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One of my favorite Permaculture principles is “Turn problems into assets.” Sometimes expressed as “The problem is the solution.”

In that vein, I have recently reached a new level in terms of figuring out how to turn some of my more debilitating and obnoxious character traits into something of use. When I say obnoxious, I mean not only that these traits are obnoxious to others but also that they are obnoxious to myself.

Some examples:

• Being extremely irritable and sensitive about certain things. Like, a few years back, I was working on a natural building job where we were using salvaged materials (some really great stuff including pilings from an old pier), and it was emotionally killing me that we were using a nail gun. The noise, the extreme violence, the fact that we’d be machine-gunning multiple nails to try to get a successful attachment in one spot, etc. My senior colleague noticed my level of pain and irritability, and suggested in a somewhat condescending manner that I might want to seek therapy. Instead, I just stopped taking jobs where we used nail guns. Which wasn’t hard, since they went against so many of my beliefs, and since I had other ways of paying my bills. Another example of super sensitive and irritable is when I would literally rather do anything than accept a plastic bag at the store. I have taken off my windbreaker jacket on a cold windy day and turned it into a temporary makeshift bag in order to transport my groceries home without having to take on yet another plastic bag. I was like, I would seriously take a pair of pliers and rip out my molars one by one in order to distract myself from the emotional agony of taking on another damn plastic bag right now. Since I like being able to chew, I managed to find another solution. Being super sensitive and irritable can make life exhausting (for those around me as well as myself) — or it can be a great BS detector, or moral reality check.

• Being extremely emotionally needy. Sometimes, I get these crushes on people. I’m not talking about sexual or romantic crushes; it’s more like just being an extreme fan. To the point where the person can wreck my day just by not noticing me, which happens rather often since I’m not really all that inherently noticeable, and don’t always have much useful to offer the person. I can let this character trait run my life, or I can use it as motivation to make sure I don’t need very many things from very many people. I’m much happier being a person who has things to offer people, than being a person who needs things from people. Of course, we are social creatures and we all need other people. I have zero problem with needing other people in general. What I do have a problem with is if I become emotionally needy around one or two specific people. It impedes me from being in service and just enjoying the general wonderfulness of people and life. Being emotionally needy from a very early age has prompted me to develop all sorts of passions and very absorbing pastimes that reduce my emotional neediness, while giving me practical skills and providing a lot of intrinsic joy. Ironically, I have had some people be envious of me because I enjoy my own company so much. If only they knew how I got there, ha ha! I still get the weird crushes but I am able to remind myself that it’s just an emotional tic and that I don’t actually need anything from the person. Sometimes I feel moved to explore the emotion, and it uncovers some deep past seemingly unrelated trauma that I had not yet processed, so it becomes a gateway to healing. (And of course, if the affinity is mutual, then it becomes a deep friendship or colleague relationship or whatever it’s meant to be.)

• Being extremely lazy. I am probably the most lazy person I’ve ever met in my life. This has led me to be able to offer virtuoso-level advice to people who are seeking to save themselves money and labor. In fact, my biggest obstacle — gven the extreme compulsive busywork component of USA culture — is persuading people that they really can just refrain from doing some fussbudget task that would be expensive for them and bad for the planet.

My obnoxious character traits, allowed to run untamed, are super painful to me and can totally wreck my day. As well as being bad for the community and the planet. But they don’t have to!

On a related note, in my first permaculture class, when we started getting overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information, our teacher let us in on a secret. He told us that this info overload was being done on purpose to make us give up trying to compulsively remember everything. The point was to get us to gain pattern-literacy as opposed to trying to compulsively memorize an impossible volume of facts.

How about you, do you have any obnoxious and/or burdensome character traits that you have managed to redirect in a way that brings you joy and freedom, and helps your mission?

I don’t know the answer to this question, but I am setting about gathering examples of how a person could be making a lot of money and still live within the Degrowth paradigm.

In the Degrowth movement, one caveat we always give is that in some parts of the world, some economic growth is still needed just to bring the living standard up to basic human standards of livability. Clean drinking water, healthy food, medical care, and so on.

The idea is that those of us in the rich industrialized world will voluntarily reduce our incomes and stop hoarding money and other assets, as a way to alleviate the severe inequality of income and wealth that is driving so much ecological and social destruction around the world.

But, not everybody is going to be willing to voluntarily make a lower income, or voluntarily give up their wealth. Or maybe you have your dream job, you really love it and you are doing good work for people on the planet, but it just happens to make a really high income.

So I started pondering ways that a person could keep making a cushy middle-class first-world salary, and have stored wealth, but ethically distribute it and only use what they need.

Even within the rich industrialized nations such as the USA, there are in fact still people and communities that do not even enjoy a basic humane standard of living. We can be distributing our wealth to those communities in various ways.

There is generational inequity too. Even in solid middle-class families, many times the younger generations are really struggling, and we Boomers can & should use our wealth to help alleviate that as well.

Starting a list, will add to it over time as I think of things.

• One, if possible, we should pay off our own mortgages; not have any mortgage on our own house or our own commercial building.

• Then, if we have adult children (or nieces, nephews, grandchildren, etc.), we can pay off their mortgages, pay off their college debt, and so on.

• If we have extra houses that we are currently either leaving vacant or renting out, we can instead offer them for sale with owner financing. The monthly payment that we get, if we don’t need that cash money we can immediately disperse that money out into the community. And if we do need the cash money, we can spend it on what we need. For example, let’s say you need cataract surgery and it costs $3000, well that would be a perfect use. The idea is to avoid hoarding money in banks or Wall Street accounts.

• If you have acquired or otherwise come into a big lump sum, distribute it out among one or more small local businesses. You be a money partner or a part owner. Do not ask for or accept distribution of profits, unless you actually need the cash money immediately. Otherwise, just keep your money parked in there. If you need a lump sum for something, then cash out and use it.

• Invest your money in education and training — for yourself, and/or for someone else.

• Unless you truly need the cash money, avoid working jobs beyond a certain age. We should leave the jobs open for the younger people who need them. That’s one thing I love about being self-employed; I’m not taking anyone’s job. (I actually only accept new gigs if I need the money; otherwise I send them to younger people, new up-and-coming businesses, etc.)

Nutshell micro-summary of my views on this topic:

• If you don’t have immediate need for cash money, avoid pursuing cash money.

• Keep the minimum amount of money on hand that you feel is essential for basic needs. Seems OK to include a bit for emergency home repairs, car repairs, etc.

• If you come into a big income flow, or a big lump sum of money, distribute it out into the community — either via investments (without seeking interest or other profit), or via donations, or via being a customer of small local businesses.

Update April 9, 2024: One drawback to earning a lot of money is that we end up paying more taxes that support war and other destruction. I just heard from my CPA who has finished preparing my 2023 taxes. In 2023 I earned more than usual because I had an extra gig. So, I will end up having to pay a couple hundred dollars in war tax. Usually my income is low enough that I only end up having to pay Social Security tax. But, I don’t feel too bad about the couple hundred dollars in war tax because I also gave $1000 to Veterans for Peace by becoming a life member, so there! Take that, war-machine!

Further Exploration

Recently two books came into my custody. One is about how to become a millionaire. The other is about how to achieve our wishes and goals through creative visualization. Both of these books have in common that they don’t fall into the hard-edged, greedy tone and fake “positive thinking” of so many other such books I’ve seen.

I have come to believe that a person can in some cases earn $1 million while still being ethical. It’s all in how we distribute it. The hoarding of wealth creates problems. If we look at how nature does things, nature flows. Nothing can be stored up for very long or in very large quantity.

Anyway, here are the book titles for you:

• The Millionaire Booklet: How To Get Super Rich; by Grant Cardone.

• Creative Visualization; by Shakti Gawain.

My yard is my business card!

Sharing this as an example of a community-oriented eco landscaping business. Feel free to use any of this in developing your own community-based landscaping business.

See accompanying photos here.

Doing our best to help stop the flooding in Midtown … one Beachside yard at a time!

#BarrierIsland #StormwaterSponge

PS. Attention Fellow Landscapers! Are you looking to increase value-added services for your clients, while reducing expenses on large equipment and gasoline? Contact me to find out about our upcoming mini workshops on how to incorporate Permaculture Design elements into your landscaping services. (And homeowners, and apartment landlords! Would you like to increase your household health & preparedness, and would you like your yard to work for you instead of the other way around? We will be offering a version of this workshop for you as well!)

Here are some pictures of my table at the FRESH Book Festival. This was my fourth year as an author at the festival. And I am proud to say this is my easiest, and most minimalist, yet most cute & visually coherent, setup yet!!

I particularly love how my landscaping business vehicle can convert to an event display component! Did not think of this till the other day. I made a “skirt” out of this adorable flower-print valance that I purchased for a pittance from a great vintage shop I went to over the holidays with my sister and my brother-in-law.

To check out various other authors’ tables, and see videos of our interviews, visit the FRESH Book Festival page on Facebook.

Throughout the USA this morning, there are widespread cellular service outages. Many people have no phone communication, including no phone and text communication. Many people’s phones are displaying that they are in SOS mode, which means only 911 calls can go out.

The media are talking about it; here’s an article in the Daily Mail UK. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13112901/amp/Cell-networks-nationwide-Verizon-Mobile-att-down.html

Phone calls go straight to voicemail, and texts, as far as I can tell appear to get sent out but are not received by the recipient.

However, cellular data (which I use for my internet access) seems to be working; I have been posting to my blog, commenting on Facebook posts, sending messages via Facebook Messenger etc. without a problem.

(For now, anyway …)

And: If we choose, we can each use this as an opportunity to test our communications arrangements, and add-in redundancy where needed. Postal mail; walking next door or down the block; quantum entanglement; smoke signals; and just plain abiding with the vacuum.

And reminding ourselves not to take for granted the availability of realtime voice telecommunication.

I for one have been very bad about being selfish with my time, not being willing to spend my precious evening book-reading time calling old friends.

And shy to call some family members, because I know how busy they are.

But, the availability of realtime voice communication is so very precious, and one of my first regrets if it went away would be that I didn’t use it more!

BTW realtime communication by text is very precious too. I have often found it an easy way to communicate with loved ones who I felt too shy to call. and being able to text photos, it’s a way to instantly convey a snapshot of one’s life.

(If one is either too time-stingy to phone a person who would be glad to hear from one; or if one is too shy to call somebody who one isn’t sure would be willing to hear from one. I am perversely using “one” repeatedly on purpose just to be a goofball. For best effect, read this to yourself out loud in your best rendition of a stuffy WASP, Thurston Howell -type voice.)

Realtime communication by text existed in the olden days too of course. At least if you were a member of the nobility or aristocracy. Like in Anna Karenina and various British royal potboiler romance novels and suchlike, where the lady would send a footman or coachman out with a note to her secret lover blah blah blah.

And speaking of walking next-door or down the block as a means of communication … Walking, being able to get around on foot (also being able to push a wheelchair to help others), is a cornerstone of household and community preparedness. I think I recall reading one time that back in the Kennedy administration, President Kennedy was trying to encourage civilians to be able to walk 50 miles a day, as part of civil defense. I’m not even sure I could walk that far. Could surely still do 20 still, even with this middle-age 40 pounds on me, but at this point would probably have to ramp up to it, and would need better shoes — or very very tough feet tougher than they are now. The most I’ve been able to walk barefoot has been about four or 5 miles.

PS. The title of this post was cribbed from the title of a rockin’ Led Zeppelin song, one of my favorites by one of my alltime favorite bands. It’s one of the tracks on their self-titled debut album from 1969. (Thank you Wikipedia.) A very fine vintage year for music, indeed!

But wait, there’s more — A friend who has something called a “civilian flight tracker” app, picked up a couple of military aircraft on there this morning. At first we thought it might be left over from the flying exhibition associated with the Daytona speedway races, But now we think not. It seems to be lingering, and it seems to be off to the southeast.

When something weird like this happens at the same time that something weird like a phone outage is happening, there is a temptation to connect to. Especially if you’re like me and have sort of an intense imagination. But even in cases like this, where it turns out they’re not connected, it’s an opportunity to think about our preparedness planning.

Speaking of which — on February 7 there was a rare earthquake here in Florida, off Cape Canaveral. And the last time such an “earthquake” was noted, in 2021, was during the military testing of a naval ship. (This is something I heard from a very well-informed friend who is very active in the community as an information channel.)

Again, when weirdness happens, there is a temptation to link things and think that some thing bigger is going on. At least some of us have a little bit of that tendency. And so we kind of have to correct for that, or accommodate for that, or whatever you call it. We can have these weird suspicions, and try to use them as opportunities to look at the design of our various systems for daily living. And we can try to plan to build more resiliency into our neighborhood and communities, so that regardless of what happens with communication, we will have a channel. As always, we have our assignment, which is to connect and share and help each other; share resources, including both information and physical resources.

Update the next day: By the way, it turned out that only about 70,000 cell phone customers were affected, And according to company sources no malicious activity is suspected. At the time it was happening, it felt like millions and millions of us. Also, it was really feeling to me like all of that other stuff was connected. Again with the active, sometimes overactive imagination. It doesn’t necessarily hurt to have an overactive imagination, as long as you are aware you have it. I use mine as sort of a tool for thought experiments that are useful in extreme contingency planning.

Enjoying my porch on a warm sunny winter morning, and inscribing my micro print run of DEEP GREEN book for this weekend’s FRESH Book Festival! See photos here. And yes, that is a fountain pen, and a bottle of ink!

Yes, you can buy your copy from me in advance of the festival. Of the most recent press run of 40 copies, I have 28 copies left (UPDATE 26 copies left), I believe. (Most recently, a friend came by yesterday and purchased two.) 

Last time someone checked Amazon, a “bootleg” copy of my book was on sale for $50! <Laugh emojis> Honestly, some people just don’t want to work these days LOL. And it’s not even the current version; it’s an old version.

The proper updated version has individually hand-colored lettering on an earthy, non-gloss cover. You can get your copy from me for $16, tax included — The same price it’s always been!

(If you aren’t local and would like to purchase a copy, shipping and handling is an extra $5.)

cash app $jennynazak

Also if you aren’t local, the FRESH Book Festival has some virtual offerings. We’ll be connected with authors from the UK, the Caribbean, and more! I think maybe even an African country(ies) was/were mentioned but I may have misheard. The festival website is https://www.freshbookfestivals.net

Beloved Reader,

Since 2017, when I first published this book, the personal motivations for practicing a thrifty low-footprint lifestyle have increased, as extreme weather and economic precarity are hitting more & more of us.

And, the planetary benefits of reducing our (collective) footprint were demonstrated (though accidentally) via the sharp reduction in consumption during the Covid shutdowns.

Over time, it’s become more and more clear that what we do to benefit the planet and fellow beings, benefits ourselves as well.

Onward, fellow DEEP GREEN citizens!

PS. By the way, disaster forced 2.5 million Americans from their homes last year. (Aidan Gardiner; New York Times, Feb 22, 2024.) “Many of those displaced also reported food shortages and predatory scams, according to new data from the Census Bureau.”

*************

other jottings:

The past few years have increased the need for a low-footprint lifestyle, and the past few years have validated its effectiveness. Increase the need, as in increasingly severe weather and severe financial inequality. Validated, as in the Covid shut down saw various indexes of climate health improve as humans stayed home and reduce their consumption.

Both encouraging and discouraging factors have increased since I wrote this book back in 2017.

On the one hand, intensifying natural disasters and extreme weather have made the stakes higher. As have the intensifying financial inequality, income inequality to make a low footprint lifestyle. Extreme weather events of the past have become more routine.

On the other hand, we had evidence during the Covid shut downs that reduced human activity in the consumer sector could have a market effect on climate factors admissions. We were nowhere near 10% of the US average, my ballpark guess I would say maybe our footprint in the USA dropped to about 50-60% of our typical average as manufacturing and commuting decreased. And yet we had market improvements in emissions indicators.