063: The One Thing that Hurts the Homesteading Community Most

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The homesteading community is so important, right? Sure. But do we understand why it’s important? Or what the biggest threat to it is? In today’s episode, we talk about the one thing I think hurts the homesteading community most, and could be the death of the homesteading community if we allow it to happen. Hopefully, this episode will help you steer clear of a certain mind trap we can sometimes get stuck in when we’re on the quest to become more self-sufficient and self-reliant.

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Summary of today’s episode:

• It’s common for homesteaders to talk about not wanting to be around people or that they don’t like to talk to people. Ironically, these homesteaders are often the same people that are super active on social media.
• We are created for community! We are wired to be in relationship with each other.
• People want to talk with other folks who are living the same lifestyle as they are.
• Just because we’re learning self sufficiency, it doesn’t mean we don’t need each other. We learn how to handle all the things alone, but that doesn’t mean we’re left alone.
• The homesteading community is important because there are a lot of skills to learn, and the community is where we learn those skills.
• The homesteading community is also important because it’s your support system made of people who understand what you’re trying to do.
• The most detrimental thing to the homesteading community? It’s when we start to believe we don’t need community, or that we can do it all alone and don’t need anybody else to teach or support us.
• Your job in the homesteading community is to figure out the skill you want to learn, then learn the skill, then teach that skill to someone else.
• However, there are a few things the homesteading community can sometimes get wrong: 1) being adamant there is only one way to do things, 2) criticizing other homesteaders for the way they choose to run their homestead, and 3) trying to be a homesteading purist.
• We need to stop assuming that the hermit feeling the homesteaders on the prairie had was something they wanted. It’s entirely possible that the homesteaders on the prairie would be jealous of the community we have available now and would ask us why are you trying to do this alone?