We Still Have a Little Time

As the previously unthinkable war on Iran stretches into its second month, I'm thinking about my collapse bucket list.

Every other day, prepper tubers press our panic buttons while telling us not to panic. We talk about gas shortages and collapsing supply chains. Meanwhile, my corner of the world hums on. Apart from gas pushing $4 a gallon now, it hasn't resulted in visible cracks where I live. At least, not new ones. For everyone in my circle, it's just yet another burden to carry. It's the same cracks, opening a little wider.

In all honesty, most of us don't even need to engage in "prepping" activities to get through these times as they are. I mean, buying dry goods in bulk to save on groceries? Growing some kale and tomatoes?

Is that really "prepping" with a P?

I don't know...

The work we do matters more than ever, but we're still not harvesting dew for survival. The water still runs. The electricity still flows. We just don't know for how much longer, and that's why we try to get ready.

We've been through this cycle a few times now. My first rodeo with prepping happened during the early stages of the pandemic. Then it was the subsequent waves. It was bird flu. It was the war in Ukraine and its impact on supply chains. And so on. Each time, there's a sense of urgency. What if this really is your last chance to get that composting toilet? What if you can't get seeds in a few months to start any kind of garden? What if....?

What if....?

But as of today, you can still order a composting toilet or the parts to make one yourself. You can still go to the hardware store to get supplies. You can still have things shipped to you. Stores are still open.

The internet still works.

So, there's a little relief here. A few years ago, we were bombarded with predictions about nuclear war or total supply chain collapse. None of it really happened on the scale we feared, and it was a good thing. That doesn't mean we were wrong to take the warnings seriously.

It just means we still have a little time.

And with the task of preparing and building sustainability, we have to take our time. You can't sit around and wait, but you can't rush it either. There's moments when we hustle, like when I was buckling down to put out the first version of the guide. Then there's moments where you sit back and assess. You reflect. You meditate. You think through the next steps.

The guide didn't exist yet, and that was causing me a lot of anxiety as we watched this regime plunge us into another unwinnable war, one we were even less prepared for, with even higher stakes.

Now, it's out.

A version of the guide exists in the world. We're still here, and all signs point to us being able to slow down a little.

I've been working on my collapse bucket list.

I call it my cones of dunshire.

There was a personal creative project I've had going for a long time, something never quite finished. It was a graphic novel. A weird, ridiculously epic, spicy graphic novel. I've wanted to write it since my 20s, back when I was an MFA student, but I didn't have the resources or the skill. Now, I do. It's the kind of thing that maybe 12 people would ever want to read.

I figured it wasn't going to get easier to pursue those little personal goals in the years ahead, so I buckled down and finished it. I mean, really finished it. Now it feels done, and it feels good.

Part of me even thinks if I starve to death in a famine, it will be okay because I did that thing. When the world finally reaches a state of collapse I can't do anything about, I will sit on my butt. I will read my graphic novel. If I have electricity, I will listen to Fleshgod Apocalypse and Septic Flesh. If I don't, I will play the songs in my head from memory. I will be okay.

The hardest doomers talk about exit strategies, a euphemism for suicide plans. Well, I guess that's my exit plan. I've got it ready.

It brings me a sense of inner peace.

As a bonus, I learned some things in Blender and illustration that will transfer directly over to the guide, so that's good.

That's another dimension of prepping we don't talk about so much. As we all think through ways to live our lives without the conveniences of the grid, we should also think about what bucket list items to work on.

We all have bucket lists for the end of our lives.

Things we'd like to do...

What about a bucket list for that watershed moment, when we no longer have access to all the comforts and conveniences we did?

Aside from preparing for survival itself, what's one or two things you would like to achieve or accomplish in your life? Do you still dream of writing and self-publishing that novel? Do you still want to record that album? Do you still want to put together that coffee-table book? Do you still want to compile that collection of photography?

Do you still want to make that board game?

What is it for you?

If there's one truth I could take away from the moments I actually watch television, it would be Cones of Dunshire, a ridiculous game that a character builds in Parks and Recreation, during a week or two between jobs. On the one hand, it might look like a total waste of time. On the other hand, it's a creative and intellectual pursuit that means everything to you and practically nothing to everyone else. So if the world is going to end, fast or slow, what does it matter? You might as well build your Cones of Dunshire, the thing that you want to see in the world, the thing that you will enjoy.

So, I have my Cones of Dunshire now.

What about you?

We're not talking about traveling the world or winning a Pulitzer. We're talking about something you can still do now, that maybe you won't be able to do in five years. Even as civilization falls down around us, it would be nice to leave it having done that one thing you always found important, but you just never got around to it, because, well, life...

To me, that sounds like prepping. That sounds like a good investment, just as important as building a rain harvester.

What else I'm doing:

I've assembled some books on composting and composting toilets, and I'm digging into that. I'm working through my course on electricity, and I'm thinking about what should go into the guide next. I was going to delve into that, but I'm going to save it for my next post. That's an entirely different set of questions.

Fow now, I'd like everyone to think about their Cones of Dunshire.

Feel free to share yours.