I've mentioned before that I have
a disability. Unfortunately it tends to affect everyone in my sphere in some
way, including you! Families, friends, Homesteading/self sufficiency, and blogs
require a commitment. Commitments can be hard for me to make and harder for me
to keep so unfortunately things don't always flow as smoothly together as any
of us would like. Some days and even for full weeks everything I hope to
accomplish can be brought to a standstill. On the best days though everything
merges into a colossal river of ebb and flow moving along with life and all
nature in great harmony. Honestly though most days are somewhere in between the
two.
What kind of day we're having as
a family often depends on what kind of day I am having. It influences chore
distribution, activities (including the fun ones which I often miss), moods and
attitudes, and yes even what gets done or goes undone. This is not new and it's
not a sob story; I’ve had it for years. It is now something that forms a deep
part of who I am, what I believe, and why I'm striving to become more self
sufficient. It is directly responsible for my conviction that we must live within
our means, try to live sustainably, naturally and in harmony with the earth. It
drives my desire to help the mister as he helps others to be prepared for
emergencies and learn to live a natural self sustaining life even as it
restricts my actions. It leads me to feel an urgency to prepare more
thoroughly. To make sure there are easy meals, information is shared and
available, everyone knows where things are and how to do things. In short to
make sure all the ducks are in a row and everything is ready in case of
emergency or just a really bad day.
We have lagged behind in some
ways in large part due to a recent lack of funds and after a week on the sofa
with vertigo my instincts are screaming very loudly that we need to prioritize
around putting the ducks back in order. I have a feeling some rough times are
coming and that this spring and summer hold some nasty stuff in store for me as
the weather continues to be erratic. It makes one ask, what good can I be and
what good can I do? The answer is simple. I am a lot of good because I am very
much like you! I can help because sometimes, like me, maybe your heart is fully
committed but you still work a 40-50 hour a week job and just can't get things
done as planned because you still have many other things requiring your time
and attention. Perhaps, If you honestly admit it, you're not always 100%
committed to doing your preps, making plans, showing others, cooking, cleaning,
etc., simply because you hope you will never need them or are just tired and
need the rest. I personally do this because I have found it makes my life
easier in the long run. It's true that we need to prepare for the rougher times
in life and that we all need to be ready for emergencies. How you interpret
that can vary immensely and for me it includes those bad days as well as
emergencies. The good I can do is great. It is great because I can show what we
do and how I adjust things so they are more flexible. We garden and have some
of our own grand plans of how to do that better. We want to have chickens, more
sustainable energy, and to recycle/repurpose stuff when we can. We want to
expand our knowledge and skills and do things the "old fashioned" low
tech way while still maintaining some modern technology.
Lastly, I really feel that I need
to stop ‘playing nice` with this blog because it helps no one when I do. I need
to take off the carefully crafted generic dullness that is aimed for everyone
and show the practical day to day stuff that is going on or is needed. It is
important to keep in mind I'm not a Prepper. I'm not a planner. I'm not a
leader or a teacher. I hate homemaking. We don't have farm animals or even
chickens at this point. We live in a small town not the city, suburbs, or off
the grid. I cannot even honestly make a full on commitment physically to
getting this blog written. What I am is a mom and wife working with her family
to try to make things better while we learn new skills. In light of this and
the fact that summer is coming I have a few new things up my sleeve to try.
Wahoo! Get ready for the ride.
Wifeofaprepper
As always you can join the Facebook group, like
the Facebook
community page, and visit the website. All of these are
conveniently called “Kaya Self
Sufficiency”. I hope you have enjoyed this post and I hope you are getting
better at providing as much as you can for yourself and for your family, group,
or community.
