Introduction
In this Output packet, I examine the last 16 months of my life through various filters, primarily focusing upon what I've learned and how I learn, the content and the process. Each filter represents a single thread that is woven with the many others to form a tapestry that reinforces itself through multiple perspectives. There is not single thread but the "5P's" play a starring role as do "Tools of Gaia" and "Pathway journey through the OP's." For the next two pages, my lens is through the Gaia worldview and in some respects a meta approach of learning about how I learn and discovering action learning as it relates to my life, projects and pathway. I examine Liam as Learner, Designer & Leader. I reflect on the many tools GaiaU has placed in my toolbox and especially their ramification upon me as a learner. I then examine some of my key learnings, significant projects and life events through the lens of the 5P’s :Personal, Professional, Pathway, Patrix, Planetary and Peer. I summarize my 5 OP’s sharing both process outcomes of myself as a learner and project outcomes regarding content of the core report. Lastly, I reflect upon the goals and intentions I set 1 year ago with my LIPD and reflect specifically upon how I progressed among specific articulated goals and skills and broad strokes of designing my life. In conclusion, I summarize my key learnings (including about learning) coming through this action learning process of my precapstone year with GaiaU.
Mindmap of Brainstorming Learnings
I have included this mindmap as a lens into the brainstorming process I used to begin to understand the vast breadth of learning I have encountered this year.
Brainstorming Learnings
Liam's PreCapstone 16 month journey
Context -- Background
I enrolled in Gaia in September of 2012. I have had a wonderful journey for the past 16 months of my pre Capstone year completing projects, documenting my work, connecting with community and living, working and engaging in my professional and personal pathways. I enrolled in a 2 year certification herbalism program simultaneously to enrolling in Gaia. Health, Herbalism, and Catering have emerged as the occupation-able pathways in which I am currently focusing. I also intend to develop myself as designer/project manager on projects within the many permaculture techniques that I love: beekeeping, fermentation, soil care, seed saving, and mycoremediation. I started the program with the intention to design projects over my 10 OP’s that could be utilized in PDC's that I teach (entire courses or single elements) as 2+ hour courses on Renewable energy (OP2), Beekeeping (OP3), Cheesemaking (OP3), Fermentation (OP3), Seeds, Soil, Herbalism, Mushrooms. I have grown in many of these areas during the last 16 months; however, simultaneously, my perspective has shifted to focusing my Gaia Master’s degree as an inspiration toward how I learn, design, organize and present myself and my material. So I think Gaia has helped me shift the focus of my Master's from content to process. This is reflected within this learning review where I attempt to document some of What I have learned but also spend a lot of time talking about tools of How I learn.
As my GaiaU journey began in September 2012, I was completing a summer of work in CA with a few catering and massage events left to do and a Solar energy course at Real Goods. I headed to Baja in December of 2012 to work on my homestead and put some of my Herbalism studies into practice. I grew wonderful medicinal herbs and made tinctures from the land while I surfed and redesigned our plumbing/electrical system (OP2 : Rethinkning Energy).
I returned to CA in March to a very full nomadic summer travelling through central CA working as a caterer, massage therapist, teaching workshops and setting up gardens. The basis for my OP 3: The Land of Milk & Honey and OP 4 :Designing Designs - Lens of Catering and OP's happened during my summer; however, I took most of the summer on Gaia U Pause as I was working more full time than I had the energy for even without Gaia. When I returned to Gaia in September, I did my MoY on Solar Energy and began completing my OP 3.
In the fall, I came to New York City, which is where I still am, to help my sister raise her newborn child. This point of intervention outside the “plan” feels extremely nurturing and perfect in my flow. Some of the studies I hoped to continue this fall into winter regarding seed school and mushrooms with Paul Stamets got put on hold and instead I have been blessed with learning about my own learning and about child (and adult) development. I enrolled in the GaiaU Advisor Training program this fall and it has been extremely helpful as a lens to ways in which I can improve my Output Packets. I just completed OP 4 which I took as an opportunity to layer my newfound design skills and reflections on myself upon some of the key work I am doing now: providing healthy nourishing food to short term communities (dance groups and yoga groups.)