Julia Pereira Dias

Permaculture Womens Guild

The first question I have to ask myself is am I racist?

Permaculture Womens Guild

By Julia Pereira Dias Nothing causes as much frustration as unmet expectations. In fact, I dare say that every single time we suffer, get mad, anxious or irritated it is because something is not as we expected it to be. And very often it’s somebody else who failed to do, be, think or say what we expected them to. When I talk about expectations (and I love talking about them), I often hear people say: “Oh well. I better not have any expectations then, do I? Especially, ESPECIALLY, not in romantic relationships. Haha. (And is it just me or do…

Permaculture Womens Guild

By Julia Pereira Dias A lot of our expectations are not our own. Culture shapes what we think about the world, about what people, including us, should do and how we should all be. Cultural norms — which are nothing but expectations — define what success is, how a marriage is supposed to run, how children are to be raised and even what happiness consists of. Social animals that we are, we strive to adhere cultural expectations, lest we be excluded from the happy zoo of conformity. If you have any doubt, think about how you raise your children. Why would it possibly stress…

Permaculture Womens Guild

By Julia Pereira Dias We’re told that everything happens for a reason. But really, what good could possibly lie in those everyday irritating instances such as having to rummage through your bag once again to find the train ticket, which — of course — has hidden in the last folded corner of the bag? I never knew until one sunny day in March, more than fifteen years ago. I was visiting professor at the time at the Friends of Thoreau Institute. This was going to be my first lecture on environmental ethics with a group of German and Spanish master students. I stayed with…

Permaculture Womens Guild

By Julia Pereira Dias I could start the article by suggesting that the corona virus was designed and spread by the toilet paper industry, but that would be a lame joke. In fact, I don’t want to talk about COVID-19 at all. I want to talk about something way more contagious. About fears. Let me clarify. I say fears. Not The Fear. The Fear is something else. One day, when I lived in the Amazon rainforest, I was walking on the ground (our houses are on stilts, since it’s all wetland), looking for a piece of lumber to chase away…

Permaculture Womens Guild

By Julia Pereira Dias They say the best way to avoid your own tantrum is to count to ten. It’s never worked for me. This is how it goes: One. Twoo. Threeee. FOurrrr. Five. SIX. SEVEEEEN, EEEEIGHTA. Tantrum. If you’re like me, read on. Here we go: Partner gave you the ugly look early in the morning, toddler smeared jam on your pants, cat pooed in the plant pot, your idea got shot down in the meeting, your teenager called you the worst parent ever and you cannot even get the damn cheese pack open. Forget breathing. There’s not enough…

Permaculture Womens Guild

By Julia Pereira Dias Few terms get the heat up as quickly as ‘fake’ these days. Everybody hates the fakes. Except here is the truth: We are all fakes. I’m not talking about those notorious cases, where fake bankers cheated hundreds of trusting savers out of their hard-earned money or fake doctors abused their patients. Their crimes are not being fakes. Their crimes are extortion and abuse. (And, just food for thought, if that fake doctor, instead of abusing you, had treated your medical condition successfully, what difference would it make that they are not ‘ real’? And is the…