Hi, processing some early permaculture experiences. Have experience with WWOOF and Workaway. Tried a couple farms, both in Europe and North America. Had a mixed bag of experiences - realized goals did not align with all the farms I stayed at. Eventually found two that I've been able to work with consistently for the past two years or so. Found that I'm better suited toward ethnobotany, or possibly herbalism. Early permaculture experiences taught me that I'm better at small-scale detailed work. stuff like locksmithing or soldering, for example, comes to me more naturally than larger-scale work like farming or carpentry. I would be better at carving a refined and detailed spoon, for example, than building a house.
Eventually found a lineage that did work for me - material from Mike Hoag seems to have worked well. Now just more conscious of my strengths and weaknesses as well as the trajectory of different fields. So five years ago I perceived ethnobotany, herbalism, permaculture and environmental biology as allies and saw the connections between them, which is a strength I'm learning to honour. However, as I get more experience some of the details matter more and I see the fields have different trajectories or goals in some areas. Couple years ago saw all four like an impressionist painting, now it's more like pointallism.
Have the most experience with ethnobotany. Herbalism has felt supportive as well, and personal path might be diverging from folks aligned with permaculture. I do value cross-field collaboration a lot, but I'm learning not to overextend myself as I have done a couple times in the past.
Just posting to test the waters a bit, see if I still align with what's going on on these forums. Was pretty active on the Fisker forums for a couple years, but now am aligning more with Hoag and a couple works by anthropologist David Graeber. Debt and Utopia of Rules for example.
Anthropology is my primary discipline, have a lot of other pursuits and hobbies. Usually integrate them into anthropology as the flagship or 'bridge of the enterprise' discipline.
All that is to say, am a fairly friendly guy who might like to collaborate with y'all, and seeing if this community works for me. Definitely in a phase of trying people and communities to see what works. Couple communities I tried in the permaculture world weren't supportive, focusing my energy on the good supportive ones. Would like to try this one out and see if we click.
Best,
James
