7. From the Wilderness to Zone 00

---

Hmm.. I know I’ve been bitchin about the community as a whole, but actually, to be honest I did have some rather nice moments with most of the group. Tamar, Natasha, Ahmir and Ian all showed appreciation and kindness at certain points. But I presume that Dave managed to manipulate things. I really don’t know what happened. Maybe I expected too much from them.. or perhaps I was too much for them to handle! Whatever happened, all I know is that it takes quite a lot to upset me like that. And I reckon they handled the whole thing extremely badly.

..They invited me over from England to work on a Permaculture project with them, housed me in a dark damp shack surrounded by smelly farm animals. Expected me to: offer my time, knowledge & skills for free, pay for all my expenses (including Internet research for the project, printing, photocopying etc.), and pay rent for the whole time I was there. They provided no guidance, support or interaction for the project outside of the meetings, and no knowledge or practical skills were exchanged in return for mine. They then completely shut me out of their meetings. What!?

Anyway.. I’ve wasted enough bloody energy on this now. It feels good to have it out of my head though.

My initial reason for this trip was to explore, observe, document and exchange Permaculture knowledge and practice. But so far.. instead of wandering out through zones 1, 2, 3, and into the wilderness of zone 5, I’ve ended up deep in the depths of zone 0. Or should I say 00! (*Info/link at bottom explain this) Not really what I’d expected, but then always expect the un-expected when traveling into the unknown. Saying that, traveling is usually an in-depth personal learning experience for most. Certainly has been for me, many times.

Sometimes you need to discover what you don’t want, to realise what you do want, and I’ve certainly discovered quite few things here in Auroville that I would not like to copy or repeat. But most importantly, I’ve discovered what I ‘need’. And in these changing times of energy decent, life will surely (hopefully!) start to be about what our true needs are, not our desires. And I tell yA what? Some personal needs have become apparent on this trip, which I had never properly acknowledged before. At least now I know what I need, to maintain a healthy ecology of myself. But perhaps, like everything.. those needs are in a constant state of flux. I suspect that might be the case.

I know it’s a cliché, but India certainly helps you appreciate the simple things in life, the things us westerners take for granted on a day-to-day basis. It’s been really interesting shedding the extra nonsense and getting back to basics, On leaving EverGreen it all came to me in this order.. transport (to get the feck out of there), shelter for the night, clean drinking water, food.. and then came the deeper things, like emotional support and a sense of security.

So as you can see, negative experiences can be turned around to have positive outcomes. ‘The problem is the solution’ (another Permaculture gem ;c) A problem is only a problem if you see it as one, otherwise it can be turned into a solution. Everything is a positive resource; it’s just the way you look at it.

Which always reminds me of my Mother's wise words.. ‘It’s not what life throws at you, it’s how you handle it’ (Thanks for that one Mum :c) And I have to say, integrity and compassion are two things I hold highly.


~~

Zone 00 - ecology of the self. To have a positive effect on our friends, family, community, country, planet, universe etc... we first must concentrate on getting ourselves balanced and happy. Start at zone 00 and work your way outwards ;c)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zones_(Permaculture)

---

Comments

[Leanna]

Wooop wooop!!!
So glad you saw the light at the end of the tunnel... and particularlly glad you left them with something valuable instead of money. Well done for getting yourself out of there. I think you deserve a big pat on the back for handling the situation in the way you did:-) Keep up the good work and good luck at Solitude. Can't wait to read your next blog. Love The TwirllllllllllllllllllXXX

[sorrel]

I'm reading your journal...
sx