[Josephus]

mgibbons wrote:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'N')ot that I'm picking on you.

[EnviroEngr]

mindfarkk: given your psych background, can you add anything to this thread??

[mindfarkk]

yeah actually i'm thinking about this too, which is how i find myself here. this is what i've noticed for myself; i flip between acceptance (i had a feeling this was coming) and depression (oh my god, how will i cope?).

part of the depression, the fear, comes from (IMO) a kind of primal fight or flight reaction. it's a way of trying to control what's coming, which is impossible, since there are many unknowns and many variable. overreacting can be as bad, as destructive, as underreacting. SEE if i can set myself up with a farm, and learn everything there is about medicine, and animal husbandry, and get horses to replace my engines, and learn everything about farming, etc. etc. then i'll be SAFE, or whatever. I'll have control. i'll be ready for anything. and that just isn't true anyway. sure, it would be optimal. but it assumes a lot of things. your best safety is having the resilience and creativity in yourself to respond immediately when situations change, not just proactively; to not be the deer in the headlights, to not freeze, but to see, realize, and ACT. after that - if you have time and resources to plan, fine. do it. but give up the idea of control and safety. accept that those days are gone, if they ever truly existed. materially, we have tough times ahead, but so what? the kingdom of heaven, as the christians say, is within. time to get brave. let's face it, we in the USA have not nearly as much suffering to do as the millions who will starve to death or die in war or conditions of torture in the next fifty years. i'm not implying that is ok, i'm just trying to lend some perspective. as a come-uppance, i think we are getting off pretty lightly. and i say that as a person struggling with a potentially terminal illness who can't get health care because of the loopholes in the system. i take it a day at a time and i try to learn as much and make the best choices that maximize my viability across a number of scenarios. and i accept that none of my plans are perfect and solve all the problems i have. i just work on life a day at a time and accept that eventually all roads lead to the same place for each of us. it's not whether we get there, or even when, but how.

if you can, think through some likely problems you might encounter if you aren't fully prepared for The Crash, and how you would solve them. for instance, in case of national crisis, do you and your loved one have a pre-agreed place to meet, if lines of communication go down? you don't have to convince her of PO; i can put it to my BF as, let's do a little preventative planning in case of a terrorist attack. for yourself; do you know the roads that lead out of town and where they go? do you know the back ways? do you have walking shoes handy? a bike? know where you can grab a horse? do you know how to ride? have you ever handled a gun, and do you want to know how? find a local shooting range. what would you do if you had to find clothes, food, water, whatever, immediately? think strategically. go ahead and save some for your retirement, just be more thoughtful; i'd think about paying off a homestead first; i'd think of where i want to be in ten years; i'd think in terms of investing in barterable skills and supporting equipment and a low-maintenance, self-sufficient, energy-efficient lifestyle than putting all my dollars in funds.

i'm gonna finish my education, right now i don't see any shells falling! if it changes next month, act, but meanwhile, don't panic! you may have another 40 years! or you may have one! you can't possibly know and like someone said, the odds of you dying today in a car accident are a lot higher than dying tomorrow in some global apocalypse. doesn't that make you feel better?

just because you don't have everything laid up materially to surive some kind of holocaust, doesn't mean you can't make it. it means you will have to find it afterward. maybe you can barter your way onto a farm because you have skills and training that are useable. see what i mean? if you can't be materially prepared, be mentally prepared.

i'm thinking - i am overwhelmed just considering everything i really feel like i need to know, PLUS research PO and test these theories. so me, i'll probably get a few good books on basic first aid, other references. not the same as training but better than nothing at all. then as i have time and opportunity i'll probably slowly expand my essential skills. i can, if nothing else, lead a group effectively. i'm very low-key but i can take charge when a situation calls for it. maybe i'll be a tribal leader, who knows who cares? i'll do my best and if i die, i die. simple as that.

meanwhile this is my order of thinking:

1) i want to learn to operate and maintain firearms. i dont' like violence, and i don't advocate violent change at all. but, if it's me or them, and they got guns, i want them too. end of story. i got no compunction about killing someone who is getting ready to kill me. i will probably purchase a few firearms. i was thinking about this anyway, so it's not a radical departture from my natural tendencies or lifestyle. i need to get a safe i guess.
2) i want to set some cash aside in the house. maybe another good reason to get a safe. not a lot, because i have a concern about money being worthless "after the crash" .
3) basics in a to-go pouch; maps, knife, compass, canteen, blanket, protein bars, not sure what else if anything. you can do a lot with a knife.
4) get my motorcycle
5) set aside some gas, not much, maybe a few gallons.
6) get some basic how-to guides, not too heavy or big. first aid, camping, gardening, et al.
7) get a cat carrier i can mount on the bike. sorry, my little cat is family. i go, if at all possible she goes.

long term:
find some land in the country, preferably farmable.
9) develop sewing and medical skills as barterable items, and pursue a self-sustaining, simple, energy-efficient lifestyle.
10) get some solar panels to power the electronics that will remain my indulgence if i can hand onto them. john has electric guitar and synthesizer. i have sewing machine, and probably the DVD player and HDTV i know these aren't high priorities in an emergency, but hey, a girl has her vices.
11) develop the private practice that is my original career plan in conjunction with homestead. probably not major farming effort at least not alone, but i can allow the community coop to use the land, maybe even give some struggling family a place to stay and work and establish themselves if the sky doesn't drop on our head after all. meanwhile i can work, and garden, and produce a lot of our own food. while we pursue our regular, non-apocalyptic lives.

i hope you notice i have a dry sense of humor.

life is not what you were led to expect it to be. it's not your fault. i always though i would do this and that and graduate and get married and have 2 kids and buy a house and save my pennies and retire and die. it's just not that simple for most people. it only worked like that for people who were able to sink their heads in the sand and ignore obvious scientifically based realities that were the consequences of their choices. believe me, i grew up in the last 60's and early 70's, when people who were calling for recycling and ecological responsibility and claiming global warming was a reality were labeled sissy liberal crackpot wet blankets. guess that's not the only bill that is coming due.

[Schneider]

mindfarkk,you really are an..inspiring person ! You're the second person in 3 weeks who make me realise some very important things..thank you !

I'll do my best to keep your words of wisdom inside me !

Best wishes...

Schneider
French-Canadian

[Janick]

... a few weeks ago, I found out about peak oil. I'm a late bloomer ain't i? Anyways, through my reading, I came about this site and was all gung ho: I wanted to prepare me and my family for the worst. I guess it was a form of denial. Right now I'm in the depressive, hopeless stage. Realizing that there is strictly nothing I can do that will help smooth the fall. Nothing. That and the fact that most of my family thinks that I'm a paranoid freak and are ready to have me committed to the asylum

Dat's all, I have nothing more to add that I'm in the hopeless/depression mode. I console myself by saying that at least I know now what is coming along. My initial reaction is "why bother, why not end my life right now since life is going to suck big time later". BUT my primal instinct is to try and protect my offspring (yep, unfortunately, I have children that are taping into the world's energy ressources).

I'm trying to work on myself to see the future in a more positive light, but I just can't right now.

[Ludi]

Janick, see if you can find some other folks who are concerned about PO in your area, or look into intentional communities where you live, this way, you might be able to build a support network for the future.


I know it's really hard not to get depressed and hopeless. The only thing that really helps me is doing what little something I can do, whether it's buying another bag of beans or planting another patch of vegetable garden.

[Pops]

Janick, try www.meetup.com for peak oil meetups in your area.

Read the Assessments and Plans thread in the Planning forum – heck read everything in the planning forum. There are folks doing everything from making a pile on oil futures too those who’ve been off-grid and pretty much self sufficient (as much as any of us can) for years.

Don’t get too caught up in the doom and gloom, if the doomers were so convinced themselves do you think they would be wasting time here and not out doing something to prepare themselves?

[UIUCstudent01]

Feeling down? Print this out if need be: It makes me smile.

[Riverside]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Janick', '
')
Dat's all, I have nothing more to add that I'm in the hopeless/depression mode. I console myself by saying that at least I know now what is coming along. My initial reaction is "why bother, why not end my life right now since life is going to suck big time later". BUT my primal instinct is to try and protect my offspring (yep, unfortunately, I have children that are taping into the world's energy ressources).

I'm trying to work on myself to see the future in a more positive light, but I just can't right now.

[Doly]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Janick', 'R')ight now I'm in the depressive, hopeless stage. Realizing that there is strictly nothing I can do that will help smooth the fall. Nothing.

[Tanada]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Janick', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')That and the fact that most of my family thinks that I'm a paranoid freak and are ready to have me committed to the asylum

[AdamB]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MattSavinar', 'I') think the feeling of helplessnes (which lord knows I've experienced) is part of a grieving process.