Essay in Lieu of Resume – Info You Might Want to Know About Me
By Fairlight Lucia
1134 Van Patten
Las Cruces, NM 88005
Phone: 505 525-0053
Email: (DSL)
I began my gardening career when I was eight years old with an old kitchen paring knife and instructions to cut all the dandelions out of the front lawn. I didn’t know enough at that time about how the rest of the world works to think this was anything less that a fun job as it took me outside and I got to sit on the ground and dig around in the dirt and make the grass look better. Over 50 years later I still enjoy digging in the dirt outside in the sunshine dinking around with plants.
I consider it a sorry state of affairs in our current culture that more people don’t create joy for themselves and others by growing food and trees and flowers (I have pretty much given up on lawns, especially here in the desert). Along the path of my life I’ve nurtured many a garden and expect to continue to do so till I can’t hold a trowel in my hand anymore, at which point I’m willing to become food for the hollyhocks myself.
Selecting out some of the experiences in my life that I think might be of some use to the current situation and group project, I’ll start with listing my some of my passions and where they have led me through the years.
First is a love of learning. I could probably happily go to school forever, as I consider myself a perennial student. It took me over 20 years to put together enough credits to receive my bachelor’s degree in Communication with an Emphasis in Journalism (with a sidetrack along the way at U.C. Davis in American Studies)…then another mere year to pile on an interdisciplinary masters in English and Communication. By this time I was just over 40 years old, my son was graduated and gone out into the world, and I began exploring a career in journalism.
I did some writing and some editing. I was editor of a Chamber of Commerce newsletter, editor of a school district newsletter, writer of theatre pieces about the Shakespearean Festival and college theatre in Ashland, Oregon, editor of a metaphysical magazine called Reality Change, garden columnist for a regional newspaper in southern Oregon, and editor of a monthly tabloid on organic gardening and farming for Oregon Tilth. Most lately I volunteer my writing skills for the Grassroots Press, an alternative, progressive-oriented bi-monthly paper here in Las Cruces.
My interest in communication goes beyond the written word. I took what I think of as my doctorate in communication in Tucson as a student of Marshall Rosenburg’s process called Non-Violent [or Compassionate] Communication. Here I learned about communicating from the heart, both with myself and others. I gained skill in listening to others and speaking my own truth. I am able to facilitate study and practice groups and help others learn this consciousness changing process.
About mid-life I began coming to many awarenesses about how dysfunctional our current society is and realized that I needed to do some exploring of alternatives. My values just don’t seem to match that of a civilization focused on war as the answer to problems, TV as the main form of entertainment, hero worship of sports and entertainment figures, and actually supporting farmers to help destroy the soil, watersheds and balance of nature.
One alternative I put a lot of effort into for years was learning about and experiencing intentional communities. It seems reasonable to me that people would be in a more natural situation if they lived in “tribe like” groups and shared resources in common and created lasting and supportive relationships that were not shattered when a marriage ends or siblings disagree vehemently. In my late 40s I stoked my courage and began living with other people with the intention of creating a new paradigm of cooperation and mutual support and freedom to be who we are. I lived in four different communal situations, including 2 ½ years at a large, secular community on Staten Island, NY, called Ganas. A friend and I also attempted to encourage a community to form on land we bought near Tucson, but after two years of putting our all into it, we realized it wasn’t going to coalesce. All these experiences helped me discover more about myself and about how people can help to “make like wonderful” for each other…or not. This particular dream, of living closely with others as we share common intentions, has not died in my heart, but is a glowing ember in a firepit, waiting to again be fanned into flame.
Since moving to Las Cruces I have become involved in helping to create a local Peace & Justice Center, offering educational activities and advocacy for such issues as nuclear disarmament, peaceful resolutions to conflict, equal opportunities for all, and awareness of oil depletion in our world. As I became more aware of the oil situation and began recognizing the major changes that would need to take place if we are to survive as a people, I began to understand that supplying our population with food would be a key element to that survival. I returned to my own roots as a gardener, and began teaching others how to grow their own food. I poked around the internet and talked with people about the situation and found there are others who are concerned about what has become known as “food security.” I became determined to become part of a movement toward creating a more local food system for our area. I would like to see more neighborhood/community gardens, more home gardening, bigger and better (and perhaps even neighborhood oriented) farmers’ markets, more CSAs, encouragement of a return to organic farming (yes, all farming was organic barely 3 generations ago), changes in land and water use policies and planning, and encouragement of resource sharing and cooperative ventures.
I hold a day job with the City of Las Cruces, where I work 30 hours per week in the Home Rehabilitation Program in Community Development managing databases, etc. I work 8:30-5:00 Mon, Tues, Thurs. & Friday, after which I am usually not up to much but an occasional meeting and am usually in bed by 10 pm. I have Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays off. I am willing to commit to volunteering up to the equivalent of an 8 hour work day per week to the development of and implementation of a food security plan through Comida del Rio for a period of at least 6 months. By then we should know if the effort is making headway, at which time I will re-consider my involvement. I could see myself helping with efforts to create community gardens in Las Cruces and/or setting up a school or other means of teaching people how to grow their own food (this could be income generating). I could also help with publicity and promotion, especially writing for publication about our efforts, making event flyers, creating a newsletter, etc. I have a fairly new laptop computer with Windows XP and Microsoft 2003 Word, Publisher, Power Point, etc. I would also like to put together a slide show that could help with educating the public, governments, schools, etc. about food security issues. I am willing to serve on a steering/coordinating committee to help get Comida del Rio up and running.