Evaluation
This whole process has been a very valuable journey for me, one which I am still very much on and probably will be for the rest of my life! I feel that a lot of the clutter and questioning in my mind has calmed throughout the write up of this process, that fog has begun to clear and what seem to be really obvious things to try and live into now feel more solid.
The work I have put into this project may seem a little abstract, but I have found it to be so unimaginably progressive for me, bringing fears out into the open and looking and experimenting with things that can help me to find space and strength to accomplish my dreams in life. And whether it continues to be written up or not, this process that has begun of assessing my feelings and needs, and looking to sustainable permaculture design principles to help to overcome them will continue with me forever I'm sure.
Writing up this project hasn't been very straightforward at all. I feel that I have gone in a big circle, a journey which went totally off the path for over a year has then somehow found its way back again. But I guess that can often be the exploratory journey of an idea.
The work I have put into this project may seem a little abstract, but I have found it to be so unimaginably progressive for me, bringing fears out into the open and looking and experimenting with things that can help me to find space and strength to accomplish my dreams in life. And whether it continues to be written up or not, this process that has begun of assessing my feelings and needs, and looking to sustainable permaculture design principles to help to overcome them will continue with me forever I'm sure.
Writing up this project hasn't been very straightforward at all. I feel that I have gone in a big circle, a journey which went totally off the path for over a year has then somehow found its way back again. But I guess that can often be the exploratory journey of an idea.
Time review
This has been such a long process, it's very difficult to say how long it has taken me. But, at a guess;
Writing up on website: 30 hours (Now make that 40)
Paper work: 6 hours (Now updated, so 8 hours)
Thinking about the structure of the project, including how to write it up: Days and weeks and months and years
Implementation: on going, possibly forever.
Writing up on website: 30 hours (Now make that 40)
Paper work: 6 hours (Now updated, so 8 hours)
Thinking about the structure of the project, including how to write it up: Days and weeks and months and years
Implementation: on going, possibly forever.
Appendix
In writing up project two, I went through many different versions of how it should come out. I spent forever writing up each and every stage of my journey throughout the past year, listing my ideas as designs 1, 2, 3 and 4, explaining what plans I had made and why and how they had not worked out the way I would have liked and how I had changed my plans and redesigned again. But in the end I deleted all of this, wanting to just leave the confusion in the past and create a more streamlined version of events. Now, looking back, (and after mentioning this to Richard) I realise that I should have kept all these ramblings and added them here in the appendix. I really lived into the idea of trying to make things look 'nice' and perfect them instead of sharing them warts and all, a classic example of something I am trying to 'un-learn' as it is not beneficial for either myself or for the greater whole. And I can see this now echoing throughout the rest of my website too. I spend a lot of time staring blankly at this website not daring to touch it, for fear of not knowing what to say, lost in the daring hope that it will just start to look better, not connecting the fact that I am the only one who can make this happen. This is something I need to change! So I will start now. And with that choice the wonderful feeling of empowerment returns...
This adds even more to the recurring theme for me throughout this design, that its been one centred around a real learning process and not an outcome.
The other thing that has been a strong input in this project is just how much time I have wasted lost in computer problems. Over the past few weeks I have uninstalled all programming on my computer not once but twice, therefore rendering my laptop completely useless, I have lost all cables that connect my camera to the computer so been unable to download any pictures, and somehow set up my mums computer so that it won't allow Weebly, this website host, to work. I have no idea how I've managed to do this, but meanwhile I have had a crash course in computer programming and managed to get my laptop working again, though now I'm back to mainstream windows instead of open-source. (which just isn't as good, and if I wasn't so reluctant to erase everything again I'd go right back..) The camera is still useless, and have now left my mums and so given up on fixing her computer altogether. Such a lot of wasted time! And I've also spent a lot of time procrastinating, looking into other website hosting sites and things like that, instead of doing any actual real-life work. This is a pattern I see reflected in many areas of my life, so I'm going to really try and keep that in focus to not get lost in again. Now I look back on the project I can see that I would have really benefited from going deeper into the principles and ethics of permaculture, and of using these to deepen my thought processes and bring much more to them that I couldn't see at the time. I'm not really satisfied with this project so far as it seems far too 'floaty' and personal, I see now that I really barely touched on permaculture principles, the rest was just really me finding my own way.
This is something that I will definitely focus on more with my next project, and may one day even return to do with this one to help me feel more contented with it!
Updates February 2013
I have just finished re-writing this project after revisiting it to make some small adjustments after suggestions from my interim review, after project 5. I have ended up rewriting mostly the whole thing, after I just couldn't fit such a long expansive and chaotic life design into the linear formulae that most permaculture designs try to fit themselves into. I hope that it makes sense, I've had such a great time experiencing how this framework works and have found it to fit really well with the structure of this project. I've also really found it incredibly beneficial personally to revisit this work and to note the changes that have taken place since it's beginning, and to now have a second chance to look at what challenges I am personally facing and how to overcome them. I would like to keep going on and on with this but for now, at least for the sake of this diploma, I hope to leave it alone, as more projects are calling!
I have made a page with some of the original framework here, although it's mostly the same work, just moved around a little differently. The focus of the project did change from it's first beginning, the original title was 'A sustainable life', and had an intention to find a blueprint for me to live more sustainably. I have changed this now to narrow it down, to 'Creating space', meaning within my life to be able to accomplish the things that I dream of doing. I think that the huge vagueness and impossibility of the original title has affected my ability to know how to tackle it for all this time, as I'm not sure if there is any one design you could put into writing for a sustainable life in all it's areas. I can't think how I would wrap that one up anyhow. So this feels much more achievable and manageable.
This adds even more to the recurring theme for me throughout this design, that its been one centred around a real learning process and not an outcome.
The other thing that has been a strong input in this project is just how much time I have wasted lost in computer problems. Over the past few weeks I have uninstalled all programming on my computer not once but twice, therefore rendering my laptop completely useless, I have lost all cables that connect my camera to the computer so been unable to download any pictures, and somehow set up my mums computer so that it won't allow Weebly, this website host, to work. I have no idea how I've managed to do this, but meanwhile I have had a crash course in computer programming and managed to get my laptop working again, though now I'm back to mainstream windows instead of open-source. (which just isn't as good, and if I wasn't so reluctant to erase everything again I'd go right back..) The camera is still useless, and have now left my mums and so given up on fixing her computer altogether. Such a lot of wasted time! And I've also spent a lot of time procrastinating, looking into other website hosting sites and things like that, instead of doing any actual real-life work. This is a pattern I see reflected in many areas of my life, so I'm going to really try and keep that in focus to not get lost in again. Now I look back on the project I can see that I would have really benefited from going deeper into the principles and ethics of permaculture, and of using these to deepen my thought processes and bring much more to them that I couldn't see at the time. I'm not really satisfied with this project so far as it seems far too 'floaty' and personal, I see now that I really barely touched on permaculture principles, the rest was just really me finding my own way.
This is something that I will definitely focus on more with my next project, and may one day even return to do with this one to help me feel more contented with it!
Updates February 2013
I have just finished re-writing this project after revisiting it to make some small adjustments after suggestions from my interim review, after project 5. I have ended up rewriting mostly the whole thing, after I just couldn't fit such a long expansive and chaotic life design into the linear formulae that most permaculture designs try to fit themselves into. I hope that it makes sense, I've had such a great time experiencing how this framework works and have found it to fit really well with the structure of this project. I've also really found it incredibly beneficial personally to revisit this work and to note the changes that have taken place since it's beginning, and to now have a second chance to look at what challenges I am personally facing and how to overcome them. I would like to keep going on and on with this but for now, at least for the sake of this diploma, I hope to leave it alone, as more projects are calling!
I have made a page with some of the original framework here, although it's mostly the same work, just moved around a little differently. The focus of the project did change from it's first beginning, the original title was 'A sustainable life', and had an intention to find a blueprint for me to live more sustainably. I have changed this now to narrow it down, to 'Creating space', meaning within my life to be able to accomplish the things that I dream of doing. I think that the huge vagueness and impossibility of the original title has affected my ability to know how to tackle it for all this time, as I'm not sure if there is any one design you could put into writing for a sustainable life in all it's areas. I can't think how I would wrap that one up anyhow. So this feels much more achievable and manageable.
My opinions on the design web process
This web is such an interesting way to easily see where most energy has been flowing through the designing process. From drawing out my web I can see that I have spent a lot of my time bouncing between the reflection and action stages of the design. But it is good to see that all areas have been visited in what felt like a fluid and natural way.
The design web process really does feel to echo the natural flow of my ideas and support them to find their places within the whole. I really enjoyed using this technique, and feel that it really has saved me, after over a year of trying to fit this project into a linear model so that I could clearly write it down, and finding time and time again that it just wouldn't fit, I feel that it worked really well. Thanks Looby!
The design web process really does feel to echo the natural flow of my ideas and support them to find their places within the whole. I really enjoyed using this technique, and feel that it really has saved me, after over a year of trying to fit this project into a linear model so that I could clearly write it down, and finding time and time again that it just wouldn't fit, I feel that it worked really well. Thanks Looby!
Three P's review
Here's where I look into the impact and learning I've gained in my project based, personal, and professional life.
Project
Personal
Professional
Project
- I have become more conscious of my everyday activities and needs and hopes for the future
- I have found creative ways to accomplish personal goals and ambitions
- I have acheived my goals and intentions for the project and more
- I have experimented with new forms of design frameworks
- I have been able to impact and positively affected not only my life but my future projects as well
Personal
- I have felt empowered to break negative patterns that were holding me back
- I have interpreted in depth reflections on my personal state of mind and lifestyle and made big changes to our lives depending on these
Professional
- I have gained a lot more experience with the workings of operating systems of computers and how to upload and install them
- I've experimented with other web hosting sites and become familiar with several of them
- I have explored and experimented with several ways of writing up life based permaculture designs which gives me a wider perspective of the applications of this, making me better able to share what I have learned with others.
- I have also been working to further my internal mind/spirit learnings and will impact all that I do in the future, both professionally and personally, making me more able to accomplish anything that I wish to.
Reviews
These reviews were given to me after I had completed the first draft of this project. Since then I have gone in and added much more to it, and changed the framework in which it was written. But the same body of work still exists, included in the final finished piece.
Anyhow, here's the review of the original project 2 from my peer partner Ben;
Anyhow, here's the review of the original project 2 from my peer partner Ben;
| nim_peer_rev_1.doc |
And here's the check in I had with tutor Rich after this project was first completed.
| nim_r_checkinpr2.doc |
