1.4 Capstone LIPD - Output Packets

On a pattern level, I have designed all of my OP’s this year to highlight the wisdom and specializations I have created in my life in which I make money.  I have a fairly unique self employment style  in which I earn a third of my money catering, a third of my money in health services and a third of my money teaching and advising in the realm of permaculture.  My intention over the next decade is to make more money with Permaculture Design and to create a line of products utilizing my gardening and culinary and medicinal skills.   Branding Liam is a professional technique to enhance my employability both within my product lines and my teaching/information sharing.
         The primary pattern at play in my Capstone OP’s follows naturally from my diverse professional world and enhances the critical theme of Relocalization.   The thrust within each of these OP’s upon relocalizing the experience of our lives (especially in health, food, land and economic systems.)  This feels like the most critically important planetary offering.    Another pattern is simply that of creating frameworks to organize/access information (Health, Land Stewardship, Product line recipes) is a practical gift to myself to contain the myriad ways in which I work professionally.    I am a firm believer that allowing people to reclaim control/inspire self empowerment of their health from the “fix it with a pill, surgwery or pesticides” of allopathy is crucial in our development as a culture.  I am equally certain that appropriate land stewardship is critical for relocalizing our food supplies and raising our kids in healthful ways in relationship with natural ecosystems (as opposed to virtual ones).  Lastly, creating small scale industry that is hand-crafted products to be used in our healing and enjoyment of life is necessary so that options besides the industrialized products become a reality.

OP 2 — Healing Zone 0 — People Care — Articles and links and personal practices encouraging empowerment in reclaiming our health.   
OP 3 — Land Stewardship — Earth Care — Document my development of homestead in Baja.
OP 4 — Chocolate & Cordial —Return the Surplus —  Play with medicinals and treats to share my medicinal and culinary talents with the world.

I have a few specific digital goals to incorporate into an unknown OP.  These are ideas of how I want to enhance my digital literacy but no specific OP has jumped out
    •    Do an infographic timeline (suited to history of herbalism, concepts around health)
    •    Do a prezi presentation (MoY)
    •    Create a survey with survey monkey
    •    Incorporate video web apps within iMovie

ABSTRACT: Health is foundational for our experience of life.  There are dozens of billion dollar industries built around our collective experience of health.  I am using this OP to scale back, question modern day approaches and present key aspects  of health from the perspective of various traditions and my personal journey.  I will present a scale of Relevance to ask ourselves which aspects of our personal journey potentially require the most attention.  I will frame this design around a permaculture awareness of Zone 0 and personal health.   
  Many clients (massage, permaculture and catering) spend time while we are together gleaning my perspectives on various health questions.  My sense is that I radiate a thoughtful perspectives on lifestyle: work, travel, diet, exercise, personal practices, self care .   I am excited to create videos, slideshows, articles, classes and a website showcasing my unique perspective on health:  yoga, gardening, massage therapy, breathing, meditation, exercise, nutrition, massage, touch, herbalism,  nutrition, stress management, exercise, and herbalism.



KEY OPPORTUNITY:  Through good design utilizing my vast breadth of information on personal health, I have the capacity to share through articles, videos, and website my renaissance approach to living the good life in the 21st century.



IDEAL OUTCOME: Website, articles and classes prepared on various topics pertaining to personal health.  Personal practices developed and documented to gain more awareness toward my own personal health.   I would like to be employed as a Health/Life Coach.

ABSTRACT:   Good land stewardship practices are critical to the health of our species moving into the next generation.   I aspire to develop professionally as a permaculture consultant; consequently, my second OP in branding Liam  intends to utilize the showcasing of the 1 acre homestead in which I have spearheaded the development.  The transformation entails a cornfield becoming a beautiful garden oasis over the past 6 years in Baja, Mexico, which showcases awareness of soils, water, plant propagation, and general land stewardship.  I have already presented upon the 100% solar energy of our land in a previous OP.   This project will assist in branding Liam as a Permaculture Designer and Land Steward. 
    Much of the documentation for this project will be videos and articles relating to the specifics of soil, seeds and herbs.  The design of this packet will engage my hands in the earth in Baja and simultaneously encourage me to document through video, slideshows, photos and writing the good land stewardship practices in subtropical desert for soil, seeds, plant propagation, tree care, herbalism.



KEY OPPORTUNITY: Document the significant development I have spearheaded in Baja and have video and digitally presentable information for classes and websites.   



IDEAL OUTCOME:  2 hour presentation keynote on soils, on seeds, on herbalism and a webpage on soils, seeds and herbalism.

ABSTRACT: This OP diverges from the previous two in focusing rather on a product rather than skills and information. I believe that people and relationship is the paramount experience of my life.  This being said, I am also interested in creating a line of products to share my knowledge and gifts beyond the scope of those I connect with personally.  As a chef and healer and a gardener, I realized that medicinal cordials and chocolates are a great place where healers intersect gourmands (especially when I grow and wildcraft the plants myself).  I am actively experimenting with herb blends in various mediums: alcohols, chocolates, fats, wines with different sweeteners and in different ratios to produce a wealth of medicinal and tasty treats. 
I was considering enrolling in a chocolatier program to enhance my culinary skills and I decided to forgo paying for more education and chose rather to enhance my design skills by designing my own curriculum based on the chocolates that I really want to explore.  In this way I am also able to play with more medicinal blends.   My hope and sense is that the art of tempering is something that one gains into their body after active experimentation and that my tuition money is better spent upon buying raw materials and making mistakes.
     I intend to design experiments to expand my awareness around chocolates and cordials.  This output will entail some readings, lots of rapid prototyping and tasting of chocolates and cordials.   Ideally good documentation follows my exploration of chocolates and cordials to begin some sense of repeatability.  In this output I have designed the opportunity to design a curriculum for myself in order to attain a skillflex/title of chocolatier that I aspire toward.  I have the opportunity for community input both in the fundamental desires and in tastings.

KEY OPPORTUNITY: Utilize my vast culinary and medicinal and gardening knowledge and passion to create products that I can share with the world and supplement my income.   Improve my ability for Rapid Prototyping and Active Experimentation as well as Design (the curriculum)

IDEAL OUTCOME: I hope to develop recipes and processes for 7-12 different cordials and chocolate treats.   I will then create a product line that I can begin to market.  I hope to also have a chocolatier curriculum program to share with others who may like to attain this skill.

ABSTRACT: I find the learning reviews of Gaia to be quite valuable.  Last year, I stacked my learning review to include creating my website.  This year, I hope to stack my learning review to include the outline to an introductory book I hope to write on permaculture.  I want to stack the functions both with the content I have learned through Gaia and the inspiration to organize and present material well.  This will function at least to serve as a wonderful 2 hour presentation that I can give on the basics of permaculture to a general audience.

KEY OPPORTUNITY: Recognize learning patterns and reflect upon my master’s thesis development with Gaia University.

IDEAL OUTCOME: A synthesis weaving the learnings from my projects for my capstone year.  Potentially pulling together the many articles and videos into another presentable output entitled Permaculture Primer.