Why Prepper Life® was started.
The Spark
Although the concept of being prepared was not new to me, in 2015, the possibility of dealing with major change to life as we know it began to become more of a reality for me. It was not one event that served as a catalyst, but rather a culmination of the state of the world that changed my mindset.
In 2015 we recorded the hottest year and the largest hurricane in history while witnessing an increase in many other natural disasters. But mother nature is not the only fear; civil unrest seems to be at an all-time high as well. As an American, civil unrest is typically viewed through the lens of ‘a problem in other countries’, but America has also become at odds with itself.
I began to realize that both the earth’s climate and the social climate are more fragile than we would like to believe. This notion sparked an interest in learning more about being prepared for both of those concerns and more.
The Awareness
The truth is, I have avoided the news most of my life. I try to keep myself in a positive state of mind and focus on what is important to my life and immediate family. I focused on my situation rather than concerning myself with the woes of the world.
Maybe I was coming out of my “party years” and paying more attention; or perhaps it was just an awareness that volatility was ever increasing, and I needed to take a hard look at my ability to protect those I love in extreme situations. Like most things, I am sure it was a combination of factors that sparked my awareness and created a desire to learn more about preparedness.
So, I swallowed the red pill and began a journey to become a more prepared person.
The Discovery
Like any topic, if you dive into the depths of the internet you can quickly find yourself in a rabbit hole. What I began to realize is that there are more natural disaster events happening around the world then I ever imagined. I learned that political landscapes are rapidly growing more divided and extreme views are forging the paths rather than efforts of compromise. It became clear that financial institutions are constantly at risk and our economy is volatile. The discovery of threats to our “normal” life was a bit overwhelming.
Once I validated my concerns of jeopardy in the world, I began my journey to learn more about being prepared for potential changes on the horizon. It was then I learned that I had lived most of my life with my head in the sand on many of these topics. I am sure many people reading this are thinking “yeah duh”; and they are right, but everyone has their enlightenment moments at different times in their lives.
So now I am awake, my eyes are open, and my fears are real, what next?
The Education
The next step in my journey was to learn more about preparedness; so, I began subscribing to blogs like this one and educating myself. I began by focusing on the most realistic threats presently and preparing for those first.
After preparing for several scenarios, it became clear that many of the preparations are valuable for many of the possible threats, such as extra food, water, and supplies. Each scenario has its own preparedness requirements, but many preparations are common amongst all of them.
The Negative
The knowledge of potential threats is enough to change your views of the world. Fear can consume you if you let it. So, I made myself a promise that I would use this education to protect my family and not let it change me as a person, husband, or father. After all, the goal is to be more prepared to protect my family; letting this awakening change me negatively would not be a fair trade off.
The more preparedness blogs I visited, the more I was overwhelmed with negativity. Fear, like pain, is a natural indicator that something is wrong and needs to be addressed. My fear of potential threats to “normal daily life” and a lack of being prepared had brought me here; but as I dove into preparedness blogs, I found many of the sources were playing to my fears and feeding me extreme viewpoints.
Many of the articles I read were pushing political rhetoric and using fear tactics to sway my opinions. I was already fighting the negativity that comes from the knowledge that our world is fragile, I did not need that to be compounded with fear mongering, hate speech and propaganda.
There are also many sources that focus on how to prepare and how to survive without the propaganda. I limited my research to these types of publications and aspire to maintain a helpful, fact based publication as well.
You cannot be fully prepared for situations without learning more about potentials scenarios. The more you learn the more your fear can grow. If you are starting your journey to become prepared or new to the Prepper Life, please keep in mind the objective is to gain confidence in your ability to handle situations and to reduce fear. Maintain a positive morality, stick to the facts, and avoid conspiracy rabbit holes.
The Mission
The term “Prepper” has a stereotype attached to it. Many people view preppers as rural hoarders with extreme conspiracy beliefs. While individuals that fit that demographic are more likely to be ‘preppers’, it is important to keep in mind that it is the fears that come from their beliefs that drive them towards preparedness activities. My point is this; you must have a level of fear in order to make preparing a priority, but that does not mean you have to be an extremist or let it consume you.
I started this blog to hold myself accountable. I figured if I documented my journey to become more prepared then I could not only share my findings, but it would keep me more engaged in the “Prepper Life”. As I began consuming information from other sources and creating my own blog posts, I quickly realized the differences between what I was reading and what I was sharing. This difference molded the mission statement for the “Prepper Life®” brand.
Prepper Life® is dedicated to informing people interested in being prepared for life changing events to protect themselves, their families, and their community. Establishing what Prepper Life® is about and what it is not about are equally important to our publication.
What Prepper Life® Is About
- Protecting your family
- Being prepared for emergencies
- Community
What Prepper Life® Is Not About
- Political Viewpoints
- Conspiracy Theories
- Fear Mongering
- Hate or Extremism
The goal of this publication is to educate while maintaining positivity and a focus on why being prepared is important…. Protecting your Family.
The Situation
Between 2015 and 2019 I often asked myself if this journey was worth it. Was I spending time focusing on becoming aware and prepared for nothing? Was I spending money on emergency supplies to collect dust? Was life better before I took the red pill?
Then 2020 hit! The number of events that occurred in 2020 was astronomical. The two most obvious situations being the Covid-19 pandemic and the major hit to our economy.
As we rolled into 2021 we were all hopeful that things would improve. That has not been the case so far. In January 2021 we were at the peak of the pandemic and experienced an insurrection on the capitol of our country. Our government is at odds like never before and political posturing seems more important to our leaders than what is best for the people, with signs of a civil war brewing. The stock market is experiencing big changes from an influx of individual investors and as I write this article a large part of Texas has been surviving in freezing temperatures without power and water for days.
So unfortunately, not just one, but many disaster scenarios have become a reality within the last year. Pandemic fatigue has set in, morality is on the decline, hate is on the incline, and the light at the end of the tunnel is not very bright.
Living the Prepper Life
Besides having extra supplies on hand and being physically prepared; there has also been a level of mental preparedness. While the events of the last year have been shocking, I have not found myself in shock. The understanding that these threats exist and having a Prepper Life mindset has helped my family overcome many of the related obstacles.
For example, because I had my finger on the pulse, I was aware of the pandemic threat while it was only being reported in Wuhan. When I learned of the virus, it was clear to me that it was a matter of time before it would be in our community and I ordered masks immediately. I remember being in line at the grocery store with my mask on while the news of infections in America were first being reported. Granted, I was getting very awkward stares as I was the only person wearing one, but I care about protecting myself and my family, not what people think. Within the next several weeks those ‘what is wrong with this guy’ stares became, ‘where did he get that mask’ stares.
What was I doing at the store with my mask on before the cases blossomed? I was picking up extra toilet paper. I remember my neighbor saying a few weeks later “who would have known that toilet paper would become such a commodity?”. I raised my hand… now everyone knows.
