The Stuff of Life

The Stuff of Life
For those of us who find nature to be both aesthetically beautiful and life-sustaining.

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Surviving The World As We Know It: Part III




As promised this (PART III) is a continuation of previous posts (Part I and PART II).
Here is an excerpt from those posts: (If you've read this part in the other two posts already feel free to scroll down to the numbered points).

The world as we know it is a social landscape. Everything we have built and everything we do is contingent on other people. We have all become the people we have become because our ancestors were survivors. 

How does learning from my ancestors help me now?

Our ancestors were adept at creating and maintaining groups, tribes and societies. Because of their ability to function in a society or group, the people before us mastered the art of making clothing, tool making, fire, water collection and purification, container making, shelter building, hunting, foraging, fishing, trapping and agriculture. Ironically, all of these things are things that most of us today no longer know how to do on our own. If we face a catastrophic change in our current state of the world, these skills would once again mandate who lives and who doesn't.

But first....

Those ancestral survivors mastered and honed their social skills. They worked together toward a common mission of survival. In order for you to confidently move toward honing the abilities that they once had, you must first master the art of social survival. Even if your preference or your plan is to be a lone wolf, because you live in a social world, your odds are greatly increased if you have social skills to add to your basic-needs "survivor pack."

The following (PART III) is a short list and a continuation of PART I which included skills #1-3 and PART II which included skills #4-6 (both can be found in previous blog posts). This list is not all encompassing and will be added to in future follow-up posts, but here is a mini foundation of basic "social survival skills" for interacting, attracting, inspiring, motivating, and leading people:

So, here are three more "survival skills" to throw into your kit....

7. Judging others:

I find it rather amusing how some people have an unyielding moral compass comprised of heavy, tungsten alloy when expressing their opinions, criticisms and judgments of others. However, when turning that same moral compass to the self, suddenly, morality is flexible, adaptable, fluid and even adjustable to individual circumstances.


Be careful being so critical of the conduct of others if your own self-regulation is void of even an ounce of integrity. Just one more reason why we should all carry two compasses when navigating....in case one isn't accurate. 

8. The best part of an argument is absolutely nothing:

This skill is a reminder that no none actually wins in an argument. No one hears each other. No one will suddenly, amid a storm of yelling, come to your way of thinking during an argument. Generally, someone only appears to win the argument because the other party acquiesces, submits or becomes indifferent. There are no “real” winners in an argument.

In order to “win” someone over to your way of thinking, you need to give them something to believe in. Open up and share your thoughts, feelings, and opinions in a healthy way. Inspire and motivate others and they will follow your lead to include listening to your point. The “loudest” one is rarely the “rightest’ one. If the argument is unavoidable or unsolvable, wait for a better, calmer opportunity to discuss things. Find a creative way to attempt to get someone to hear your point of view. Creativity and compassion, together, can solve problems without argument. Keep this in mind whether you are leading your family, subordinates at work, a committee, or elsewhere.

9. What can you agree on?

This social skill is about finding a happy meeting ground in all discussions and interactions. In a disagreement, you first meet and discuss the points that you both agree on. This tactic is useful when dealing with very confrontational or difficult and defensive people. Find at least one common point or common ground that you each are in agreement about BEFORE addressing anything where your opinions or thoughts differ.

This is a very wise tactic in both leadership and in everyday interactions with others. Finding common ground first and agreeing on points equates to cushioning and calming any discussions or debates that follow and aids in making the conversation more productive and positive.

So, what does this all mean for me?

These three skills in addition to the social survival skills presented in Part I and Part II are should be added to your "social survival kit." Read and re-read these three life skills and begin to practice them everywhere you go and in everything you do. Social skills, like tool making and fire starting, must be learned and practiced.

 Master these and master your social landscape. You live in a social world now and no one can predict what the world will look like one day. Mastering your social landscape can only improve your odds of survival in the world as we know it as well as into the world that we don’t know...yet.

Read more and leave a comment at breadandcountry.blogspot.com

Friday, June 27, 2014

Do You Have What It Takes To Be a Leader in an Emergency?

You may have told yourself and others that you are a "natural leader." You may have gone into interviews professing that you have a leadership background. Maybe you've had people following your lead for as long as you can remember. But, unless you've led under extreme circumstances, you don't know if you really have what it takes to be a leader in an emergency situation.

Without having been through life or death experiences, military training, or really lived an event of catastrophic chaos, you can only surmise as to whether your workplace leadership experience will be of any real value when terrified, panic-stricken people are struggling for something or someone to lead them through and out of the circumstances for which they were ill-prepared or have no control over.



There are ways to know, however, whether you may have the qualities, characteristics, and skills of a true survival or emergency leader. Search your background and your life experiences for the worst times you have endured, the most traumatic events you have navigated, and the most devastating moments you have overcome. Jot these times, events and moments onto a list. The people with the longest lists may very well be the "natural leaders" of the pack. Not because they were born that way from a variety of innate qualities and talents that were bestowed upon them via a predetermined swim in a genetic pool. But, because every ounce of adversity that we humans are exposed to causes us to either weaken, strengthen or become immune and indifferent.

We have all met people that have endured very little negative life experiences. They have, for the most part, been blessed from the moment of birth. They had things handed to them easily from toys to cars, college was paid for, the degree came easy, the jobs poured in, they never wanted for anyone or anything. We hate these people when we should feel rather badly for them. A protected and sheltered environment will stunt deeper development. 


Every animal develops survival abilities from having been exposed to external stress and dangers. For our ancestors, this external stress and danger may have had claws, teeth and an empty stomach. In our modern world, that external stress and danger can be financial, relationships, marriages, inter-personal violence, job loss, emergencies, disasters or even from kennel madness culminating out of confinement eight hours a day inside an office cubicle. The psychological and physiological responses to stress and danger in our modern brains is still happening in the same way as it did in our ancient brains but, with the additional neurotic energy we have accumulated from not getting enough exercise and sunshine's vitamin D. We are no longer chasing and tracking our food as we can pull up and have it brought right to us at a window. The energy released is minuscule today when compared with our energy release of distant times. Whether ancient stress or modern stress, external exposure to environmental stress affects our mind and our bodies. How we handle that stress, how we navigate and circumvent that stress, how we acclimate and adapt to that stress, how we problem solve around that stress and how we overcome and work our way THROUGH that stress are the ingredients of our core adult development and personality and the predictors of our strength, tenacity and survivability.


If you have successfully navigated painful and traumatic life events then all of that adversity that you see on your list was worthwhile in terms of personal development. You may wish you had never been through any of it, but IF you went through it, experienced it, felt it, navigated it, problem-solved it and ultimately overcame it to land on your feet, you are a survivor. Every one of those moments is one more point on your survivor list. Add them up, do you have a lot of points? If you have at least 5 points then you may very well have accumulated enough life experience and personality development to acclimate successfully in an intensely stressful, dangerous and frightening environment. 

The more you have adapted and overcome in your life, the more your ability to be strong in the face of adversity and the greater your ability to lead others through it. The focus is on the "overcoming" of the adversity. Some people become stuck or crippled by their adverse circumstances and never fully overcome or become stronger for them. While others, may have had so much exposure to adversity that they are immune, numb and perhaps detached from stress. Neither of these personality types would be adequately prepared to lead others in a survival situation and even if they could it might not necessarily be good for them until they have worked through their own trauma and emotions related to the trauma. 

Some of the qualities that are developed under adverse circumstance include:

The will to live
Strength of mind
Strength of character
Tenacity
Adaptive ability
Ingenuity
Ability to think coherently and efficiently under duress
Ability to formulate a plan and problem solve while under stress
Ability to have hope in situations that appear hopeless 
Confidence
Competence
Bravery (not the same thing as fearlessness which is rarely, if ever a good thing)
A sense of humor to balance stress 

This list is not all-inclusive, but it shows the multiple ways that we grow and personally develop to become stronger willed, stronger minded and better apt at keeping a cool head in and around chaos. The number one greatest strength that adversity provides is the same as it provided to our ancestors....the ability to adapt and overcome to changing circumstances and environments.


None of this will make it any easier to go through painful or difficult experiences, but it will shine a light on how we grow as people. The majority of our character growth comes from life experiences and human interaction. Leaders are developed, they are not born, and they are not prenatally created or raised. Development takes time and a degree of acclimating and navigating difficult circumstance and life terrain. A true survival leader will have many of the qualities of the above list and will have endured AND overcome very difficult, if not traumatic, life events. These are the developed survival leaders in our world. Do you have what it takes to be a leader in a survival situation or emergency? If your life has been a little too easy, you may think you are ready, but I wouldn't want you leading me.



Thursday, June 26, 2014

Bushcraft Girls and Why Fathers Should Empower Daughters With Self-Reliance Skills and Knowledge of the Great Outdoors


My Father didn't buy my first car. My father didn't throw me an over-the-top birthday party every year. My father didn't buy me every cool, new toy, gadget or outfit that I wanted. My father didn't teach me that the world centered around me. Why? Because my father loved me non-monetarily and in a way that I can never repay. He didn't love me with "stuff," but he did love me enough to want to empower me to always be able to take care of myself no matter what may come my way.

My earliest memories of time with my Dad are of things like teaching me how to catch crawdads and how to use them as bait. I learned to ride a bike with him running behind me (or so I thought). I quickly surmised, as I was gaining speed down a large hill, that he had entrusted my safety a long time ago....with me. My own safety was now in my own hands. I panicked, but somehow I knew that he wanted for me to succeed and that he wanted for me to do it on my own. I mastered that bike that day.

He taught me everything from identifying dangerous snakes to siphoning water in a situation where you can't reach the water. I learned to be strong, brave, but not fearless. I learned respect for mother nature. I learned that the world, my surroundings and circumstances will not adapt to me, but that I must be capable of adapting. I learned the most profound lesson from my Dad that I have ever learned. I learned that I am capable of improvising, adapting and overcoming stressful or even frightening situations and that I am strong enough to not only rely on my own will and tenacity, but strong enough for others to lean on as well. And, all of the most important "stuff" that my Dad taught me, he taught me in the great outdoors.

I can't thank my father enough for being such a profound influence in my life and for being strong mentally in a way that I deeply admire and have forever sought to be like. For all of those long hours I spent climbing and hanging out in trees, thinking about exploring the world, and considering all of the possibilities in every landscape I encountered, thank you Dad.

Fathers who do outdoor activities like hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, shooting, archery, exploring and especially  bush-crafting and survival skills, have a remarkable ability to pass on a legacy that is simple, yet enduring to their precious daughters.....empowerment. You have, within your grasp, the ability to teach your girls to master their surroundings via shelter building, fire-crafting, hunting, fishing, trapping, foraging, knot-tying, cordage making, water purifying, and knife skills. The moment you strap that kit or backpack onto your girl and begin to show her all that you know....you are forever changing her in a way that will empower her to go out and take on the world.

As you raise your "bushcraft girl," you are increasing her odds of success in life. You are showing her that she is strong, capable, confidant and worthy of conquering her surroundings even when those surroundings don't always play by the rules. If you invest the time, the dedication, and the love into your daughters, your daughters will flourish. Your "bushcraft girl" will be less likely to be taken advantage of by others, less likely to compromise her dreams, and less likely to devalue herself. But, most importantly, you leave a legacy with your girl that will last a lifetime and beyond. Raise your daughters to be strong and  independent. Give them a solid foundation in the great outdoors instead of gadgets. Love them enough to empower them with real life skills.

I will be forever grateful that my father raised a bushcraft girl.

Read more and comment at breadandcountry.blogspot.com

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Emergency Preparedness For Beginners


Preparing for disasters, emergencies and catastrophic events is a philosophy that is slowly becoming more mainstream and gaining in popularity. So, you've been reading the world news in the newspaper, watching the survivor shows, looking over prepper blogs and have decided that maybe it's a good idea to delve into emergency preparedness and take the potential dangers in the world a little more seriously.


Apocalyptic endings are not required for something terrible to occur that yanks the proverbial carpet out from under your feet with one momentary event. Although none of us can know for certain that things will ever be that dark in our lifetime, what we can know is that our odds of our current state of circumstances (the world as you know it) are at risk of change on any given day. Any traumatic change in your circumstance can equate to "the end of the world AS you know it." 


While emergency preparedness is gaining mainstream steam and popularity, it is producing a wide array of philosophies, beliefs and opinions and a phenomenal amount of information available in all types of media.

 Here is a list of just "some" of the things that people prepare for:

Meteors 
Pandemics
Political Collapse
Electromagnet Pulse (EMP)
Economic Collapse
Job Loss
Severe Weather
Death, Divorce, Illness, disability and Health Issues
Natural Disasters
Man-Made Disasters
Terrorism
Civil Unrest
Nuclear Attacks
Power Outages
Water Shortages
Over-Population
Bio-Terrorism
Riots

Again, that is not an all-inclusive list. But, it gives you an idea of how many things could go wrong. And, don't forget the possibility of a combination of the above list which is which is also a possibility.  For example, Hurricane Katrina is frequently cited as an example of how a natural disaster came together to meet up with a man-made structural disaster to culminate in riots, civil unrest, water shortages, power outages and many more devastating problems.


Another example of a possible scenario that affects multiple categories from the above list is also from our history. In 1918, an H1N1 flu spread like wildfire throughout the world. The epicenter was eventually pegged as a town in Kansas where soldiers were stationed. The soldiers likely spread the virus back to the states from travel abroad and from living in very close confinement together. That pandemic killed as many as 100 million people around the globe. Now, almost 100 years later, we are even more globally connected than ever before.

The current increased travel and modern, global interconnection makes the entire world extremely vulnerable to pandemics and we would lose a lot more lives today than what we did then. There are more of us today as populations have exploded in the last 100 years and we are more connected and living in closer quarters globally to each other.

One epicenter can globally infect the entire world. There is a huge risk from bio-terrorism as well. But, a pandemic would cripple our economy as no one could or would go to work. Trucks would not be able to transport food and supplies. The shelves would all be empty in stores in 2-3 days at best. And, eventually, if long-term enough, this scenario could domino into an economic collapse and then obviously you would no longer have electricity or a McDonald's to go to.


So, the question that arises time and time again is "how do I decide what I should be preparing for?"

First, get together with your family or your like-minded friends or your group and create a "priority list." Prioritize all of the emergencies, disasters and catastrophic events that you, as a group, believe are the most likely scenarios. The idea is to eventually be prepared for whatever tomorrow may bring. But, when you are starting out it is best to confine your philosophy to one or two areas so that you can keep your focus and begin prepping. Once you are feeling amply prepared in one category, you can begin to move through the other ones as well. 

Meet regularly with your group and evaluate the current state of circumstances again. Remember to keep your list fluid, because things change and as things change, you need to be able to improvise and adapt. It's a good idea to re-order your list as circumstances dictate. Next, you might consider placing different people in charge of different duties. Part of meeting to re-evaluate your list, is to discuss the changing state of things. So, your team needs to follow the world news, national news, local news, weather alerts, world economy, national economy and local economy, online CDC (Center's For Disease Control) and WHO (World Health Organization) research and anything else that you can think of as a group. 

Once you've determined your priorities, begin preparing three lists. One list of the "absolutely necessary" items, one list of the "it would be a good idea to have" items and one list of the "you'd really like to have" items and begin prepping. You might label the lists "Alive," "Survive" and "Thrive," or you can label them however your group decides. 


Having an idea of your group's philosophies on the most likely scenario, gives your group a direction of travel, a vision and a mission. Preparing is wise even if all that you are preparing for is for the possibility of losing your job or having a health issue. As always, continue to read, research, plan and prepare.

Preparedness utilizes our higher end thinking capacity, we know that it is something we should be doing. The ability that we, as humans, have to plan ahead and imagine "what ifs" has protected us and kept us out of harm's way for eons. If you've ever played Chess, Stratego or even Battleship, you've used these thinking skills. The ability to imagine that bad "stuff"  happens and that it's possible that "this stuff" could happen to you and then having a plan in place is part of being human.

Survival skills and a survival mindset will naturally lead you to preparing in terms of both skills and supplies. We can hope for the best as we prepare for the worst and we can live happily in the now knowing that we're prepared....just in case.  Empowerment!




Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Empowering Your Children for Life Through Emergency Preparedness


Engaging children in an overall family plan for emergencies actually helps them mentally prepare for life. The act of being a part of a team, planning, implementing and practicing for various emergencies, helps children to feel empowered. Empowerment helps change the course of their lives in a positive manner.  No matter where you live, there is something you could prepare for with your family. Some examples are tornadoes, mud slides, earthquakes, hurricanes, tidal waves, floods, ice storms and blizzards.

There is always something that you could do to be more prepared. What would that look like for your family?

Maybe you are already preparing your family for emergency, disaster or catastrophe, but if you are not actively preparing your children and including them in your plans, you are not as prepared as you might think. Including the kiddos in all of your prepping and planning can create a knowledge base that empowers them to aid in overcoming stress in the event of an actual emergency.

Children need structure and predictability to thrive and feel safe. If an emergency strikes and you are the only one in the family that has been preparing, the child's traumatic experience of the events and stress hormone levels will be exponential in comparison to yours. Emergencies are not predictable or structured. But, you can help your family to "feel" as though the emergency had structure by planning, discussing, preparing and practicing.

Keep in mind the important steps that are involved in preparing and prepping your children. Children love to have input. Allow the kids a voice, some choices and explore their thoughts on possible scenarios and what they think they would do in those events. Very young children should not partake in discussions that might frighten them as they do not have a developed sense of "possibility" and may take every conversation far too literally and feel afraid. Always adapt to the child and find new and interesting ways to involve them without scaring them.

The first step is to prepare yourself, your spouse (if you have one) and your children to begin to actively prepare for whatever emergency may come your way. A great way to do this is to begin to host weekly or bi-weekly or even monthly family meetings and set up an emergency committee. Kids love serving on committees and feeling as though their input is valuable. Keep the topics and discussion age and maturity level appropriate. Remember not to frighten the children as the goal is to empower via education and preparation.  Keep discussions to just the monthly meetings and the rest of the time just do regular, fun, family things.

The meetings can unfold organically. Allow them to grow and change with your family. Assign important tasks and duties to the children and teens according to their individual ages and maturity levels. Assigning a tween or teen the task of monitoring weather is something they will likely enjoy and take on with great pride. There is a lot of information on the internet about meteorology, weather related books and even videos the family can explore to begin to understand weather and weather patterns. Invest in a weather radio (everyone should have one) and teach the kids how to use it. Let the kids help gather and pack emergency weather and power outage supplies to keep in a portable kit somewhere in the house. Kids can help with kit building, strategic planning, problem solving and all sorts of other activities.

If handled correctly, the kids will find all of the activities as empowering and comforting and possibly even fun. They will see their family as a supportive "unit" that is prepared should they need to be. If handled incorrectly, the kids will be stressing about "what ifs." What you want to accomplish is a lot of dialogue regarding the need to be prepared so that the family is empowered to handle any events more efficiently. Discuss how savings accounts are just insurance for the future in the same way that an emergency storm kit or basic survival kit is an insurance plan for "possible" life events.

While you are trying to keep it real, keep it light and keep it interesting and fun.



Spend time focusing on skill-building activities with the kids and the teens from pitching tents, to eating a meal that you prepared over an outdoor cook pit. Keep on practicing and find ways to make it a fun part of your family's activities. Education and knowledge and practice empowers children to better handle stress in the event of real emergencies. All of these steps can help remove fears, increase confidence and engage learning and curiosity.

Family preparedness should be a team mission. Continue discussing, exploring and answering questions and keep them involved.

Once your entire family is on board you can know that you are all much more likely to keep level heads under intense stress and be more equipped to survive situations that may arise.

Knowledge is power so, share your knowledge with your children and empower them as well.






Friday, June 20, 2014

Social Survival Skills

Ants working in socially developed colonies are the ultimate survivors 

As promised this is a continuation of a previous post (Part II).
Here is an excerpt from that post:

Whether or not the end of the world as we know it (TEOTWAWKI) is in our near future, down the road or never comes to pass, the fact remains that if you are reading this, you currently live in the world AS we know it. The world as we know it is a social landscape. Everything we have built and everything we do is contingent on other people. We have all become the people we have become because our ancestors were survivors. Our ancestors were adept at creating and maintaining groups, tribes and societies. Because of their ability to function in a society or group, the people before us mastered the art of making clothing, tool making, fire, water collection and purification, container making, shelter building, hunting, foraging, fishing, trapping and agriculture. Ironically, all of these things are things that most of us today no longer know how to do on our own. If we face a catastrophic change in our current state of the world, these skills would once again mandate who lives and who doesn't.

But first, those ancestral survivors mastered and honed their social skills. They worked together toward a common mission of survival. In order for you to confidently move toward honing the abilities that they once had, you must first master the art of social survival. Even if your preference or your plan is to be a lone wolf, because you live in a social world, your odds are greatly increased if you have social skills to add to your basic-needs "survivor pack".

The following is a short list (PART II). This list is not all encompassing and will be added to in future follow-up posts, but here is a mini foundation of basic "social survival skills" for interacting, attracting, inspiring, motivating, and leading people:

4. Appreciate people: show it, share it, give it. This is important in all relationships and interactions. Everyone needs and wants to feel appreciated and it is important to take that extra time to say it and to show it. In my experience, many people will jump through hoops for you as long as they feel that their efforts are appreciated. This is a very easy thing to do and in exchange, most people will be happy to help you out as well. This type of social interaction is a win-win. Remember to be genuine in your efforts as no one appreciates lip-service. Attempt to show your appreciation in your actions and in your behaviors, in small things and for simply being who they are. How you treat others and how you show your appreciation for others will shine through in your ability to be an effective leader.

5. Figure out what other people desire or want and find a way to inspire this within them: This is about honing the ability to inspire and motivate other people. This is a key quality in having and displaying charisma, motivational speaking ability and leadership skills. Whether you are leading yourself, your family or your subordinates, it is imperative that you capture the essence of what motivates other people in your circles and beyond. Once you know how they are motivated and by what, motivating and inspiring them in a forward direction is much easier.

Inspiring others can accomplish great things. Plus, it feels good to positively impact other people who may later thank you for inspiring them toward something they might not have otherwise accomplished. The number one skill that you can use to inspire, motivate and transform people is to arouse that "desire" or that "want" from deep within them.

6. Smile! Be aware of your face!! This seems like such a simple concept, yet if you watch people and their facial expressions, you will see concern, anxiety, stress, fatigue, fear, depression, exhaustion, irritation and many other emotions and feelings, but rarely will you see genuine happiness. watch yourself for a few days or even for one day and attempt to smile whenever and wherever you encounter another person young or old. Allow your face to really light up. People will respond warmly to you. People are drawn to magnetic, charismatic and happy people. People want what you have to offer.

Smiles are good for you and they are good for them. Babies love smiles for a reason. Think about your smile every time a child enters the room. Children are very intuitive at an early age and will read your face. This carries into adulthood and we all slowly become experts at reading faces, body language and other hidden communication. Smiling at other people is the number one easiest thing that you can do to connect with other people, improve your social skills and get other people to respond positively to you.

These three skills are the continuation from Part I (1-3) of your "social survival kit. "There are many others that I will share with you to add to your kit in time. First, read and re-read these three life skills and begin to practice them everywhere you go and in everything you do. Social skills, like tool making and fire starting, must be learned and practiced.

Master these and master your social landscape.








Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Surviving the World As We Know it


Whether or not the end of the world as we know it (TEOTWAWKI) is in our near future, down the road or never comes to pass, the fact remains that if you are reading this, you currently live in the world AS we know it. The world as we know it is a social landscape. Everything we have built and everything we do is contingent on other people. We have all become the people we have become because our ancestors were survivors. Our ancestors were adept at creating and maintaining groups, tribes and societies. Because of their ability to function in a society or group, the people before us mastered the art of making clothing, tool making, fire, water collection and purification, container making, shelter building, hunting, foraging, fishing, trapping and agriculture.

Ironically, all of these things are things that most of us today no longer know how to do on our own. If we face a catastrophic change in our current state of the world, these skills would once again mandate who lives and who doesn't.


But first, those ancestral survivors mastered and honed their social skills. They worked together toward a common mission of survival. In order for you to confidently move toward honing the abilities that they once had, you must first master the art of social survival. Even if your prefer to be a lone wolf, because you live in a social world, your odds are greatly increased if you have social skills to add to your basic set of life skills.

The following is mini foundation of basic "social survival skills" for interacting, attracting, inspiring, motivating, and leading people:

1. Criticism is critical and because it is critical it cannot be constructive only destructive. People do what they do for a reason. We are all motivated for different purposes and reasons. Generally, we are seeking some type of emotional payoff or other outcome for our behaviors and our actions. This payoff can be positive or negative. People are more often motivated emotionally rather than logically. B.F. Skinner was able to show many years ago that even animals learn and retain information more productively when given positive reinforcements rather than negative reinforcements. Yet, we humans still seek to change people via complaints, forced conformity, criticisms and condemnations. It simply doesn't work. Keep your eye on your goal in interacting with people and know that being critical will never get your needs met.

2. Find people interesting and show and express a genuine interest in them. We are all drawn toward those that have the ability to make us feel good about ourselves. It's a simple thing about human nature. But, the important word in this one is "genuine." This sincerity of purpose may be difficult for many people. None of us want to be flattered by someone who isn't genuine or for someone to show an interest in our lives or what we have been doing that really doesn't care. Our hope is that other people are genuinely interested in us when they inquire as to how we are doing. If you ask that question, mean it. No one really wants the flat answer that we socially have grown trained to say: "fine, how are you?" Appreciate it if someone actually answers that question whether it was what you were hoping to hear or not. This is the cornerstone of a good leader, a good person, a good team player, a good friend or a good mate.

3. Let the other person's self-interest be the conversational guide. This one is vital because it plays off of the fact that people like it when you show an interest in them. If you visit with someone, even briefly, at the grocery store or wherever you go take a moment to visit with them about real things, their life, their family and things that they actually care about. You may find that people tell you their life story. This should tell you how desperate the person was for someone to show an interest in them or to care or to listen. You need to always remember that it is an honor when people show that kind of trust or comfort level with you to choose to share personal information with you. This is absolutely a necessary skill to being a good leader. People want to hear about what matters to them, people want to talk about what matters to them and how something will ultimately affect them. Show a genuine interest in other people and ask about them and the things that matter to them.

These three skills are the beginning of your "social survival kit. "There are many others that I will share with you to add to your kit. First, read and re-read these three life skills and begin to practice them everywhere you go and in everything you do.

Social skills, like tool making and fire starting, must be learned and practiced. Master these and master your social landscape.

To Be Continued.

For Further Reading on B.F. Skinner, human behavior, operant conditioning, reinforcements and behavior modification, you can visit the following links:

B.F. Skinner Foundation 2014
http://www.bfskinner.org/
http://www.bfskinner.org/behavioral-science/definition/







Thursday, June 12, 2014

Why Sourdough?


Sourdough, ah sourdough. There is rarely a bread connoisseur that doesn't love good sourdough. What is sourdough you ask? Allow me to start by telling you what sourdough is not. Sourdough is not store bought yeast. Store bought yeast was a commercialized, mass produced, product intended to give the home baker a fast rise on the end product. This speed of rise time enabled the mass production of that tasteless, long, square loaf we purchase at the grocery store that barely resembles its ancestral roots. Store bought yeast gives that quick rise, but due to the quickness of the rising time, the flavor development suffers, the interior crumb suffers, the crust suffers. It's common sense really. Anytime we try to hurry something too much we are compromising our mission somewhere along the path.  
What sourdough is, however, is a natural occurring combination of live, wild yeast and bacteria coming together in a symbiotic dance of carbohydrate love. O.K., that's probably a little too far, but you get the picture....it's good stuff. Store purchased yeast is also alive. But, it's not a natural wild yeast and it is a single type of living organism that has been carefully selected and mass produced. Sourdough flavor comes from the naturally occurring acids that develop from the interaction of the yeast and the bacteria. You can develop flavor with commercialized yeast, but you must use a very small amount such as 1/4 teaspoon and wait for hours and hours to allow the flavors and textures to develop. Another benefit of sourdough is longer shelf life. A homemade loaf of sourdough at my house can keep up to a week not that it generally lasts that long. Whereas, my other breads have a lifespan of 1-2 days and then they are destined for the bread salvage yard of breadcrumbs and croutons. 
Sourdough cultures are kept and maintained by daily feedings of 2-3 times a day of flour and water and vigorous stirring each time. I stir mine throughout the day whenever I am thinking about it or walking by. The cultures really flourish with a lot of air whipped into them. A nice warm spot on your kitchen counter and daily feedings and stirrings is all that is required to maintain a culture. If you are not going to bake for a while you can place them in the refrigerator after they are well developed. I put a piece of plastic wrap over the top of the jar, a paper towel over that and a rubber band around the paper towel to hold it all in place and then into the refrigerator the culture goes. 
They can keep for a long time in the refrigerator as they go into a dormancy state. A lot of yeast dies off during dormancy, but the goal is that not all of them die because you will pull it out and feed it every so often. Remember... this is a living organism and it needs to be fed. It eats the flour for fuel and once it eats up all of its food supply and has no more it slows down and over time it begins to die off. The idea is to keep it alive so don't forget them for too long.
How long can you refrigerate the cultures? A long time. The answer varies depending on which blog you read or site you visit or video you watch. I will tell you that mine keep for 3-6 months totally neglected in the refrigerator. I pull them out and pour off the "hooch." The hooch is the dark liquid alcohol that develops on the top during dormancy. Some people stir it in. I pour mine off. And give them a few days of feedings and stirrings and they take right off again. 
Sourdoughs flavors are all a little different depending on the local wild yeast. I have a large collection of sourdough cultures from around the world. Some are derivatives of the same yeast that leavened the first loaf of bread in ancient Egypt over 5,000 years ago. One is a local one I captured myself. Capturing wild yeast is quite easy and I will describe how to do that in a future post as well as share some sourdough recipes with you. There are also places online to purchase wild yeast sourdough cultures in their dry form and you feed and care for them after they arrive in the mail.  
I hope you will begin to read up on sourdough breads and gain an appreciation for the skill of capturing your own wild yeast and housing your own wild yeast culture. Not only does it make better bread with better flavor than anything you can buy at the store, but it is one more step toward being self-reliant. Flour, water, yeast and salt is all that you need for a beautiful loaf of bread from home. By using wild yeast, you are just a little less reliant on mass production and a little more reliant on yourself.






The Gift of Preparedness


AEvery year, year after year, we all have repetitive holidays, birthdays, Father's Day, Mother's Day and other celebrations to shop and buy for. A while back, I began finding creative ways to incorporate emergency preparedness supplies, survival gear, safety gear, outdoor gear and other interesting, life-protecting items into my gift giving. Not everyone is a planner. Not everyone takes potential emergencies seriously, but by gifting them the gift of preparedness you are helping to supply your friends and family with items that may one day save their life, as well as hopefully inspire them to begin preparing or skill practicing on their own.


For Father's Day, I am giving my Dad a survival knife, fire kit and a pair of Desert camouflage pants with multiple pockets. For my oldest son, MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) may be high on the list because he loves them. I have joked with him though that I will not likely keep MREs for our emergency food supply just because he might eat them all prior to any emergency. For other people, I might put together an emergency fishing kit or a severe weather kit with a bag, weather radio, flashlights, batteries, candles, lighters, water proof matches, food and water and so forth. You can make them as simple or intricate as you like. You can give simple gifts of flashlights or knives or you can give gifts of fully loaded bush crafting bags. The gifts are as fun to give as they are to receive because you are buying things that save lives, but that you also think are cool. Be creative there are so many gadgets and gear to choose from that the sky is the limit. A fun gift idea for nearly any outdoorsman is a parabolic lens. I picked one up at a self-reliance/prepper expo recently and everyone that I have shown this item to eventually wants one.


So again, survival gear make great gift ideas or great stocking stuffers. The gifts are important because you are not giving someone another toaster that they don't need, a gift card that isn't personal, or towels because you suck at creativity. You are giving the gift of preparedness. You are giving the gift of safety. You are giving the gift of security. You are quite possibly giving the gift of life.


In future posts, I will break down some cool ways to build items for yourself or others such as fire kits, fishing kits, emergency first aid supplies and other items as well as dive into the intricacies of basic outdoor gear and bush crafting kits, 72 hour kits, Get-Home-Bags, and short-term or long-term Bug Out Bags. And, as I've said before all of these things can be built on a budget or can come from items you may already have, but just don't realize their potential.


I always keep in mind that "Rome wasn't built in a day" and the first step to building these bags and kits is to just make the commitment to start to think with the preparedness mindset. Then, you can begin to make a short term plan, mid-term plan and longer range plans to acquire and put together the items that you deem vital to your personal safety in the event of a lost job or severe weather and other immediate risk situations. Over time, you can begin to implement and prepare for larger catastrophes. Whether for yourself or as a gift, be "prepared" in your purchases and in your gift giving.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Survival Mindset


Whether you are an inexperienced novice or and expert in the fields of wilderness survival, prepping, self-reliance and primitive or even off-grid living, it's vital that you know and understand that the most important facet of being safe, being prepared and staying alive is your mindset. The studies of survival mindset are never enough, but always interesting. When I watch survival movies or television programs, or read books about people who have endured things that are beyond horrific and test every ounce of the will to live, I realize the profoundness of the human spirit. But, for most of us the true tests of our will to endure and live are rarely if ever tested. So, how does one truly know if they have what it takes if and when the time comes?


My work, education and experiences have taught me that when faced with life-threatening stimulus, most of us respond in one of three ways. These three ways are fight, flight or freeze. The best way to know which one you are isn't to subject yourself to dangerous situations only to find out that you may not have what it takes. The best way to know or at least have a general idea of which response you are most likely to respond with is to delve into your memory bank. Think back in time and recollect the worst events you have been faced with. These events don't have to be a gun pointed at your head, lost in the Amazon and facing hypothermia, or your entire town wiped out via mother nature, these events can be financial losses, divorce, health issues, job loss, the death of a loved one, a fight and other traumatic life events. But, think about these events and decipher which ones required you to act, make a decision, formulate a plan or a back-up plan or in some other way they required something of you. How did you respond? Did you panic, get depressed and disengage from the problem? did you feel overwhelmed and unable to make a rational decision? Did you ignore the problem or fail to recognize the gravity of the situation? Did you drink, gamble, or choose some other vice to bury the problem? Did you immediately begin trying to problem solve? Did you already have a contingency plan in place before the event even occurred? or, best yet, did you educate yourself, talk to others, explore avenues and options and negotiate the safest path for yourself either through or around the problem?


Using this practice exercise can help us to gain insight into our body and mind connection and our response to threats and dangerous stimulus. If you typically freeze, it's good to know this now. You can overcome that response through planning, practice and preparedness. If you typically respond with flight, again, good to know this. Sometimes flight saves our lives. I once responded with flight to a very dangerous situation when I was a child and because of my response, I am here now to talk about it. If you typically respond with fight, this is great information to know as well. And, although the human spirit to fight is a life-protecting response, fighting may not always be the safest approach depending on the situation.


Regardless of which one you are or even if you have a combined response, being aware of your survival instincts and responses is vital to implementing a preparedness or self-reliant mindset. With knowledge comes power. Self awareness is prime to self-reliance. The self is center stage. Take some time to "know thyself" and then follow up with education, practice and preparedness. Your body wants to survive no matter what, but does your brain really have your back? If not, no problem, there's very little that a little planning, a little preparation and a lot of practice can't resolve.