Archive for February, 2016

It's been awhile since blog kissed blarney and yet i feel neither remiss nor remorse regarding this respite from the tongue in cheek. The philosophy being laugh, to keep from crying, resulting in a myriad of ripple effects including cry to keep the laughter from dying. Permaculture: A mashup of permanent agriculture and permanent culture. Now, the permanent agriculture part is fairly strait forward in that it is a methodology meant, at its best to be applied to any region on earth, and if implemented with care and joy for the work, create forest gardens capable of nurturing all forms of life in the Big Symbiosis called sustainable living. Very nice indeed. On a farm the shortest definition of sustainable is No External Inputs to the system with the exception of natural forces like wind, sun, rain and pesky eco-tourists. This is virtually impossible to achieve in the short run and a distant dream even in the long. But the joy is in the going and in accumulating an understanding of the importance of investing some part, some fraction of ones Being by integrating these methods into the exercise we call living. The results are many and varied. That super good oak leaf lettuce and chives that grew in a window box on your condo lanai. That glass of lemonade from the first lemons on the tree you planted a year and a half ago. That pakalolo wit da kine worm poops li'dat.  The backyard turned food forest. Baby steps to leaps and bounds once smitten. The methodology can be applied to all areas of life because it simply councils to take care in not missing the forest for the trees. In not ignoring the connections fomenting catastrophe. In not drowning in the hubris of self satisfaction. At the moment, we live in the illusion of revolutionary times. I say illusion, because its All an illusion. But that's another conversation. These times are, more and more, demanding that justice be done. That all sentient beings be treated on the up and up and that the Rothschild Mafia be hung upside down so we can collect the change falling from pockets everywhere. It'd be like halloween with all kine different coins of the world in your little carved pumpkin basket instead of miniature snickers and candy corn. A real Jubilee, and I for one am all for it. But in a cultural model based on perpetuating conflict and war, featuring consumerism as an all important driving force, and lorded over by Mr. Burns and Smithers types everywhere, then even if the table were to be leveled a bit, I would beg to ask, what then?? We all live under the umbrella of fear and longing for, if nothing else a measure of diminished rather than full bore anxiety from time to time. A ray of hope, an arsenal of gloom. Laugh to keep from crying. Truth is we have yet to manifest much proof as to the existence of the New Cultural Meme. The tired, old revolutionary catch phrases that promise to work to eliminate economic, gender, racial and political injustices, even if carried through would still leave us wondering what to do with our new found freedom, and if history is any indication, the global backwash of freedom misused has brought us to the present moment. Being the offspring of the thing I co-created, the lesson now coming through most clearly is that the essence of what is brought to life by applying the methods of Permanent Agriculture becomes the seed point of Permanent Cultural models and practices, which when recognized, nurtured and understood recreate the foundation and direction that humanity can then choose to embrace. It's a horse to water thing. Having some sense of what it takes to actually walk this path does not leave me filled with hope for a global turnaround. My guarded optimism has segued into a letting go and a dispassion toward those things which would have my soul for an appetizer in the Great Feast of Self Interest. Flying under the radar, therefore has become mated to Laugh to keep from Crying in forming the second in a trinity of firewalls meant to protect and defend against the coming and Great GoogleyMoogely. So, obviously the next step is for Big Corporate Advertising to come in and make a Big deal of it, package it, sell it, dilute it with hi fructose corn syrup, run it into the ground, sit back and count their rupees. Watching the pathetic display of creeping greed attending the Cannabis "industry" is text book. We are compelled by our culture to think nothing of eating mangoes from Chile and Mexico in the "off'" season instead of taking heart in recognizing that mangoes are seasonal and that watching a mango tree grow and a mango fruit form and fill out instructs us in the importance of shifting our cultural imperatives to those which represent the realities of nature and not our ability to manipulate and monetize. "But try wait uncle Jp. What if we wen' buy one ilend in Fiji, enslave da kine populashin, make em wirk for tree coconuts an one fish a day shtringing puka shells for fawtene owaz shtrate, den sellum to da Japaneze for big bucks, eh?"  Sorry mom, great idea, tempting in so many ways, love the pidgin. And out of that very temptation is born the third and final firewall to protect and defend against the coming and Great GoogelyMoogely. Pay it Forward. Be the gift. Be the good will. Be the loving gesture that asks nothing in return, and in so doing sense the good, the true and the beautiful hiding in us all. If engaging in a lifestyle choice that demands focus and flexibility, hard work and perseverance in committing  to a real and qualitative shift in cultural imperatives requires relinquishing the right to drink a beer and puff a doob at 1 pm, then count me out. Otherwise, I'm your guy. So remember, Laugh to keep from crying, Fly under the radar and Pay it forward. Also, it might help to keep in mind when you're feeling down, that we're not even a Blip on the cosmic radar and that such a degree of Monumental Couldn't Give a Shit, Talk to the Hand perspective helps to kick in the first firewall protecting and defending against the coming and Great GoogelyMoogely. The more you show, the more we'll grow. Peace, Jp