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It struck me just this morning (as I was scooping water from the rain-tubs and strategically deploying it to various trees and other key absorption/evaporation hubs of my little cube of paradise) that for awhile now, I have been formulating and operating under a new definition of “person with nothing to lose.”

(One of the benefits of having a lot of rhythmic, non-brain-requiring manual tasks built into one’s day is, besides the physical exercise value, the wealth of creative thoughts that bubble up into the unfettered mind.)

The “person with nothing to lose” under the conventional definition has power and incentive to be extremely mean and dangerous. (Not that they will necessarily exert their power in that way.)

The “person with nothing to lose” under this alternative definition my mind has been percolating … has power and leeway to be extremely kind, expansive, and generous. And do a lot of good in the world. (Not that they — we — will necessarily exert their (our) power in that way … but it’d be good if we do!)

More later; to be continued! Am micro-office-ing on the fly today, between getting my tax papers squared away for my beloved CPA, and scooping out rainwater tubs in prep for this weekend’s expected rains, and planning a little noontime dip in the ocean etc etc!

Added next day:

• Person with nothing to lose (conventional definition) — for example: penniless and excluded from economic opportunity, ostracized by family, no ties with friends or other community, etc.

• Person with nothing to lose (alternative definition) — for example: Loves life but feels they have lived a long full life, and is prepared for death if it is their time to go. Has their basic needs met and is not financially vulnerable (low overhead, not dependent on a job or employer, etc.). Has leeway to speak unpopular viewpoints and adopt fringe “eccentric” ways of life with relatively little negative consequence on themselves (they might be laughed at but they’re not going to be thrown out on the streets etc.).

Mike Hoag knocks it out of the park yet again with another one of his really neato-peato diagram-posts that neatly and eloquently sum up patterns on the social/economic landscape.

Seriously wow, i feel like the whole “Woodstock generation-to-yuppie-1980s” pipeline got summarized summarily in one fell swoop!!! 😉 And as Mike points out, this outline works for econ/social patterns related to climate change too.

BTW if you have gained value from Mike’s posts and the Transformative Adventures group, please consider supporting Mike’s work by taking one of his classes or buying one of his books. (Or more if you like!) You’ll be getting a value way beyond the price — and that’s on top of the immense value of the no-charge content he so steadily and lovingly puts out.

See you in the Transformative Adventures group! Feel free to say hi to me in there and let me know you found the group via this blog post.

“Oh sorry, I didn’t realize there was a fee” …

… and countless other variations on this line that I have heard over the years.

(Another thing that often happens is just silence. Like, someone repeatedly requests my* expertise, but I can kind of tell they’re expecting me to provide it for free, and when I finally mention the price schedule or whatever, the other end of the text or email exchange goes dead.)

Yes I’m used to people not seeing my* expertise as something worth paying for. It’s OK; part of my ongoing inner work with self-esteem and #boundaries .

(* To be clear, this is not just me; it’s most people I know who have pursued eco livelihoods. We are doing essential work but a lot of us undervalue our own services because it’s an “alternative” path.)

Even though most of us have put ourselves through many years of school, apprenticeships, and continuing ed — all on our own dime — in order to know what we know.

We are working on doing better in terms of considering ourselves worthy of compensation.

I do give away a lot of pro bono advice and instruction and other services to the community; always have, as most of you probably always have as well — so I don’t feel like I should feel bad that there are levels of service I need to charge money for or else I’m not willing to do them.

Mike Hoag has been a great inspiration with his talks about remembering not to exploit OURSELVES. We need to include our own selves in the principle, “Don’t exploit people.”

Also, by charging fair value for our services, we avoid undercutting other service providers, and avoid giving prospective clients unfair expectations of getting free time & labor from us. “Expectation inflation,” I call it. One of my self-assigned tasks in the overall #degrowth and #transformativeadventures mission is to jack-down unreasonable expectations that abound in capitalist-industrial society.

How about you? Are there any unreasonable and unsustainable expectations you are setting out to jack-down?

(Photos of native coastal dunescape near my house. Minus the trash and the ugly white plastic fence, this biodiverse self-maintaining plant community is one of my favorite landscapes! And more & more people I know are seeking advice on how to have such dunescapes and other “nature yards”!)

(Added 3/18):

Text of social-media post introducing my services:

To my local friends wanting guidance on how to get started: I offer eco landscaping services, including both planning and labor. A variety of options are available to suit your budget.

To my nonlocal friends: I offer teleconsult services and can connect you with the best eco landscapers in your geographic area!

Starting a list of lists that are super helpful to me in an ongoing way. Frameworks for understanding & addressing problems in the world; designing my life; supporting beauty and compassion and truth; making the change I want to see more of.

Work in progress; office-ing on the fly; will add links as time permits.

• Let’s stop doing this:

15 characteristics of white supremacy culture – Tema Okun whitesupremacyculture.info

14 early signs of creeping fascism

• Let’s build beautiful, caring community:

12 principles & 3 ethics of permaculture design – Bill Mollison

Principles & ethics of permaculture design – David Holmgren

9 leverage points – places to intervene for making change in systems – Donella Meadows

8 forms of capital

4 R’s of Deep Adaptation deepadaptation.info

(Need to check & see if there is a list of principles of Degrowth/ steady-state economy)

In general, nope! Not going back.

Like … Why? Why would we???

Plane travel?? Hotels (at $100+ a night “special” conference rate)??? … I guess some people are feeling rich.

Me, I’m feeling thrifty. Thriftier than ever! Not only with my money but with my time, personal energy, and of course eco-footprint.

The relentless drag-back to in-person conferences is particularly jarring when it comes from organizations dedicated to the environment and/or social justice.

Then again, I’ve had the benefit of having attended many conferences and trainings in the days long before I knew the word “eco footprint.”

And during the pandemic shutdown I attended more virtual conferences than I can even recollect. So many valuable conferences, many of them international! Affordable moneywise and feasible timewise, thanks to Zoom and other telemeeting technologies. (Attending in person would not have been an attractive option for me even if I didn’t care about the footprint. Probably many other freelance / grassroots educators feel similarly.)

Some people and orgs I really respect are going all-in-person, no virtual option. I think this is one of those times I just need to relax and do my own thing and try to avoid feeling too rattled from an eco standpoint. Maybe enough people now are happy “converts” to virtual that things will naturally sort themselves out.

When it comes right down to it, I can’t really claim any high ground or judge someone else just because they happened to have been born later, be at a different point on their path of life-adventuring, etc.

Those of us who call ourselves “environmentalists” and have been around longer, should have been pushing back long ago. Instead, we ourselves helped normalize (for example) world leaders and corporate moguls jetting all over the planet every day instead of picking up a darn phone. This hopping on airplanes at the drop of a hat should not be normal, but by our failure to speak out strongly against it, we the olde guarde “environmental” movement have helped make it normal.

But, all that said, if you share my aversion to going back to the hectic and expensive business-as-usual, just know that you are not alone!

Note: As always, my admonition is directed toward white-centered / white-led institutions here, since we are the ones who created and uphold these systems of consumerism, eco destruction, exclusion, erosion of local community. And we need to lead the dismantling of societal defaults that are harmful to people and planet.

Fresh homemade candied grapefruit peel NOM NOM NOM!!!!

As a bonus, the first two boilings (where you boil the pieces in plain water & then discard the water) don’t have to be discarded! I used it as a tea. A quite bitter tea but it suits my body’s needs at this moment.

I found these two websites helpful:

• Candied grapefruit peel recipe, plus six other great uses of grapefruit peel:
https://wintersweetz.com/dont-throw-away-those-grapefruit-peels-use-them-in-these-7-creative-ways-instead/

(I have often used citrus peel to make multipurpose household cleaner, but I take a simpler approach than the website describes; just soak the pieces in white vinegar for a few days & voilà. But, sometime I might try their recipe, which includes borax.)

• Fresh organic grapefruit peel tea and its many benefits:
https://stephaniewilgernc.net/fresh-organic-grapefruit-peel-tea/

“Aids Lungs and clears nasal passages, removing toxins. Reduces heat and cold and phlegm. Moves the chi. Also helps Large Intestines and Stomach. Liver and Heart.”

Nice!

The so-called “Golden Rule” of “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is my go-to.

Granted, it doesn’t always work. Like, something I would want someone to do to/for me, isn’t necessarily what another person would want.

Still, it’s a reliable rule because I can always say I did my best (assuming I had no other information about what the other person/people would want). So it helps short-circuit regrets and second-guessing.