We all want the satisfaction of doing things ourselves, but sometimes we need help. However, many of us find it difficult to ask. Let me tell you something.
STOP trying to be Superman or Superwoman and start asking for help.
You can’t do it all yourself. Honestly, I know, because I am speaking from years of experience. There’s nothing wrong with asking for help.
There is no way I could have built all the garden beds around here or let alone filled them with the layers of cardboard, straw, and compost. NO FREAKING WAY. It would have taken me a month of Sundays. Thankfully I asked Adam, Megan, Amy, and Kim to give me a hand and they kind of volunteered to help me out over a few very wet weekends back in March and April 2007. They were happy days, excellent character building exercises, and best of all; we had fun.
Veggie Patch circa May 2007
Another example was building our chook house. Every single family member helped to make it. Amy and Megan dug post holes (begrudgingly as they were teenagers at the time) for the initial chicken run. Adam and I built the first chicken enclosure and coop, and Ben helped me to paint the coop. It was a family affair, and once again, I asked for help and people joined in and had fun.
Painting the first chook house circa June 2008
My final example is our Backyard Clay Oven. This project was certainly not finished in a day. It took many weekends of hard graft to get the oven completed. Sure, I built the plinth of breeze block (cinder blocks), but there was no way I could have lifted the four very heavy slabs that formed the base with my friend David’s help. Nor could I have finished the first layer of cob by myself in two hours. The members of the Melton Sustainable Living Group helped out during a clay oven workshop that I held and everyone pitched in. Once the first layer was on, the other four were a breeze, even though it took me another two months to complete it, and that was with help from my family.
Cob Oven Firing 4th layer with Megan and Jake circa Sept 2011
As you can see, all of the projects I have completed around our Suburban Food Farm have not been singular tasks. I am not Superman, and neither is anyone else I know.
Don’t be scared to ask for help anytime during your own sustainable living journey, because my friends, that is what makes it interesting and fun. Team work with others, sharing the joy of a completed project, and being able to use the fruits of the joint labour with all your friends for a very long time.
In reality, this blog has not been about my sustainable living journey, but the journey of every single person that has helped me along the path. Every. Single. Person. And for that, I thank you one and all including every reader of this blog. You have also been on my journey with me, helping me keep motivated via emails and comments, and inspiring me to try out new things, ideas, and ways of thinking.
So reach out and ask someone to help with your next project. You may be surprised at their response, because everyone knows that sustainable living projects are the best fun!
