"Oh sorry, I didn't realize there was a fee" ...
and many other variations on this line that I have heard over the years.
Yes I'm used to people not seeing my expertise as something worth paying for.
It's OK; part of my ongoing inner work with self-esteem and #boundaries .
to be clear, this is not just me; it's most people I know who have pursued eco livelihoods. We are doing essential work but a lot of us undervalue our own services because it's an "alternative" path.
Even though most of us have put ourselves through many years of school, apprenticeships, and continuing ed -- all on our own dime -- in order to know what we know.
We are working on doing better in terms of considering ourselves worthy of compensation.
I do give away a lot of free advice and instruction and other services to the community, always have -- so I don't feel bad that there are levels of service I need to charge money for.
Many of our volunteers come here and display an attitude of "I'm working for you for free, so I'm entitled to do whatever I want in your home and on your property!"
They are give a place to sleep and they are fed good organic foods, for roughly five hours of "work" each day. They are also given what amounts to a free Permaculture Design Course, if they are paying attention, during their time here on the farm. The "work day" is broken up by frequent breaks, lessons about the task at hand, and various other reasons to stop & chat. Some come and decide to goof around, or sleep all day, or fuck about rather than do the hands-on tasks that go along with the lessons here.
A two-week PDC costs between $1.200 and 3,000, on the higher end when room & board are included. We have started including a statement in our "Rules, Guidelines. and Boundaries" that if a volunteer fails to fulfill the agreed work commitment while here, then we have the right to ask for compensation for the education, room, and board they receive while here.
We have also considered offering classes to the general public in the area by advertising on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist. If there is enough interest, then it is something we will offer in the future. We've been doing it for "free" for over twelve years, why not get compensated for it?
Several permaculture writers have been a great inspiration with their talks about remembering not to exploit OURSELVES, including our own selves in the principle "Don't exploit people."
Also, by charging fair value for our services, we avoid undercutting other service providers, and avoid giving prospective clients unfair expectations of getting free time & labor from us. "Expectation inflation," I call it. One of my self-assigned tasks in the overall #degrowth and #transformativeadventures mission is to jack-down unreasonable expectations that abound in capitalist-industrial society.
How about you?
Are there any unreasonable and unsustainable expectations you are setting out to jack-down?
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