the second journal of small work* builds on the ideas of the first. if continuous improvement, those incremental changes that help us keep our balance while consistently taking daily action, combined with the stacking of multiple functions that make tremendously creative use of what we’re already doing, is all about compounding efficiency, then the next principles deepen and widen the effectiveness of the small work* of ecological action. how?
this journal, pattern language + permeability: oil + wax, looks at pattern language. as a method of re-skilling rapidly, it’s unparalleled. mired in the details as we seek harmony with living systems, we can instead learn overarching patterns. with fluency in a pattern, we can then apply it as appropriate to the detailed problems of shifting how we live to resilient, sustainable, indeed, regenerative states.
as always, i illustrate and elaborate on possibilities. i find the form of oil + wax and its provision of balms, salves, medicinal infusions to polishes and water resistance that avoid waste, frankly gratifying. watch and share more possibilities below. to this concept of learning pattern language, add the principle of permeability, of profound interconnection. to add this piece is to create synergies, multiplying our small actions exponentially, so the whole is much, much more than the sum of its parts.
here i play with how shifting our mindset to keen awareness of profound interconnection of all living systems alters the decisions we make. we can address the intense separations that underly how we’ve read the world and our places in it, then come into a different, at once new and ancient relationship that acknowledges, as our own sciences now prove, that down to a minute level, we are in infinite exchange. add this tremendously permeable, reciprocal nature to a pattern language and we become effective in healing, restoring, reinventing how we exist. in an existential crisis this is essential work.
i hope you love, use and share the journal of small work*. do let me know your thoughts on what i’ve made for you.
what pattern will you add next? your small work inspires us all to action.
for more writing that informs the journal of small work* find the latest pieces in letters, or come talk to me as i write most days socially on instagram. subscribe to the postcards to hear more about the next episode of the journal of small work* or even better, become a supporter on patreon. thank you to all the appleturnover patrons for making this possible.