Michele Mician
City of Sarasota, Neighborhood Partnership Office and
Natural Capitalism Collection Gallery Curator
Laura Morton asked us to share our stories that reveal what we feel has contributed to the sustainability movement. I guess my story comes from the roots of me. My life been an experience; full of learning, growing and sharing knowledge with the amazing people that I am privileged to call friends. These people are my roots, they are my community and together I think we all contribute greatly to the movement.
I like to live my life by following the 12 principles of permaculture design. A few of these are; Observe and Interact, Apply Self-Regulation and Accept Feedback, Integrate Rather Than Segregate and Creatively Use and Respond to Change. I believe that educating yourself is one of the best ways to ensure you can contribute to this revolution. We can do this by challenging ourselves to read, study and engage in the academic world. We also do this by recognizing each other within ourselves. Over the last three years I have experienced some amazing programs that have changed my perception, enriched my soul, lifted my spirit and stimulated my mind. Some of these are Bioneers Conference, Earth Activist Training, becoming a yoga teacher and participating in local activism. Yet, the most impactful of all of these experiences were the connections I made with people. I believe that finding connections is what really works. That means learning more about each other personally and finding out how our talents can assist us in reaching our goals. It also means connecting organizations and coalition building so that we do not duplicate efforts thus expending less energy and ending up with more results. I think that is what sustainability and Natural Capitalism is all about. It is about using the resources you have in the most efficient way so you can benefit the most people. I try to do this in my everyday life by using the resources I am given to communicate positive ideas and share information.
I work for the City of Sarasota as a Neighborhood Coordinator. I feel it is part of my responsibility to find a way to integrate my talents as a SoulJah for the environment into my work. Yes, it is a responsibility. We are given the blessing of being on this earth. Let's pay our universal rent. Let's not forget to share our passions and explore ways we can integrate ideas about sustainability, love of the environment and caring for each other into our daily work...that means creating a recycling area at your office, thanking people for not littering, writing a letter to the editor on your lunch break, taking time to breathe. We are all relatives, it is all connected!
