotic relationship.

The Permaculture Principles, when used to inform an artistic practice and process can be applied to integrate a creative expression with an inward energic experience. Bridging the inner reality with the perceived outer reality.

Understanding Permaculture Principles:

observe and interact: We must come into relationship before we take action. It includes inner as well as outer observation. How am I in my environment? What can my environment tell me? There are no limits to observing and interaction, but the best place to start is with the basic elements. Earth, Wind, Fire (Sun), Water and Ether.

catch and store energy: How can you be active if you are constantly on the back foot? By catching and storing energy you prepare yourself for a time of need and even out the bell curve of reaction and action into a smooth experience of being.

obtain a yield: Before planting a seed, ask yourself what do I want to manifest? What are the preferred fruits of my labor? For each person this will look very different. Clearly define the purpose of your output.

apply self-regulation and accept feedback: Being vulnerable is the key to successful adjustment. Vulnerability can only function well if it comes from a place of inner strength and not defense. If this isn’t established return to the previous three principles to build a sturdy foundation.

use and value renewable resources and services: Mother Earth and the female principles is the origin of all creation. When there is a disconnect between the creative energy of the earth and our own creative expression we will continue to limit our true potential. Respect for the earth is the most reliable guiding principle for creative process and the most challenging, because it asks us to let go of convenience and choose more ethical and inevitably challenging physical resources.

produce no waste: Every mistake, conversation, breath, word, brush stroke and thought has meaning. Allow your awareness to harness the energy and ground it into something of use and value.

design from patterns to details: Step back and take in the big picture – when you think you have done that, step back further and do it again. We never know the true mystery of patterns but we can learn to respect and work with rather than against them in the process of understanding the universe.

integrate rather than segregate: There is a place for everything – you just need to find it. This principle takes you into deep relationship with those aspects of self and others that you would often avoid and takes ‘observe and interact’ into practice.

use small and slow solutions: In order to walk a path of creative awareness, often the small details holds the most affective answers. Just as you take time to step back and take in the big picture, allow time to focus in on detail and understand the micro within the macro.

use and value diversity: An ecosystem is created by the sum of its parts. There can never be enough variations or nuances. Respecting differences allows you to release yourself from the confines of self-perception and experience the depth of being beyond your notion of self.

use edges and value the marginal: There is a power at an edge. It is the threshold of change. This is the space where chaos and uncertainty transition into a new way of being. Have reverence and sharpen your awareness at the point of transition and change, anything here is possible.

creatively use and respond to change: Make change your friend and find the creative thread that carries you through. If you were to hold that thread and follow it, rather than react, how would you respond? Return to the first principles – observe and interact with fresh eyes. Be willing to always start again, knowing that the wisdom you have gained is beside you.