Author: David Stark

By David Stark

Resilient Living

            I love internal house heating systems, hot chocolate and rainy day holiday parties. With electricity relatively inexpensive and available we have lived through many winters with ease and comfort. But what if that power went away for weeks or for a whole winter? How would you keep warm?

            For thousands of years humanity has spent the majority of their warm season preparing for long cold winters. Storing food, gathering wood and doing what they needed to sustain them until spring. Now we think nothing of it. Many get excited about wearing their fashionable sweaters and Christmas cheer, but you wont feel cheerful if you are hungry and frost bite is actually nipping at your nose. Instead of joy you have fear.

            If the power is off then most likely grocery stores aren’t being restocked and if the last snow-mageddon in Oregon taught us anything, it did show us that most people have no stored food and will rush to costco in a frantic, stripping the shelves in a day.

So what can you do?

You may not be able to install full solar power grid to keep your furnace running or even a wood stove due to a lack of funds or building limitations. So here are some tips to remember that could help you make it through.

1. While keeping yourself active or shivering does warm you up beware that more calories are used as well.  Store non perishable food in your house. Enough for at least three months. This is something you should do for any disaster preparedness, but you can’t get enough from Costco in one trip. Avoid the chaos of a last minute store run and stay home with your family. Acquiring one last bag of groceries is a short term solution to a long term problem.

2. Seal off one room in your house to consolidate heat. Obviously the room that has a fireplace is the best idea, but if you don’t have one then a space heater powered by a battery or generator would work. Also seal off any unused rooms with cloth and tape. You can also seal off windows using cardboard and duct tape. Every little bit helps.   

3. Blankets and warm drinks. With your rocket stove (outside) warm up water and drink it warm. Wearing layers and wrapping yourself in blankets is also a great way to keep warm.

4. One last trick that works in winter and summer is to open your windows for a portion of the day. Depending on where you live and how much the outside temperature fluctuates you can let the warmer outside air of the day in and trap it for the night. Keep your eye on the thermometer and when the degrees start dipping close and seal them up.

5. Books and games. Without facebook and netflix you will get bored. Keeping your mind busy and distracted will raise morale and help the long cold winter days pass by faster. 

            Yes we love our modern conveniences, but don’t forget that exposure to the elements will be one of the leading causes of death when disaster strikes. Make some preparations now to increase home efficiency and stock up on the supplies you need, for I tell you the truth: Winter is Coming…

The Reality of Survival

David Stark

Resilient Living- Founder

  Hollywood has entertained us for generations and given us beautiful virtual possibilities in which to dream and aspire to achieve. As we pontificate on the possibilities of an advanced world we do not see the unreachable but discover new horizons to aim for and conquer. The next milestone of discovery and adventure awaits us and the only thing that limits us is what we believe can and will happen.

   Many creative minds through the ages have shown us what the apocalypse could look like. From zombies to asteroids to storms of Biblical proportions our collective created fears jumble together and we weave all the possible world ending events into the back corner or our brains and hope nothing catastrophic will ever come to pass. The problem is that as we age we start to see our future in different ways depending on what we believe and what trials we have overcome. Strengths developed and fears realized as we come to understand and respect the volatility of our world. So that leads us into believing in one of two ways. We either believe that humans have progressed beyond hate and disasters don’t happen or that we will someday destroy ourselves through manipulations of diseases, civil conflicts, or maybe even allowing our own intelligent creations to judge us inferior and take us out.

  The facts are unfortunately pointing in the direction of destruction in every way and yet many Americans believe in nirvana. A socialist utopia where all men are equal and nature controllable. Which may be an ideal worth fighting for but realistically not possible. There is only one place that I believe that kind of universal peace can exist, but that is not this world. History has shown us that time and time again that humans cannot obtain peace through treaties but only through domination. And the sad truth is that today many rockets are firing, nukes are on standby, subterranean plates are shifting, sun spots are disappearing and hate based in fear and ignorance abounds.

  In response to these facts and after several near death trials myself I believe I can help. My mission is to preemptively save lives and help as many people as possible become resilient no matter the circumstances.    

  So what everything really comes down to is belief. Do you believe that the world is not as stable as we’d like? If yes then do you believe that you should actually do something to become more resilient and acquire the resources you need to protect your family? If yes again then contact me. If not, then cherish every minute of peace you can find and remember the name Resilient Living for the day when you fully embrace the reality of survival.