Acceleration

Acceleration

My background

I grew-up going to school in Vermont in the Northeast USA where I lived with my mother and stepfather. I spent the summers in Idaho living with my father and step-mother. Being at home in both western and the eastern states of the USA made me adaptable and broadened my worldview.

As a youth I was the artist of my class. I had a hard time fitting in because I saw things differently and had different interests than my peers. While in elementary school this difference put me into the gifted-and-talented class and at the same time held me back (in 3rd grade) for not meeting the reading standards. In high school I also did not fit into any of the clicks. This led me to choose to study abroad my junior year with AFS. I was assigned to a family in The Basque Country in Bilbao, Spain. I learned Spanish fluently and grew socially and culturally. Even though I earned no credits for my Junior year abroad, I was able to graduate on time with my class by being focused during my Senior year. 

After high school I decided to join the US Coast Guard in hopes of seeing new places, gaining life experience and paying for college. I excelled in my chosen field rising four ranks to become Boatswain’s Mate 3rd class. I led and managed the deck force, a team of 10-13 work hands to maintain the navigation lights of buoys and shore lights on the Inside Passage of SE Alaska. This experience helped me see I had natural leadership skills and could handled responsibility well, including driving small boats for search-and-rescue missions. I decided to leave the Coast Guard as I felt oppressed under the authoritarian military structure. This was a huge trial that pushed me to maintain my self-integrity. 

I traveled the US and on returning to my home in Vermont, I decided to enroll in Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, to study painting and drawing. Though I was a full-time student I did not feel challenged and felt called to a different path. I met a Mexican yogi on the street of Montreal he invited me to Mexico to practice yoga and meditation. I followed my heart and left for Mexico after tying up the loose ends of my school life. My new life as a globe-trotter began! 

It has been twelve years now traveling around the world experiencing: international community, indigenous culture, holistic living and permaculture. I married the love of my life, Corinne Chatelan in 2005 and we have been happily traveling and living together ever since. I have taken two PDCs and other sustainably focused workshops in pursuit of bettering my life and my relations with the world and Mother Earth. In 2012 I began my path as a teacher, instructing an earth oven course for Yestermorrow design/build school in Vermont. My goal is to support world-changers and grow the movement, so I have made teaching the focus of my learning pathway. For more details on my life and experiences see my Life & Career Review here and my Résumé here. 

Validation to accelerate to my capstone year

 What shows I am ready to enter my capstone year?

My on-line interaction and participation in Gaia U shows my commitment to this world-change field and the ecosocial epistemic community. Since my first PDC four years ago my focus has been on  accelerating my path (not just academically) as I feel the great need and urgency to spread this culture/knowledge by living and teaching it. 

The level and consistency with which I have engaged Gaia U associates in calls, forums, guild meetings, groups and peer-reviews shows my self-motivation and eagerness to network for best practices. This also shows I recognize the opportunity of being an active player in the ecosocial epistemic community as an integral part of my learning path. Accelerating my Gaia U path will help me move from study and practice to embodiment and transmission within my life and work.

I have managed my learning-path with steadfastness and creativity. This is best illustrated in my OP5 Learning Review, as it is a synopsis of my learning pathway of the last year. Starting with my LIPD I set my learning goals high. During OP2-4 I actively networked to get access to high quality workshops through work-trade, making my education both affordable and effective. I pushed my edges by engaging my teaching skills through designing and teaching workshops. I stretched my design and permaculture skills through analysis, assessment, design and implementation of various multipurpose projects (see OP5 LR here for details). 

  What does my next year look like through a capstone lens?

My living circumstances have radically changed since last year. I am now living at Metta Earth Institute as a full-time staff. I will be teaching portions of their three summer leadership courses this summer. My overall theme for this coming year is Patterns for Teaching the Design Process. This theme came about through skillflexing with Zev Friedman from Permaculture in Action. I have already started laying the foundation for this work by building a webpage to gather patterns. Mark Krawczyk has agreed to be my Specialty Advisor/Mentor this year to help me pursuit my learning goals, which are outlined in my résumé. I realized Mark was the best person for this position as we already have a good relationship and he is a permaculture adviser for Gaia U. This means I can use both my Specialty Advising hours plus Learning Support budget to maximize my time with Mark so I can meet the high standards I am setting for this year. Mark is also on the board of my regional permaculture guild (P.I.N.E.), which I intend to become more active in this year. The year has already begun and it is brimming with deep learning!

My reason for wanting to accelerate my pathway is not out of being in a hurry or saving money; it’s because I am eager to embody my Gaia U path within my life and work.