One of our neighbours has everything. A beautiful house, two cars in the driveway, a lovely terrace, a pond, a perfectly tidy garden, designer clothes and a dog that required years on a waiting list. It all looks very comfortable. And it is, I am sure.
But there is one thing our neighbour does not have much of: self-reliance. Almost every day, there seems to be another service van in the driveway. Electricians, gardeners, pedicures, dog trainers and all kinds of other professionals come and go.
And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Quite the opposite! It is good for employment, and if you can afford to have someone do a job for you, why not? But sometimes I wonder: what happens when nobody can come?
"The power is out. No coffee today!"
One day, after a long walk, we were almost home when we met our neighbour.
"The power is out," he told us. "No coffee today!"
"Yes, there is," I replied before I even thought about it. Of course there was. We have solar panels and a battery, so we can keep going when the electricity goes off. But that is not the whole story. See, over the years, we have slowly become quite prepared at home. We did not even know there was a word for it at first.
Today, people call it preparedness.
We did not start preparing because of being afraid
Was the possibility of a major crisis somewhere in the back of our minds? Of course. The thought of another World War is not exactly comforting. And there are plenty of other things that can go wrong: power cuts, extreme weather, frozen roads, problems with heating or simply being unable to reach the shops for a few days.
But fear was never our main reason for preparing. Self-reliance was. We simply like knowing that we can manage. If the electricity goes off for a while, we are fine. If the shops are closed, we have food at home. If the heating stops working, we have other ways of keeping warm. And if something unexpected happens, we do not immediately have to call somebody and wait for them to arrive. That feels like a luxury to us.
The winter when the road disappeared
We remember one particular winter very well.
It was freezing. The driveway was covered in ice, and so was the entire road to the countryside village. Nobody could get through, and there was no way to grit the roads by spreading salt. So what did we do? The four of us simply stayed home and ate from our cupboards. We did not starve. We did not panic. We just cooked with what we had. By the end of it, our food supplies were considerably smaller. Almost empty, in fact. But we managed. And somehow, there is something very comforting about knowing that you can.
Is that luxury?
I think it is. We often think of luxury as something expensive. A beautiful house. A new car. Designer clothes. A holiday somewhere special. But perhaps there is another kind of luxury.
- Knowing how to make things.
- Knowing how to repair things.
- Having food stored at home.
- Being able to keep warm.
- Knowing how to cook without depending on every modern convenience.
- Having useful things because you made them yourself.
And simply having the confidence to say:
"Don't worry. We'll manage."
That is a wonderful feeling.
Preparedness does not have to be scary
This is exactly why we like the idea of Handmade Preparedness. It does not have to be about fear, bunkers or preparing for the end of the world. It can be much simpler. A really warm homemade blanket. A simple eco stove. Candles you make yourself. A few useful supplies in the cupboard. Knowing how to preserve food. Learning old-fashioned skills that our grandparents simply took for granted. Making something useful instead of buying another disposable item.
These are small things, but together they make you more independent. And perhaps that is the real luxury. Not having everything done for you, but knowing that you can do things yourself.
And yes... the neighbour came for coffee
There is one more part to this story. Our neighbour did come over for coffee. Of course he did. And we were happy to offer a brew. Because being self-reliant does not mean that you have to do everything alone. Quite the opposite. It is wonderful to be able to help each other when something goes wrong.
A little crisis is a good reminder that neighbours, friends, and family are valuable too. So we enjoyed our coffee. We had electricity. And our neighbour had his coffee. Perhaps that is another kind of luxury: being prepared enough to help someone else.
Marga van der Vet
~ Positive Prepper~
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