If the apocalypse happened tomorrow, what would you do to survive? I don’t mean killing to keep your loved ones safe or anything like that. I mean, once the dust settles and the pre-fabricated resources start falling apart. There’s only so many years (or, more likely, months) your local H&M products last after the air conditioning goes out and the shelves stop being restocked. So, what skills do you have to keep warm, make sure you have food and water?
I feel like I’ve talked about the concept of apocalypse skills before here on the blog, but I couldn’t find the post I wrote, so maybe I never wrote it and just thought I did. Anyway. This spring/fall, depending on which side of the globe you are, has been a pretty big education for everyone. Everyone has their own sourdough and people are learning to knit left and right. And that’s great!
Modern life has so many wonderful amenities, but the high degree of specialization in most places these days also means that we are largely also disconnected from the physical world in a certain way. I mean, I’ve got two jobs, one is to make an imaginary system do the things other people want it to do and the other is to make imaginary people do the things I want them to do. Almost all of that work happens on computers. If this spring has proved anything it is that there is no need for me to even go outside if I don’t want to, let alone need any skills beyond the skills I need for my jobs.
But this spring left me wondering. What skills do I have to survive in a post-apocalypse world? I obviously know how to knit, and I know how to put a garment together. I’m still working on the making it fit -part, but I do know quite a lot about materials, especially when compared to your average person. I know how to cook and I know how to bake. I know how to tell a story and I’m learning how to play the guitar and the ukulele. I’ve managed to make a couple of chilies stay alive and actually producing fruit. And I can help with livestock a little. I know how to milk a cow and a goat. I’ve helped with multiple calvings. I wouldn’t survive on my own, but I would be an asset to any community that starts to form up.
So what about you, dear reader? What do you bring to your post-apocalyptic community?
Recent Comments