Building a business from scratch
is no simple task
unless a clear plan you have.

So, some experts say.

Yet today I received a phone call
from someone who lost his livelihood
and his savings
due to COVID

and started growing his own food.

When an opportunity presented itself
to run a small business
he grabbed it.

Still, the initial experience
made him reflect on his vulnerability
and he decided to turn
what I think might have been a hobby
into a possible future business.

One step led to another…

His goal is to create
a zero-waste system
that is complex enough
to be completely self-sustainable;

he did not come to this logically but rather organically;
a zero-waste system is what I saw
when he was talking to me

and I wanted to suggest
this and that
for two elements of what he will produce

are out of balance…

Someone had referred him to me
for I have a product he requires;
my first customer
in this particular area.

A minute sale
I wasn’t expecting
for I am more used to gifting things
than to selling them.

The reason for this
is because I perceived myself
as a sustainable livelihoods’ consultant
following a specific pattern:

First you come and see me
and we work out what your purpose is
and if your work
and lifestyle align.

This is what makes you as an individual self-sustainable,
resilient,
wherever you are

whatever your circumstances might be…

Another way of explaining this
is that if you have a clear sense of purpose
opportunities somehow open up

and whatever obstacles
come your way
are somehow easier to overcome

or to accept
as for your good;
or as a challenge to refine
yourself

or what you do
or both…

You learn to be patient
while simultaneously remaining tenacious

never giving up
on achieving the life-goals
you were born to achieve

the blueprint written
in your DNA;
the blueprint written
in your soul

for the blueprint in your DNA
and the blueprint in your soul
is are one and the same

the body
is soul intelligent;
the soul
enlivens the body

explained Sara Evian
in her women’s shiur
yesterday.

Is a soul blueprint a map?

That can be misplaced?
Or muddied over?
Or put away as a thing of the wayward imagination?

Is it something that can be torn up?
By unkindness
cruel?

Is it something that can be torn up?
By unkindness
gentle and well-meaning?

Apparently not,

because this map
is a virtual thing

or a thing hidden from your sight
like the strands of your DNA

it is possible to access it
when it really wants expression;

when it refuses to be put down
when it refuses to be polite to those who don’t like it
when it refuses invisibility as its fate.

This is the good news…

The not-so-great news
is that livelihoods are more often than not
linked to monetary exchanges –

money does not grow on trees

unless the tree bears actual fruit
or has some other benefit
that enough people value
to pay for it:

Seeds
Saplings

Fruit
Leaves
Bark
Roots

Or products made from the above.

It is processing things that adds value;
beneficiation
it is called.

Diamonds are also valuable.

And ‘clear quartz’ might also be extremely valuable
in twenty years from now
if diamonds they actually are…

Yet even as quartz they are valuable
for healing
for immune system boosting
to aid concentration and memory

and if that is what has drawn your attention
I wouldn’t dismiss it;
perhaps there is something to learn from it
perhaps there is something to be gained from it;

yet watching people
flock to the small village of KwaHlati –

one hopeful man looking for a good car
good health
good food
good education for children

in small crystals
the earth has pressured into birth
teaches me something very important:

in my mind
the priorities are inverted
like an upside-down triangle

like a pyramid

poised on its nose;
without crutches to hold it up
it most likely will topple…

Why are pyramids so admired?
Why have pyramids become so popular?