Imagine living in a world without electricity. No cellphones, no computers, no iPads. No texts, no emails, no communications. No air conditioning, no lights, no refrigerator. No blow dryers, no room service, no TV. No banks, no credit cards, no currencies. No grocery stores, no gasoline, and no services. No airplanes, no cars, no transportation. No income, no outcome, and no tick-tock job to sustain you. Imagine that.

What would you do? What would you be willing to do? What can you do? What do you know how to do?

What Can You Contribute? I’m not asking you what can you contribute to me — I want nothing. I’m asking you, “What Can You Contribute to the Assistance of Your Own Existence?” What Can You Do? What Do You Know How to Do? What Power Do You Actually Have? And Do You Actually Have the Power to Use It? What Could You Contribute to Sustaining a Community of Others Living in Harmony with Nature?

People think of the Renewal as being one cataclysmic event — but what if the responsibility of the Renewal was in your own hands? What if the responsibility of the Renewal was the responsibility of each and every single person on this planet standing up and determining to live in harmony with nature? What if each and every single person on this planet just stood up, boycotted everything, and began living in self-sustaining permaculture communities? There’s no law against it. The only thing you’d be legally responsible for would probably be property taxes. And if everybody boycotted everything, there wouldn’t even be taxes.

There’s no law that says you have to buy your food at the grocery store. There’s no law that says you have to buy brand name underwear, cellphones, computers, electronics, and copious amounts of crap that you don’t need. There’s not even a law that says you have to pay for public utility services for your house. Don’t pay the bills for a couple of months, and you’ll see what I mean. They’ll disconnect your services.

We do all of that stuff, because we like it. We are spoiled on modern conveniences. We have been born, raised, conditioned, and programmed to be consumers supporting a system of consumerism. And while modern conveniences have made life easier — they have also caused humanity to lose vital skills.

Can you make bread from scratch? I don’t mean making bread from scratch with the ingredients that you can buy at the grocery store, bring home, and throw into a fancy electric bread maker. How do you really make bread from scratch with no store, no bread maker, and no electricity? How do you make a bucket? How do you find and sterilize water? How do you raise chickens and gather eggs? How do you catch and clean a fish? Could you even do it? How do you gather honey? How do you make maple syrup? How do you plant, grow, and harvest crops? What berries are safe to eat in the forest? How do you make a pair of pants or boots? How do you brew beer or make wine? How do you build a house with a hammer and nails? How do you start a fire without a match or lighter?

These are all vital skills that human beings have known how to do for thousands of years. Yet, in today’s modern society, most people don’t know how to do any of those things. In a real life survival situation, most people simply wouldn’t make it. Is it because human beings can’t do those things? No. It’s because they’ve forgotten the basic natural skills vital to their existence — because they don’t have to do them. It’s simply the side effects of living in a world spoiled on modern conveniences, and we’re all victim to it. The world may be making some amazing technological advances — but what good is that — if it destroys your natural ability to function with common sense? What good is it, if it degrades human consciousness?

Can you remember the days when the cashier at the grocery store could actually count back your change? Most of them can’t do it anymore. They just punch in the amount you give them, the computer calculates things for them and tells them the amount to give you back, and then they just hand you a handful of bills and coins and say, “here’s your change”. How many can actually count your money back? I rest my case.

I’m not saying that people should run out and quit their jobs next week. It takes money to function in this world, and you have to be able to function and do things. I’m simply saying that people need to consider the consequence of what modern conveniences are causing to their evolution and natural vital skill sets. Human beings have pretty much stopped evolving with nature, to where they are following an evolutionary path of technology. It may be interesting, but what’s it really costing humanity on the bottom line?

You have to unplug from it every now and then and be in nature for a few days to see it.

Technology has only been around for a very short number of years. Human beings have been around for over a hundred thousand years. On a timeline of human history, the span of time that technology has been around wouldn’t even show up on the graph, yet the entire modern world is totally dependent upon it. And it’s entirely based on electricity. If electricity failed, the entire system would fail. Everything would stop. If distribution stopped, your grocery store would be out of food within 3 or 4 days. Think about it.

Most people only think about these things in terms of being ‘end of the world’ or ‘survival’ type scenarios, but I see it as being more of a responsibility to live in balance and harmony with nature. It’s not about running in fear. It’s about running towards a better way of living. This world’s exhausting the land and nature. People have to start determining to live in a way that starts replenishing the earth. What if that responsibility was yours? Or are you just waiting for someone else to do something for you, because it isn’t convenient enough? Who’s going to do it? What if it was the responsibility of each and every single person on the planet — simply because it is the responsibility of each and every single person on the planet?

I see the coming of more and more self-sustaining permaculture communities. But you can’t just show up and expect to be waited on hand and foot. No, there’s no hair dryer. There’s no room service. You can’t just show up and mooch. You have to have self-discipline and responsibility. You have to be self-reliant. You have to be willing to work. What do you know how to do? What would you like to learn to do? Listen to your inner feelings. Follow your intuition. You have to have something to contribute. What is it?

© 2014 – Khris Krepcik
The Hooded Sage. All Rights Reserved.

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