TerrieMiller.com

If I think of it as a blackberry patch, I don’t have to think of the blackberries as an invasive weed problem, right?

I had to do some assigned writing in preparation for an Ecology of Leadership course I’ll be attending all next week. It made me realize how long it’s been since I’ve posted any updates here. Most of my blogging has been over on Permie.net to get that growing. And I don’t feel like I have much interesting to say about my own life. But sometimes people ask, having obviously read some previous screed here.

So here’s snippets of things I’ve been doing or thinking…in no particular order.

Someone described what I’d like to do as “live the simple life.” But that’s not really accurate. I want to live more in nature, which is infinitely complex. Sitting in front of pixelated screens…isn’t that is the “simple” life? You can’t get higher resolution and more detail than the real world.

I bought a mandolin this summer and have been enjoying it, despite my clumsiness. I can’t really play anything yet, but recently go the book Beginning Mandolin and feel like that’s helping.

I want to write a post about failure, especially as it relates to permaculture projects. I’ve got so much to learn. Yet, I notice that I don’t post photos and write about those so much. It gives people the false notion that I know what I’m doing.

Speaking of not knowing what I’m doing, I’m also surprised when people mention my “vision” or my “dream”. Because I really feel like I’m just fumbling along. I get decision paralysis because I want to keep all my options open, or because I feel like I can’t predict factors which would influence the success of any particular decision. (I’m really hoping that the Ecology of Leadership course helps me with this.)

For years, my results on Myers-Briggs were INTJ. Recently I retook it, and came up with INFJ. I’m a little amused that the only thing I want to say about this is the it “feels” right.

It’s not the truth that hurts. It’s finding out later that what you thought was the truth wasn’t the truth at all that hurts. I’m trying to learn myself to speak the truth from my heart instead of talking out of my ass. It’s more difficult than it seems.

I worry about how the internet, as a vehicle of self-expression, seems to engender negative and disparaging behavior. With the comments field open, everyone’s a critic. I’ve been guilty of this myself, but it’s becoming less fun for me. Am I losing my sense of humor? When I first encountered the Three Wolf Moon meme, I found it upsetting. Those of us that spend a lot of time on the internet tend to believe that everyone is spending a lot of time on the internet. But the truth is, many of the things we take for granted are out of reach for people who didn’t grow up online or, increasingly, don’t have the financial resources to have a good online experience. The internet is still read-only for a lot of people who feel like they don’t have enough technical knowledge to keep their information safe. So there becomes two classes of people — the internet savvy critics, and the technology have-nots who are the brunt of the jokes. I want to be part of a more compassionate culture.

My favorite celebrities on twitter? Yoko Ono, Kevin Nealon, and Sarah Silverman. So maybe some of my sense of humor is intact?

Oh, I did finish up my Horticulture classes last semester…for the first time in my live, I’ve got a 4.0 GPA. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to take classes in the winter.

I am so happy to be working for CrowdVine.

Some writing I did for MAKE was published: Lay of the Land, an article that introduces readers to permaculture, how to map your property, and how to make and use an A-Frame level and water levels.

I would like to see permaculture take root in the midwest where I grew up. I believe that parts of it are really a part of the heritage of that area. A part that’s been ripped away by corporations, consumer culture, and pursuit of the almighty buck. I’m surprised by how many skills I know because I remember my parents and grandparents doing it, even helping with it myself. Raising chickens for eggs and meat, canning and food preservation, gardening, greywater, energy conservation…that’s all stuff that was done out of economic necessity. Good skills to have.

One of my new favorite plants: Salvia clevelandii or Cleveland sage. Hopefully the bees will like it, too!

Speaking of the bees, we’ve been struggling through our first year of beekeeping. This is one area where I really don’t know what I’m doing. Hoping that Serge Labesque does his class this coming winter. And that our bees live! We might get some honey this year, but I don’t mind if we don’t, as long as the bees have enough for themselves. They are really fascinating.