What Holds You Back?

This then leads to additional questions to draw out your thoughts on this big one a bit further:

In this moment, right now, what is keeping you from achieving your dreams? What is stopping you from having the farm, homestead, or permaculture site you’ve always wanted? What do you need to see your vision of the future and your permaculture practice realized and brought to life in this world?

• Is it an issue of education, such as taking a permaculture design course, a bachelor’s degree, or returning to school as a non-traditional student?
• Is it an issue of information, such as the right book or resources that helps make sense of an issue you’re stuck on?
• Is it a matter of access to land, whether a garden plot, backyard, homestead, or farm, and trying to find land where you live?
• Is it a financial problem, such as having the income to support your work or project while it grows; renting, leasing, or buying land; or acquiring the tools you need to work it?
• Is it a technical issue, such as setting up the right business structure for your work, or an on-the-ground problem an expert could help you solve?
• Is it it a community problem, where you don’t have the folks around you or the right social groups to help you overcome your obstacles?

I ask you all of this because I’m working with a number of organizations to connect permaculture folks with the resources they need to succeed. In these conversations, however, it’s clear that the projects that need support and the resources available to support them rarely know about and are available at the right time, so neither side is available to work with the other.

So, my first step to moving forward with is to get a better idea of what people are working on and their needs; what they want, and what is holding them back.

That leads to two requests I have for you:

First, share your answers to these questions with me. Let me know, directly, what you are struggling with.

Second, if you have your own permaculture or permaculture-adjacent project, or know of one, that would benefit from the technical support, financial assistance, or other aid of a larger organization, tell me more about it and what your or their needs are.

You can do that by leaving a comment below or using the contact form. In that message, tell me about yourself to the extent you are comfortable, answer as many of the questions as you care to, and, if you’re sharing information about a specific project, be sure to include:

• The name of the project.
• The names of the founder or leadership team
• Contact information, including email, phone, and a website if there is one.
• A brief description of what the project does.
• A list of the project’s needs.

From there, I can follow up with the individuals who reach out and with the projects shared and organize this information. With that in hand, I can talk with my colleagues in the various organizations to see if their work can help these specific folks and, if so, connect them. If not, then to continue my search for the people, groups, and organizations that can, so we can continue to grow our work and get people and projects the resources they need to grow, flourish and thrive.

Which, if you are an impact investor, institutional investor, philanthropist, or executive director of a non-profit who would like to move resources into the Permaculture and Regenerative space, let me know, so we can connect you with folks already making a difference and see your efforts make a larger, lasting impact.

Thank you for taking the time to write to me, if you choose to, about your needs and, until we meet again, spend each day taking care of Earth, your self, and each other.