bucks

There is life in blood

and water, but when i work

i'm clogged with java

Hot and Cold

Hot and cold are different. One is hot. One is cold. But hot and cold are the same. Hot is a temperature. So is cold. Hot and cold do not easily mix. Most often, where one is, the other is not. When they do meet, there are storms of white light and booming voices blowing off air, hot and cold. They bump up against one another, knocking foreheads until one secedes and storms out. Though sometimes, in the sleepiness of an early morning, those already awake will see them getting out of bed together. And from their union - life.

Person-In-Environment

"Person-in-Environment" is the calling card of social work. At it's theoretical base, this separates the profession from others in the human service field. It recognizes the agency of individuals and communities in creating change as a person or persons in their environment. But person-in-environment also speaks to social work's deep understanding that an environment or system can have a tremendous impact on an individual or community.

A joke: How many social workers does it take to change a lightbulb?
Punchline: The lightbulb doesn't need to change - the system needs to change.

Permaculture is also a person-in-environment model. Like social work, this systems theory recognizes the agency of individuals and communities to affect change through ecological means of meeting, sustaining and governing their own needs. Beyond that, it offers the ultimate social web, connecting across species to find the right 'fit' and relationship for mutual beneficence. There are unexplored models of interspecies cooperation and synergy that may guide social work theory and models if someone took the time to quietly observe and learn. Permaculture offers social work a new perspective on where our current systems falter, and the devastating impact on people (plus). For example, Temple Grandin has observed that, "some of the stereotyped behaviors exhibited by autistic children are also found in zoo animals who are raised in a barren environment".

So how many permaculturist social workers does it take to change a system? Lets find out.

Fixed Woman

b

Grandma's Eyes

Time