Inspired by Simon's post: De-Programming Modernism at The Iron Legion
1. Turn of your cell phone and keep away from your computer. No television and no radio stations that play modern music.
2. Eat only non processed foods - that is, if it wasn’t around before the 19th century, don’t eat it.
3. Exercise - calisthenics, lifting - I don’t have weights... I lift milk jugs filled with water and a back pack filled with books or rocks... but I lift. The milk gallons are off-balance so it makes you focus on how you hold them and strengthens your grip and the form of your arms. Do push ups and crunches. And walk - early in the morning and in the evening as the sun sits.
4. Start carrying a pocket knife - a Swiss Army knife or a pocket multi-tool... a single blade or a multi blade like a Boker... but start carrying a knife and use it every chance you can - to slice your fruit and for repairs... use it and learn the feel of it in your hand and... its textures and form and weight... it is your steel... your blade... your sword. It is very hard to find a man of my generation who does not carry a pocket knife... when did that stop?
5. Plant something... vegetables or a fruit tree or a nut tree or some herbs... whatever, if you want to plant roses then do so... it would be best if it was something you could eat but plant something and tend your garden and watch it grow... this will give you responsibility if you need it... especially if you are planting food... nature will do most of the work but you do have to tend to your garden and keep pests away and give it water... use your instincts and logic and common sense - it is in you... bring it out.
6. Build something. Get some wood and build a shelf... a desk... a chair... a table - a table is simply a door with legs... you will not look it up on the internet... again, use your instinct, a ruler, a pencil, and your tools. Create with your hands and take your time... visualize it and give form to your vision... keep the vision of what you are building in your head and put your spirit into it... it could be a simple wooden spoon or a bird house... it can be something as simple as making a book...
7. Write... everything - in your new journal that you fashioned together... random thoughts, ideas, lists, sketches, maps... the blue prints for your rebel fortress... the cipher poem to get to your buried treasure...
8. Find an old timer and make friends... ask question and learn... don’t let the knowledge of the last generations fade.
9. Find men - look for others of like mind and spirit and form a gang... a tribe... a brotherhood and form a bond and when the time has come seal that bond with ritualistic ceremony - like the bonds of blood brothers you made when you were a boy... what you didn’t do that?
10. Go into the woods alone and with your tribe... learn to survive... learn to just be alone and commune with your thoughts, with your soul... with nature and with God... learn your plants and weeds... the trees... the sounds and the smells... learn to make a fire - I don’t know how to make a fire out of nature... I carry a tin with fire making tools - fire-striker, matches, lighter and tinder...
1. Turn of your cell phone and keep away from your computer. No television and no radio stations that play modern music.
2. Eat only non processed foods - that is, if it wasn’t around before the 19th century, don’t eat it.
3. Exercise - calisthenics, lifting - I don’t have weights... I lift milk jugs filled with water and a back pack filled with books or rocks... but I lift. The milk gallons are off-balance so it makes you focus on how you hold them and strengthens your grip and the form of your arms. Do push ups and crunches. And walk - early in the morning and in the evening as the sun sits.
4. Start carrying a pocket knife - a Swiss Army knife or a pocket multi-tool... a single blade or a multi blade like a Boker... but start carrying a knife and use it every chance you can - to slice your fruit and for repairs... use it and learn the feel of it in your hand and... its textures and form and weight... it is your steel... your blade... your sword. It is very hard to find a man of my generation who does not carry a pocket knife... when did that stop?
5. Plant something... vegetables or a fruit tree or a nut tree or some herbs... whatever, if you want to plant roses then do so... it would be best if it was something you could eat but plant something and tend your garden and watch it grow... this will give you responsibility if you need it... especially if you are planting food... nature will do most of the work but you do have to tend to your garden and keep pests away and give it water... use your instincts and logic and common sense - it is in you... bring it out.
6. Build something. Get some wood and build a shelf... a desk... a chair... a table - a table is simply a door with legs... you will not look it up on the internet... again, use your instinct, a ruler, a pencil, and your tools. Create with your hands and take your time... visualize it and give form to your vision... keep the vision of what you are building in your head and put your spirit into it... it could be a simple wooden spoon or a bird house... it can be something as simple as making a book...
7. Write... everything - in your new journal that you fashioned together... random thoughts, ideas, lists, sketches, maps... the blue prints for your rebel fortress... the cipher poem to get to your buried treasure...
8. Find an old timer and make friends... ask question and learn... don’t let the knowledge of the last generations fade.
9. Find men - look for others of like mind and spirit and form a gang... a tribe... a brotherhood and form a bond and when the time has come seal that bond with ritualistic ceremony - like the bonds of blood brothers you made when you were a boy... what you didn’t do that?
10. Go into the woods alone and with your tribe... learn to survive... learn to just be alone and commune with your thoughts, with your soul... with nature and with God... learn your plants and weeds... the trees... the sounds and the smells... learn to make a fire - I don’t know how to make a fire out of nature... I carry a tin with fire making tools - fire-striker, matches, lighter and tinder...
Learn to hunt... with a bow and arrow - long bow, not your modern mechanical stuff... fashion a spear and fish with it... when you are not hunting for your food then play with the creatures in the woods - chase the rabbit and the deer... feed the birds and the geese... make your rituals in the wild - chant and pray and dance around the fire... make your rituals around the hunt and give thanks for your food... make a ritual before your hunt and after... make rituals around the fire - tell stories and create myth... even if your are just by your self... give yourself a tribal name - you have no name until the tribe gives you a name...
11. Find a church... if you are not ready to go to mass... just find a church... the older the better... and sit there in silence... take in the smells and the echoes... and whisper gently your conversation with God... this will center you - I don’t know why or how it works... but being in an empty old church... for a just a little while does do something spiritual to you.
12. Spend time with your family - many people these days do not get along with their family - but they are your family... they are your clan... you don’t have to say much... just be around them and get them used to the idea... of you being around them... perhaps you can convince your brother to go out into the wild with you... let them know that (even if they are jerks) you got their back... gather your family for a Sunday lunch or dinner... begin or restore your family traditions... in my opinion there is not much point of having a family if there are no traditions to gather for... and tradition is what we are trying to save and restore.
'Camp fire'
Winslow Homer
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3 comments:
I like many of these suggestions. Here's an extra one. . . read a book that you probably should have read by now but haven't. Like "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." It's wonderful and approx. 84 pages---whoever said a great book had to be long?!! Or what about the "Memoirs of Casanova." He's been immortalized in love songs but why? I've never read "Uncle Tom's Cabin." I admit it but that's about to change. I guess curiosity has finally gotten the better of me. It usually does.
Also, getting to know an old timer is good advice although I don't like calling them "old timers." I have always kept company with women much older than myself. I'm the youngest one in my ladies' Sunday School class--it's ladies only and most of them are in their late 50's, then 60's, 70's and 80's. I don't care!! They are why I'm there in the first place. I value their wisdom and strength. They are the ones I've wanted to emulate since I was in my early twenties. I told them so this past Mother's Day. I wrote a journal entry and read it to them--about them and how I valued them. They were touched. I gave each of them a copy and placed a copy on our bulletin board. By the way---this comes from the part of my Melanie Wllkes persona. Scarlett must have gone to bed early.
Oh, one more thing. You're also right about making or renewing family connections. I went to a family reunion two weeks ago. It was good to see them. Some of them are crazy (really they are),some are uppity, some just go so they can gossip about what was said and what others wore. But, they're my family and I love them!!
And, the tribal name thing--do you have one? As a kid, I was known as "Speedy" because I was the fastest in my bicycle gang. I was known as "Spaz" in college because I was mostly happy but very unpredictable and I still am. My grandfather called me "Deberina" because he said I was too clumsy to be a ballerina and he was right. BTW, I'm in the middle of a little social experiment. I leave comments on many sites---some under my name and some under a man's name. In general, I've found men are more receptive of political comments made by other men--it's quite interesting really. Now I'm off.
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