There's something satisfying about providing for oneself, being self-reliant and having the ability to survive off one's skills and ability; There's just not much call for it in modern society though - Certainly not in first-world countries where just about anything a person could want is only a few clicks on a smart phone away.
It hasn't always been that way though. People had to have skills, real skills, or they simply wouldn't survive.
I'll not go as far as saying I could survive off the land with nothing but a Buck hunting knife and a piece of string, but I've got skills which I've gained over many years and from various sources. I'm resourceful, skilled in survival techniques, navigation and first aid, hunting and so on. I'm comfortable in the dark and with being alone in the wilderness - It might not seem like a skill, but get dropped many kilometres away from civilisation, alone, and you'll soon realise being isolated can be uncomfortable and confronting...An emotion that needs to be overcome for one to survive. Panic gets in the way of logical thought so being comfortable and confident is essential.
So yes, I have some skills and use them regularly. Here's the thing though, in all the years I've built these skills my wife Faith hasn't been very interested in learning them. Don't get me wrong, she's an accomplished shooter, knows what's up around a campsite and is helpful in the wilderness, but leave her alone out there? Hmm, not so good.
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I took this on an occasion when I was teaching Faith to shoot at long range. She's capable of repeatable accuracy to 1000 metres with my 6.5mm Creedmoor long gun. Here she's holding my .243 culling rifle.
This evening Faith and I were talking about self-reliance and how each may cope in various situations. To my great surprise Faith asked me to teach her some things, outdoorsy things. Again, don't think she's useless out there, she's not, but there's some basic things she can't do like navigate and hunt for instance.
The navigation thing is easy to deal with, although she's terrible at giving directions, gets disoriented easily and doesn't pay enough attention to her surroundings; I suppose because she knows I do it. I can teach her though, and she'll be adept enough in only several lessons; There's some key elements and once one has them learned the rest will fall into place.
Hunting? Well, she's vegetarian and won't kill things so...That's going toe be problematic.
Tonight she asked me to teach her navigation. Basically how to navigate with topographic map and compass and to use my GPS unit effectively. It made me really happy; I love the idea of teaching her how to navigate and the fact she wants to know also. We're starting this weekend when I'll take her to a scrubland area, a National Park, and begin navigation lessons. We'll have a picnic out there too so it'll not be all work.
The hunting...Hmm, I'm not sure how to tackle it. She's never seen me kill anything, never wanted to. I'm not sure what I'll do here...Maybe teach her how to track, what signs to look a d listen for as a start...I don't know. I'll have to contemplate it some more. She has the shooting part sorted but pulling the trigger on a living thing isn't as simple or straight forward as you think; Some simply cannot do it. I figure she'll struggle with that part.
For now I'll work on the navigation element and see how she goes. I'll spring a few pop quizzes on her too, just to keep her on her toes! What is magnetic declination? GO! That sort of thing. 馃ぃ
How about you? Would you say you have particular skills that allow a degree of self-reliance? I don't just mean survival skills...Growing or preserving foods, raising stock, building, mechanics...Even the ability to home-school is a form or self-reliance...What skills do you have and which do you feel you'd like to learn? Comment below and tell me.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised.
Be well
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