Reply #11: I think you're right

[conflictgirl]

And in my "spare time" :rofl: I have been learning many of those skills. I've learned how to knit, sew, make soap (even without lye, doing it from wood ashes) and candles, use herbal medicine, identify native plants and garden. I've even learned canning, pickling and jam-making. We have a pretty sizable lot and have turned half of our backyard into garden space.

I don't fool myself into thinking that the skills I have will enable me to get through a depression comfortably, but I look around at other people my age (I'm 32) and I know that I have a lot of skills that they don't have and don't think they'll ever need. I know otherwise. I totally agree with you that a depression is coming, and I will likely see it in my lifetime. And if by some chance it doesn't happen in my lifetime, I am teaching my children these skills as well.

I find it way scary that so few people have any idea how to do these basic things. I don't want to be that vulnerable.