Self-Reliance Doesn’t Have to Mean Being By Your Self

Its been a long, strange trip.  We didn’t grow up on a farm.  We grew up in the city, a walk away from the grocery store, schools and friends. Our only training about self-reliance was that we were self-employed, but the business world was and is very different from knowing how to plant, how to cook with wood, how to milk and butcher a goat, or how to build a house.

We’ve come a looooong way from those days.  We’ve been counting only on ourselves for the last few years and we’ve learned so much in that time – mostly through trial and error.  We’ve built four  houses,  made a composting toilet, fixed trucks, harvested local edible plants, stayed up nights keeping the stove going so we didn’t freeze.  We learned to do without when we couldn’t get to town when something got used up, we learned to wash the dishes with only 2 gallons of water when the water delivery man couldn’t get up our road.  We learned that even without “much o’ nothin’”, nobody ever took away our birthday, nor did we ever starve.  It’s been wonderful.  We learned, first-hand, that “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.”

We’ve learned a lot.  We’ve accomplished a lot.  The hardest thing we did was finding the right place to settle. We had stops along the way in what appeared to be beautiful, sleepy little towns – villages, really – that turned out to be havens for meth chefs.  We made stops along the way in subdivisions that had 100 people when we moved there and 500 people two years later when we left.  We even made stops in suburbia so we could make a few more dollars while the gettin’ was good.

We’re in a pretty good place now, mentally as well as physically, as well as preparedness-wise.  We know that now, no matter what happens “out there”, we’ll be ok – mostly because we’ve learned that we can depend on ourselves.   If the economy collapses, it won’t matter because we don’t depend on money for much at all.  If – heaven forbid – war breaks out, we won’t be involved.  If an EMP or solar flare hits, we’ll still have the same oil lamp for dark nights.

The most cherished thing we have gained in living this way is a re-connection with a natural way of living – Connected to the differences of the seasons rather than masking them with heating and cooling systems.  Connected to your own, innate abilities rather than what you can buy with money you made sitting in a cubicle all day.  Connected to a natural rhythm of life that keeps you going rather than beats you down.

It’s been said that no man is an island.  We’ve learned a lot, but we don’t know everything.  No one ever could.  Everyone has strong points and weak points.  That’s why small, cooperative communities (no, not a “commune”) are the way to go.

We still have room here in our community for another person or family or two.  We would like to fill that space with someone we can help with our trailblazing, labor and terra firma (place to be) – and someone who would, in exchange, be willing to help with the final touches here… a hand pump or solar set up for the deep, ancient water community well (we have a generator driven pump in place now, but want to be gas-free);  a roto-tiller and some gardening know-how to create a community garden and;  a few other wanning supplies.

We would like to have someone here who, like us, looks for the new paradigm to be about helping each other.  Mostly we would like to have someone here who, like us, can answer, “Yes” to the question:  “Even if society and the economy don’t collapse, wouldn’t you want to live this way, anyway?” – and then has the strength of heart to live it.

Maybe that spot is waiting for you.

Dan & Sheila are the authors of Surviving Survivalism – How to Avoid Survivalism Culture Shock.  They can be reached at surviving@lavabit.com.