HSS Week 3
This week was definitely the most “kinesthetic” week of the program, as we got to do hands-on mapping activities, in-field surveying, and painted the entrance to the maintenance building!
Lost Valley Week 3 – A-Frames and Artwork
Lost Valley Week 2 – NVC and Energy
HSS Week 2
Our second week of the program started off with a major emphasis on the social aspects of the program that included several classes with Larry on deep listening and nonviolent communication (NVC). I’ve referred to NVC several times, and want to provide the definition from the Center of Nonviolent Communication to help explain this specific style of communication:
Lost Valley Week 1 – Orientation and Classes
Holistic Sustainability Semester Week 1
All but one of the students had arrived by the time Monday began, and we had gotten to meet each other helping move-in and set-up, running into each other around town and in the bathrooms!
Lost Valley Week 1 – Move-in and Introductions
Holistic Sustainability Semester Week 1 (Pre-Program)
My first week at Lost Valley Education & Event Center was like stepping through the wardrobe into the edible Eden of Narnia, combined with a “polar plunge” into a new subculture (inside of a subculture) that took me some time to adjust to – having come from urban-suburban Frisco, Texas.
Lost Valley Class Itinerary
Lost Valley Class Itinerary
Here is the PDF link to the Fall 2017 HSS Schedule which outlines my classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday into the following categories: Social, Ecological, Economic, Worldview and Personal.
All of the PDC classes are on Wednesday, and we have about 4-5 students attending from Eugene on those days.
Mondays’ classes are typically devoted to Social and Economic classes, while Fridays classes focus on Worldview and Personal – which include topics like ceremonies, Tai Chi, journaling and stages of consciousness.
Finding Lost Valley – Pursuing my PDC and EDE
I resigned from my latest agency job at the end of July to pursue what I feel is my next step in life, earning my PDC and EDE from Lost Valley Education & Event Center in Dexter, Oregon.
While the Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) and Ecovillage Design Education (EDE) certifications are offered in many places around the country, and the world, I chose Lost Valley because it was one of the few locations that offers both certifications, has a long running history of development, is recognized by Gia Education and UNESCO, and teaches classes in English!
Receiving my PDC and EDE are not essential for me to make a difference in the world, but I would rather educate myself on proven tools, strategies and sciences so I can better help others so they can help themselves.
To provide a little background context, I consider myself a fairly self-reliant person and strive to blaze my own trail through life. So the idea of financial handouts and institutional dependency grinds my gears. Which lends itself to the timeless proverb…
“Give a man a fish, he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime.”
This proverb really resonates with me, and motivates me on how I can give back to the world – by teaching others to be self-reliant, with the hope that the change reverberates into the world. And in my case, this involves agricultural techniques and enriched community practices.
So continue following my adventure as I post more blogs, document my trip and share insights of what I’m learning!
