OP Abstract
In this Output packet, I examine the last 24 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. I reflect upon the many learnings from my PreCapstone year and how they have deepened into practice. These include : Tools of Gaia, Design Methodologies, and MTMP. I then continue on with new learnings and growth through my Capstone journey including a reflection upon my Capstone OP's. 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 from my Capstone year 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 2 years 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 Capstone year with GaiaU.
OP Structure Guidelines : a Design Framework
Actionable Items
▪ Journal on worldview and connect APD to all of my OP's.
▪ Consider what field I am part of for the OP 5 and contribute to this.
▪ Reread my LIPD, paying close attention to the goals/intentions and skill-flex sheet.
▪ Update the skill-flex sheet with my growth.
▪ Pull summaries from first 10 OP's into supporting evidence.
▪ Journal.
▪ Contact Laura for buddy meetings.
▪ Spend time on the content AND formatting of the Outcomes page.
▪ Write a text box about how Gaia has changed my life.
▪ Reflect again regarding the tools of Gaia.
▪ Insure that I have offered context and easeful navigation
▪ Write text boxes in Commentary section with MTMP, key un/learnings, leader& collaboration.
Feedback from my Advisor
DESIGN
1 Make an overview of this design methodology in comparison to others you’ve used and how I am evolving as a designer.
2 Articulate clearly how goals are related to outcomes. Did the project realize its intentions?
FIELD
1 Bring in more external referencing for the field assessment.
2 Explore my impact on the field in more depth.
Incorporating Feedback from my Advisor
DESIGN
1 I spent significant time reflecting and charting patterns of Designing Designs and comparisons of myself evolving through the design process. See page 5.2.3.
2 I reflected significantly upon the "holy trinity" of design: expanding my awareness of goals and actions and outcomes. This gave me a much smoother awareness of how my goals became my outcomes.
FIELD
1 Weaving my thesis cumulatively from the past 11 output packets and connecting this to the field of Integrative EcoSocial Design and my specialty within Applied Permaculture was a true growth experience for me. See page 5.2.1
2 I explored the field more in depth and have been coming out of my shell regarding contributing my material to more and more sources. See page 5.2.1
OP Management
I am happy with my management of this project. I see much more clearly how goals / implementation and outcome form a holy trinity. It eases
I see how goals for the OP and the core report differ.
Liam's Capstone 24 month journey
Life Context
I enrolled in Gaia in September of 2012. I started my Capstone year in January of 2014. I have had a wonderful journey for the past 24 months of my Capstone year completing projects, documenting my work, connecting with community and living, working and engaging in my professional and personal pathways. I have been simultaneously working on a 2 year certification herbalism program with East West Herbology. I have been appointed the Director of MAssage Services with Tassajara Zen Monastery in my 10th year working with their massage crew. I intend to continue 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 my Master's degree program with Gaia with the intention to design projects over my 10 OP’s that could be utilized in PDC's that I will 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 40 months; however, simultaneously, my perspective has shifted to focusing my Gaia Master’s degree as an inspiration toward design and learning and recognizing my role as I become more of an elder. 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.
I started my Capstone year with Gaia U while living with my sister in NYC taking care of my nephew. NYC offered ample opportunity for digital literacy growth. Indeed, we were less than a 2 minute walk from the Apple Store on Broadway and I was a 1 to One member and took advantage of hundreds of hours worth of classes and personal attention. Becoming facile with applications like Keynote, Pages and Numbers has helped me professionally, personally and in school. I started making Cordials and pulling together my perspectives on health; however, I didn't complete any of my Capstone OP's until an entire year later. I had a full spring and summer of work and was taking on Gaia associates as the newest member of the advising team. This spaciousness gave me loads of good time to explore Health and Chocolate & Cordials.
I returned to CA in March to a very full nomadic summer traveling through central CA working as a caterer, massage therapist, teaching workshops and setting up gardens. I taught the workshop again at Esalen that was the foundation of my precapstone OP 3: The Land of Milk & Honey. My professional work as a caterer during that summer afforded an opportunity to delve specifically into my own Design process which was the intention of OP 4: Designing Designs.
Through love, I had the opportunity to travel for the Autumn in southern France with my sweetheart. I did some more work on my OP's but did not have the space to truly carve them out. A hurricane in Baja shifted my intention to spend the rest of the winter in Mexico with my sweetie and I ended up in Pittsburgh in the house I grew up in. This was a healing and wonderful time for me. I was able to finish my OP 2: Health & Healing and my OP 3: Chocolates & Cordials while spending lots of quality time with my mom and on self care. I truly needed a hibernation winter.
I went on Pause from Gaia for most of the summer work season and then dove into OP 4: Land Stewardship using my 1 acre homestead in Baja, Mexico as the showcase of my work and understanding with Soil, Propagation, Seeds, Water. While living in Mexico playing in the garden, I also finished my OP 5 : Learning Review.
I am grateful for the projects that GaiaU has helped inspire. I am grateful for the rigorous documentation that I did in order to showcase these projects. I am grateful for the spaciousness to continue working on these projects on my terms and in my time.
OP Design Methodology
For my final OP, I decided to reflect back onto the Methodology that I created in my pre-Capstone year
OBSERVATION: For 4 years, I have been part of a program of action learning and design with conscious project work utilizing permaculture ethics, principles and design insights.
RESOURCES: Four years of materials, journals, reflections. The Orientation cycle from PreCapstone year. 10 O.P.s Numerous design methodologies explored.
This is my final OP, 9 OP's have come before where I have been honing my skills regarding communicating my projects with relevant information regarding my personal and professional growth especially as leader and learner.
Goals Articulation:
See "Goals Articulation" box below.
BRAINSTORMING
Establish land stewardship website, formalize my expertise within Applied permaculture and land stewardship, compile my process and content learnings from 4 years at Gaia, consider how I present to others, work on permaculture primer, work on designing designs, create charts on different design methodologies
ASSESSMENT
Work on my documentation of the metrics that I set out. Choose maximum point of leverage: highlight design and Applied Permaculture while allowing the website to continue to steep and make sure I take good notes and journals to make "Permaculture Primer" easier to write late and to maximize the current research on my website so I can include this at launch.
DESIGN
Create charts that help me reflect upon the active experimentation that is happening.
Create commentary pages that reflect the key concerns and opportunities that Gaia recommends: MTMP, action learner, designer, leader, contributions to the field, key un/learnings
Create contextual pages to offer the reader strategies for navigating this OP and clarity regarding how to best interface this OP.
IMPLEMENT
See "Actionable Items" box below
EVALUATE
Proofread and
Reflect upon my growth.
Goals Articulation
I had trouble for many OP's figuring out what my "OP Goals" were. I recently gained significant clarity that I hope will be useful for my associates that OP goals can often be:
1. related to any aspect of orientation or tools that Gaia introduced in which they hope to gain competency
2. incorporating any feedback from their advisor
Project Goals generally don't involve this meta-aspect of Gaia awareness (perhaps eventually).
In other words "Requirements of Gaia may be OP Goals" while the project goals are what each associate is choosing to do.
Goals
Apply more awareness to my worldview and connecting to field.
Reflect on LIPD and how I have grown/changed/learned
Reflect on skill-flex chart
Journal
Buddy meetings
Skillfully manage my outcomes page to give it flow and interest for others to look at.
Reflect upon the changes in my life that Gaia has helped to bring about
Capture the most significant tools that I use from Gaia
Create an OP that satisfies all aspects of Gaia's needs including
1. offering context and navigation ease
2. reporting outcomes with documentation
3. reflecting in the commentary on my own process: MTMP, key un/learnings, leader
Output Packet Outcomes
1 Greater articulation of Applied Permaculture Design and my place within the field.
2 Recognition of my own passion and beliefs around "Action Learning" which in my estimation is what OP 5 is largely about. Even my PreCapstone LCR was about myself as a learner.
3 Good reflection on my LIPD from two years ago at the start of this phase.
4 Updated skill-flex sheet
5 Summaries from all 10 OP's here in this final OP.
6 Loads of journalling
7 Met with guild buddies.
8 Increased awareness and happiness with my outcomes page.
9 Loads of information on how Gaia has been a crucial role in my personal and professional development.
10 Re-reflected on the tools that Gaia offered in Orientation (witnessing how some have become second nature to me) and then reflecting on new tools from my Capstone phase.
11 Increased competence and attention toward offering context and navigation insights in my OP's and life in general. I have written a "How to house-sit at the homestead."
12 Included MTMP, leadership & collaboration and key un/learnings in Commentary.