Chapter 1

In search of meaning

The origins of

Permaculture

A Word To My Friends In Permaculture

We walk on the hands of our friends, who hold us up while we do what we can for others. No-one can do anything significant alone; if friends did not also move in the same direction, nothing could happen. My main emotion as I think of my students, working in thousands of projects throughout the world, is that of gratitude; immense gratitude.

The sun never sets on your work, and every hour of the day you are on the line with your bodies. Take heart, you are never alone, and you are building. Every week, there are more Permaculture courses than I have given in my lifetime; you have made me irrelevant and I am grateful for that. It is no longer important whether any one of us live or die; the work builds itself; an idea cannot be suppressed if it is valid and appropriate. Stay appropriate, on the ground, flexible, open. Our greatest gift is what is truly ours; our work, our lives.

By 1995, we will have a presence in every country in the world. No other agency, nor any aid group, has a fraction of our field workers; they couldn’t afford it. Unless they take on our hard life and relative poverty.

We cannot teach what we cannot do; must keep ourselves practical, and relevant. And just think of our summed experience; hundreds, even thousands of years of field experience. No-one can come close to that. No-one ever has, and as all government people need salaries, no-one will ever catch up.

Today we have our own literature, our own education system, our own communication system, our own national and global congresses, our own academy. I know that in the near future we will also establish our own economy. If you keep teaching, as you have been, you will build our own nation, a true international. A nation of shared values, shared experiences, shared hardships. But never leave the ground; it is only in real projects that credibility lies.

If you keep teaching, as you have been, your numbers will grow exponentially, and you will be a force in all areas of life. A force for common sense, goodwill, humane value, positive solutions, earth care. It is the only thing in life worth doing; all else is worthless. As you go to sleep every night, think of your friends, who may just be waking up; as I often think of you. When, at times, you are impeded, frustrated, or seem to be getting nowhere, remember that at the same time many of us are advancing elsewhere. In total, we always advance, always learn.

Look back sometimes, and remember, and you will see how far we have come. Many of us are academics, many of us are tribal. As a group, we stand as translators between modern and traditional knowledge, and combine both. Value all cultures and languages, they encode the memories and values of all people. Value and strengthen your traditions; they have kept peoples entire for all history. Our strength lies in our unique attributes, joined by our shared values. We are of equal value between ourselves, deserve equal respect. Nobody expects to return to this world to sanity this generation, but we can set the basis for sanity if people survive.

And if you ever leave the women behind, you will fail. Already, our children are ready for the sort of education we can give them. If you keep teaching, as you have been, they may have a new world to explore. Keep this dream in your heart.