Hi there permies!
I just wanted to add and make clear a couple of things to make sure that we are in the same page. first of all I am adding to my set of skills, bee keeping!
Second, my main objective is to SERVE AND LIVE AMONG LOVING, COMPASSIONATE AND TOLERANT PEOPLE. I want to step outside of our culture of fear where we are afraid of others and different ways of seeing, perceiving life. As Permaculture teaches us diversity is one of the most valuable and important things in nature. So pretending to live all the same ar think the same is an illusion and fear is a natural response to the unknown but by being conscious about it we can avoid the consequences of it. Also I try to keep in mind that Permaculture is a philosophy of design to take care of the EARTH and HUMANS and not a set of "techniques" to only make profit. In that context I want to get to know possible community partners in a loving and compassionate way through emails, phone calls and possibly in person and not start our human interactions with background checks and things like that (I understand if you need to do that, but do not do it in the first email) although all the people I have volunteered with never have even asked me for anything like that but took the time to get to know me, which I believe is enough for what community is, after all we do not do background checks for all our neighbors when we move to a new house in a new neighborhood, do we?
I am and open book and you can ask whatever you want and I will be true to myself in the first place and honest to you. I guess my point is if you are afraid of others or have the need to be "in control" or be the "authority" then perhaps it means you are not ready to live in community.
Looking forward to hear from you.
Cheers,
Rod.