Lorenza Casini

Apply self-regulation and accept feedback

In early July I attended the gathering of Creative Roots, convened once every three months by permaculture designer, tutor and community organiser Liz Postlethwaite.

Every gathering I join and the conversations we hold, they nurture my deep reflections with kindness and abundance, and this July session was no different.

Liz shared with us in advance a writing by Adam Wilson, of The Peasantry School, and in our hour-long discussions we touched on so many aspects about belonging, exploring our identity, our authenticity, our cultural health linked to societal health. We talked about connections with our ancestors, with death and with the young and the yet unborn and the role we hold here during our living years.

What we discussed collectively still resonates with me today, and has been fuelling many good reflections. I found a fellow participant’s words particularly in ‘vibration’ with how I’ve been thinking lately – what she said on several occasions, really resonated with my current exploration of what it means to be authentic… that we hold in us all that we need to create, to contribute our abundance into the world, our communities, to ourselves and to our families. 

I also went to reread Wilson’s text and paused to reflect on my own narratives and how prejudice (which in italian is pregiudizio, so ‘what preceded judgement’) and judgement are human nature but equally I can bring awareness to mine and unpack them, gently. I found it hard to see how Wilson’s experience can align with mine, but then I realised after our rich conversations that was / is not the point.

This is why I value exploring who I am and my work too in the frame of Permaculture, as it offers a really rich but also compassionate space to explore our humanity. 

I then see the connection with one of Holmgren’s principles: Apply self-regulation and accept feedback. And this offers me further reflections on how any experience, small or large, can take us back to this principle.

Our minds and our energy do align, and it so happened that a couple of days ago I visited after a while the YouTube channel of Campfire Stories and realised that they had published two beautiful portraiture videos, storytelling with and by Wilson. I leave you the links here.

Radical Neighbouring | Adam Wilson

The Woman who Pledged Zero | Adam Wilson | The Peasantry School