In this section, I will apply the permaculture ethics and principles. The information that has been gathered from the previous stages will help guide how these are used in this design.

Moving away from land-based designs, using the permaculture principles and ethics for a mental health design involves creatively changing how I would usually view and consider their use. With this design, I will allow myself to wander through each principle and ethic writing down the thoughts that flow into my mind to experience where they take me.  Any insights I gain will then be gathered and used in the next section of this design.

 

OBSERVE & INTERACT

What has come to light in the design process so far is my need to observe, without it there would be no design. To stop for a moment and allow a part of me to step back to listen to the more thoughtful aspect of the voice which is constantly chattering away inside of me has not been easy. To contemplate all I have experienced these past few years, all that I have learned, all that I have thought about and never done anything about. To once again discover the thing that brings the most joy into my life has only been made possible through observing the whole and interacting with the areas that have been mostly hidden away.

 

CATCH & STORE ENERGY

I have been operating on high for far too long. I am fuelled by information, when things are good I consume information, when things are bad I consume information, I have no off switch. I work until I burn out at which point, I will change position and continue onwards.   

This design is about understanding how better to hold onto my energy and avoiding getting to the point of burnout, it is about finding balance for the whole system.

 

OBTAIN A YIELD

Watching a ten-day-old curlew chick walk through the moorland grasses, the sound a cep mushroom makes as you dislodge it from the ground, the overwhelming disbelief of the power of the wind as you watch the woodland dance in its force. A yield is not always something physical, but it can nourish a person as a basket of foraged food is never able to do. When looking at whole systems we need to appreciate the more subtle yields as well as the more obvious. When out foraging mushrooms it is the hunt that rewards me the most, the smells of the woods, the sighting of a deer close by, along with all the sounds that fill the air. The mushroom is the small reward for making the effort, it is nature humouring me for she knows the primordial force that whispers in my ear calling me deeper into the woods. 

 

APPLY SELF-REGULATION & ACCEPT FEEDBACK

Here we have another very important principle to take into consideration for this design. As somebody who struggles with switching off when I’ve got something to do, and I always have something to do. I will need to build into the design away to check in with myself to avoid running out of energy. The consequence here of running out of energy is diminishing mental health, the very reason this design is been created is to prevent it from happening.

Accepting feedback for a practical design such as a water harvesting system could be along the lines of “that there water butt is overflowing, thou needs to do something about that”. Most people will accept an obvious remark like this, however, something obvious regarding mental health can be taken in a sundry of ways depending on where a person is at mentally the very moment the remark is cast. This again is a very important area that will be included in the final design. Just to ask the question “am I sane today?” my answer may not always be truthful and could lead to situations I’m trying to avoid. 

 

USE & VALUE RENEWABLE RESOURCES & SERVICES

Here we have a vast endless supply of renewable resources in the form of thoughts, I can speak with authority here for I get through thousands of these each day, and never seem to run short. The caveat is the quality of my thoughts along with my interpretation of them. I often find myself more convinced by these thoughts than those around me for some odd reason. After a long walk in nature, I may interpret a previous thought differently, of course, this is between you, the reader, and me, our little secret.

Using nature as a service to add value to my endless supply of thoughts is probably a wise addition to take onboard.

 

PRODUCE NO WASTE

Our little secret I just mentioned, as you now understand, my thoughts are always correct but imagine for a moment one of them was not. I know it’s a little hard to believe but consider it all the same. To hold that one thought and contemplate how it could have come into existence, could this one thought be able to shed a little light on a darker pathway through the wildwood and lead us back to the shire.  

Here we are recycling waste into light, a little pretentious I’ll give you that. At the same time to have even gotten to this part in the design process, I have spent many years observing, researching, working through, and examining my thoughts and how they have impacted my life so a little humour and making light of certain situations goes a very long way.

 

DESIGN FROM PATTERNS TO DETAILS

Patterns often can be the most beautiful of all creations in nature however they can become the demise of the mind.

The function of the labyrinth in Greek mythology was to hold the Minotaur, allowing it to eventually be killed by Theseus. Once you discover the path of the labyrinth the way inside is also the way out without turning around. Mental health is comparative to the labyrinth in Greek mythology, understanding the language of patterns becomes very helpful in quelling the thoughts that make you sad. 

Observing that there are patterns in my daily life is the first step. Recognizing the more negative patterns in my life is the second, and thirdly replacing them with more positive ones. The ability to observe the formation of patterns is the key.     

 

INTEGRATE RATHER THAN SEGREGATE

Here I would like to bring all that I have learned through my research and experience into a design that will be simple to merge into my everyday life. I’m not looking to present myself with a collection of ideas that if followed precisely may improve my mental health but only if I stand on one leg whilst saluting the sun each morning.

Simple in this instance for me means I can integrate the final part of the design into my everyday life effortlessly. The whole idea here is to find that which makes me happy and to do it.

 

USE SMALL & SLOW SOLUTIONS

Finding those things in life that make the difference to you may sound obvious, but that is because they are once you have figured them out. It’s easy to pick up a self-help book that gives you the formula to follow for happiness, this is why the self-help section in the library has a whole industry built around it. There is always somebody wanting to tell you it’s their way you need to follow to find happiness. Sounds familiar? That is because it is, religion has been built around such ideas, so we are conditioned to look towards others to guide us, to tell us the way.

Perhaps there is no way, no path to a guru in a cave high in the Himalia, no shaman deep in the amazon with a magic brew that can give you the meaning of life. I do not doubt that magic is real, in a world where we create our reality it may be wise to learn from but not follow blindly the thoughts that came before us.

It pays to be cautious when somebody is a stood on an orange crate in the market square proclaiming a fast-track solution to all your problems. Permaculture is about combining multiple solutions and allowing them to positively affect the desired outcome. It takes time when it comes to solving questions that may first seem impossible to answer.  

      

USE & VALUE DIVERSITY

Through understanding, through self-discovery, we can learn to value the diversity of who we are. Over the past five years, I’ve explored many areas often so diverse no obvious connections can be seen to tie them together. Diversity is how a whole system successfully functions. I enjoy reading sci-fi novels, these can often provide the disconnection to allow my thoughts to think about my life differently. I like to be out walking in the early hours when it’s still dark looking up at the sky. Being out in nature when most people have half a night's sleep ahead of them is the natural thing for me to be doing.

I’m reminded of a moment when I was in Iquitos, Peru, walking with a friend I had only just met a few days before. As we walked through the city it occurred to me, that we had been walking in the wrong direction, he corrected me by pointing out we are just going a different way. Soon we arrived at the place we intended. Going directly from A to B there is no story to be told. However, when you travel half the alphabet before arriving at B you have travelled a very different journey. This is where the magic I talk about happens.

 

USE EDGES & VALUE THE MARGINAL

To continue the parable of the path less travelled, the path that holds the most meaning for the seeker is often the path on the edge. It is in these places that we learn the most, we learn to adapt and utilize what we have around us appreciating the landscape for what it is and not for what it is missing.

The woodland edge, that marginal piece of land is where the magic takes place. Abundance will be found here if you take the time to observe and interact, catch, and store your energy, and obtain your yield through applying self-regulation and accepting feedback. Here in this most sacred space, using and valuing the renewable resources and services that nature provides through producing no waste. Life is designed from patterns to details, integrating rather than segregating with all that can be found. Using small and slow solutions nature uses and values the diversity that is preserved at the edge of the woodland on this marginal piece of land. Here we find ourselves in a place where we can creatively use and respond to change.

 

CREATIVELY USE & RESPOND TO CHANGE

When I first started researching what would become this design I did not know where it would take me. I struggled with finding meaning for the design, I was unable to choose a goal as I have done with my other designs, instead, I started with a simple aim.

I have journeyed through many emotions throughout this time allowing myself to respond to all the changes that have taken place. As I take my next step in the design process, I enter the place to gather all that I have learned and creatively use this information to develop the final design. 

 

 

Earth care, people care, and fair share, it is hard to separate these ethics when contemplating a whole design that is going to be formulated around the natural world.

I enjoy working in the fast-paced constantly changing world of technology, every day I’m presented with a multitude of problems that I’m expected to solve often under immense pressure without a moment to think about anything else. I can be lost for hours in complicated situations troubleshooting complex problems, or I can at other times go straight to the solution even though I’ve never seen the problem before. The world of technology is certainly not sustainable, it is heading in one direction only and gathers more and more speed and resources as it grows. To have close contact daily with a technology that is unravelling an evolving reality that is working its way throughout our lives without doubt provides a different perspective on the world we are part of.  

Technology is very good at providing answers to every problem, the small side effect is, that it is also very good at creating a different problem because of the solution to the initial problem. Therefore it is very difficult to control the outcome technology has presented to the world. The machine has escaped and is running wild.

You get to experience many interesting things in the earlier part of the day, the time when most people are still in bed. As I was walking up a narrow country road that leads onto the moors a little after sunrise, I could see three hares on the road close enough to see what they were but far enough away for them not to feel threatened by my movement. I stopped perfectly still observing these majestic creatures. Slowly following each other, they meandered towards me. All three stopped when they become level with me on the road, close enough to touch they studied me for a few moments before two continued down the road the other deciding it would return the way it came. 

Here I was, a nomad from the technological world sharing a moment with three life forms encapsulated in a reality where I am unable to even contemplate the thoughts taking place inside their minds. As fast as technology expands its grasp on our experience of the world, the simplicity of meeting three hares instantly brought me back to the moment where nothing existed except the experience itself. How did it feel? It felt wonderful. It's little reminders like this that call me back to who I am.

 

"Here and now, boys," the bird repeated yet once more, then fluttered down from its perch…

"Is that your bird?" Will asked.

The child shook her head.

"Why does he say those things?… Why 'Attention?' Why 'Here and now'?"

"Well… " she searched for the right words… "That's what you always forget, isn't it? I mean, you forget to pay attention to what's happening. And that's the same as not being here and now."

From chapter two of Island by Aldous Huxley.

 

Aldus Huxley's book Island captures this perfectly, with the help of the mynah birds the Inhabitants of the forbidden Island of Pala are constantly reminded to be present. I may not have mynah birds watching over me here in the Shire of North Yorkshire, but when out in nature I’m constantly spoken to through all that I experience. Sustaining my relationship with the natural world is the very thing this design process is beginning to guide me towards. I may work in a technological landscape, yet I am still part of the landscape of the natural world where my roots are still connected deep in the ancient soils of the past. It is here and now I find my present, caring for the earth, and the people I receive my share of the joy that is given in return.  

 

'Attention, 'Attention