Rob Kaiser

On October 1 - I began a podcast...and transitioned out of the video blogging.

While I still make a video approximately once a week - podcast seems to be the format of choice for my message.

This seems to be a good way to "flesh out" ideas and "talking through" finding my passion / purpose.

Here's a link to those that may be interested:  https://allaroundgrowth.buzzsprout.com/

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Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/all-around-growth/id1484489549

Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/show/1avOwSaT3lgyVA3eCiNDdQ

What was difficult (and also very revealing) was a conversation I had with a coworker...who's gone part time.

After Labor Day - she came back and we got to talking out in the nursery yard.

She asked me about permaculture and what happened?

What about all the conferences I used to attend?  

(in years past, all the PV conferences, etc)

She told me that I used to be so happy, that I was so passionate about all of it...

...all I could tell her was that I didn't know.

It broke my heart a little bit.

It still does when I think about it.

What happened?

I'm not happy with my day job.  

I broke out a new journal today at home.

That was a change of pace - wasn't really expecting that.

The only constant is change.  I'll get through the day today.

Tomorrow is a new day.

It depends...

What are your goals and objectives?

Be cautious of the need (read: desire) to *do* things.

Many a person has spent time, effort, and energy building hugel mounds, creating swales, and "doing" permaculture...myself included.

Remember that Permaculture is a design science - not a series of techniques that we "do" in order to be a Permaculturalist.

So...where do we get started?  It depends.

Almost everything depends on what your personal goals and objectives are.

Clearly identifying those would be helpful...

...then we've got some idea of what/how/why we are doing what we're doing.

Hope this helps!

Somehow it suddenly became September.  

It's a slow morning on the tree farm / day job this morning.

Thank goodness, because I woke up late at home.  Like literally, one hour ago I was still sleeping.

However, I managed to pull myself together relatively quickly and I only arrived to work 10 minutes late.

Not that I care...or anyone else does.  No one around here really cares about anything, quite frankly.

Because of that - I find the passion that I once had for my career truly diminishing.

I'm grateful for my coworker / office mate.  She helps me maintain a good attitude...

...and I'm learning bit by bit what and why I'm doing what I'm doing.  

Life is weird.

I got into an argument with Dad this morning:  On Scolding My Father



While cleaning up my office in the barn this morning...

...my girlfriend is coming over for a walk and breakfast.

Preparing for my morning date, I got a message from out of the blue regarding my friend from out of town coming all the way here for the farmer's market today!

That's wonderful - except I'm not working the market today.

Plans must change and I'm trying to feel grateful - but I'm in the middle of several projects.

The morning date today was so both my girlfriend and I could address and work on our own various projects later in the day.

Not sure how we're going to navigate this together today...but we'll find out.

I'm not sure why I'm writing here either - but I'll contemplate that also.

Read this post and commented on your website!

Great post!

I’ve grown to love the soil knife over the years after dismissing it as an actual tool…however, my day job has progressed into computer work and less involvement with plants. I long to grow beyond the necessity of the day job and a desire/need to return to the land and begin actively building an income from our own homestead.

We’ll be following your journey as we begin our own!

For those interested...

...I started documenting via video in April 2020:



The video creation is yet another attempt at documentation of what the hell I'm doing.

I had a little podcast project that I enjoyed...and that's where my heart is.

However, I learned that I can extract audio from YouTube videos...

...so - over the winter, I will do so and have a podcast from my videos.

Seemed appropriate to stack functions accordingly.

In years past I've had active blogs, podcasts, and websites.

Now...I'm developing the website robkaiser.me to house *everything*

Stay tuned.

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:
Figure out how to love yourself, and your choices, and to really nurture yourself. Then what other people think won't matter at all.

Sound advice.

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:
Dave: I'd like to suggest that it's not about the food at all. It's only about your boundaries. If I served you dirty motor oil in a soup bowl, you would not eat it, no matter how much peer pressure I applied. If I offered you a glass of rat-poison on ice, you would say no. So we have established that you have boundaries, and can enforce them. Now it's only a matter of enforcing them consistently. There are plenty of ways of doing that simply, "I don't like sugary things", "I'm already way over my carbohydrate limit for today", "I'm a picky eater". You don't have to explain, convince, shame, or evangelize. It's your body, you get to choose how you nurture it. It's really hard to get someone to put something in their mouth and swallow it if they are not cooperating.

Seems to be a general theme in your life to frequently be fussing about what others think about you or your choices. My strategy, is that I am not responsible for other people's thoughts. They can think anything they like. About me, or about anything else. My general assessment of the state of the world, is that people are way to self-absorbed to think about me at all.

Figure out how to love yourself, and your choices, and to really nurture yourself. Then what other people think won't matter at all.

What's the worst that could happen if you say no to your mother's suggestion that you eat her roundup-ready bean pie? Will she beat you? Will your father? Will she scream at you? Will she sulk for a week? More likely she will be proud, and think something like, "Wow, Dave is maturing and learning to set boundaries". Anybody that truly loves you will be thrilled that you are setting boundaries around your food intake. If someone is not thrilled about it, and attempts to coerce you into eating poison, then you might be better off without them as part of your life.

I suspect Dave prefers to pick his battles...and sometimes a good excuse / white lie is the most effective way to do so.   ¯\_(ツ)_/¯