Ishness can be lonely

[Flo]

Self sufficiency should not be an isolating experience. You can only do so much for yourself. The person who can build the house may not be able to do the cooking and cleaning. The person who makes the clothes may not be able to build the house. The person who grows the vegetables may be no good at making cheese.

All you can do as a self sufficient person is to make the greatest use of your talents whatever they may be to ensure that you have a degree of self reliance and provide as much for yourself as possible.

Complete self sufficiency depends on a group for the provision of food, clothes, shelter, water and warmth which are the essentials of life. No one person has all the talents to provide everything in the essentials. Remember the travelling tinkers who made a living repairing the saucepans and sharpening the household utensils in days gone by? As well as supplying new ones were needed. And the travelling sellers of needles, cotton, ribbons and so forth. Or the miller for grinding corn for different flour for bread. There has always been a network of talents required.

Look up from what you are doing to be ish and realise that you do depend for so much on others. Once you accept that all you are doing is making the full use of your talents and accept that others choose not to use or develop the same skills they may have within them you will find that life is like a patchwork quilt of people. Accept them for what they are and ask them to accept your skills as part of you. If you aren't part of a social group you can't share your skills when people get interested. They will.