Want to change the world? It starts with your next thought! Maddy Harland explains why how we think can shape not only our personal lives but the world we live in, why learning permaculture was a game changer, and what enables her to stay focused for over two decades.
We recently published Looby Macnamara's second book, 7 Ways to Think Differently. This little book is like good medicine - it is potent - it goes a long way. I couldn't attend the book launch at the UK Permaculture Convergence because my better half, Tim, was recovering from an operation so I wrote a short speech about how thinking shapes our worldview and why it is particularly important at this time in human history. In true multi-functional fashion, I thought I'd share what I said and expand on it here.
How we think shapes not only our immediate environs but the world we live in as well. As philosophers and yogis have long understood, we create a shared collective reality through our beliefs and thoughts.
The aspect of permaculture design that I love is the attitudinal principles – 'the problem is the solution', 'harvest only sunshine', 'the designer's imagination and skill limits productivity and diversity more than any physical limit'. Of course, the practical principles about functionality and energy efficient design are equally important but the capacity of permaculture design to reframe how we see the world is what I found completely transformational after completing my Permaculture Design Course. Suddenly, the landscape was full of unfolding stories, discernible patterns, and resources that I had been blind to became suddenly evident all around me. I felt that I could indeed begin to design my own patch and grow food, even though none of my education up to that point was remotely practical or land based. Halleluja!
Read more: http://www.permaculture.co.uk/articles/just-thought-why-permaculture-can-make-problem-solution
