Managing Promises
As I outlined in the Active Experimentation part (bee project-learning theory) of my OP3, my new goal was to create a learning tool that fulfils certain criteria. Throughout I followed this goal and in the end came up with a prototype for a possible learning tool, a Memoflip. So far, I am working to create my first bee-related Memoflip, but that will take some more time. It really motivated me to create a learning tool with all the bee content I have learned during this year. That is the reason why I always followed this goal strategically and applied a design process right from the beginning, which helped me to get everything done. My big motivation was that there are so many different topics I want to learn about, but if I do not visualize them in a memorial way I will forget a lot over time. So I can create a learning tool for each topic and have knowledge condensed in one place and draw connections easily. Then I promised to organize the Terra Preta workshop, which was quite some work and in the end everything went smooth and I learned a lot! This time it was easy to fulfil the promises I made to myself. Also because I was highly motivated and I had not too many projects going on at the same time where I could loose track.
Pathway Reflection
Reflecting about my pathway since I delivered OP3, I am thinking about a time very rich in experience. Organizing and co-facilitating the Terra Preta workshop was a really great opportunity for me to get more experience in passing on knowledge. As life happens it was not planned in long-term that I will do that, but some day Declan asked me and I was just very enthusiastic about it. Directly after the workshop my boyfriend and I went to the European Permaculture Convergence in Bolsena and we stayed two more weeks to visit two different communities and gain more experience in community life. Back in Lebensgarten Steyerberg I was busy to get everything done before my one year internship in the permaculture area ended. I joined the last bee hive inspection of the year and thought a lot about how I am able to collect all the knowledge about bees I have learned so far. By researching and collecting different forms of expressions for knowledge I slowly was inspired by many methods and in the end was able to create a prototype which I now can apply for all subjects I want to learn more about.
There was so much going on in my life, so I decided to take two months program pause. This was not planned in my LIPD, but right after my OP3. Different in comparison to my last OPs was that I focused on only one big topic which was Learning and Education. This way it was easier to manage my pathway, because I had no coordination or time problems. I am really thankful for a pathway rich in experience and un/learnings and hope that it keeps going this way!
Managing and tracking my pathway
To visualize my pathway a little better, I started to create a learning map with islands. Placed on the islands are different learning fields I want to learn more about in the future. It is a living map and so far it is not really colourful. Every time I get in touch with a learning field, I will write in a different colour how I got in touch with this field and over time I get more clear about what really interests me.
To track my pathway and process on a daily basis I used the free program "I done this today". Every evening I get an email where I write down for a few seconds what I got done today. It helps me to reflect about my process and lets me think about new goals.
This time it was not challenging to not loose track of my pathway and projects, because I had clear defined projects and each one was supported by a design process. For more complex projects I would need a little more tracking.
My Gaia - Learning Map
Life update (optional)
As I already mentioned above I finished my one year volunteer internship in the permaculture area in Lebensgarten Steyerberg. Right now I am in a transition phase where I have no regular structure. My boyfriend and I are going to Italy a second time, visiting a community called "Commune di Bagnaia" to wwoof there for three weeks. We want to stay three more weeks on one or two different permaculture and/or community places in Italy (one small permaculture farm and a community called "Il popolo elfico"). At the same time we are looking for land and/or people in Southern Germany, Italy and Austria to start a permaculture farm. We are in a very open situation and completely free where to go next. We decided not to plan too much and rather see spontaneously what happens. ENJOY!