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You Never Know...

© Bob Ewing

Here in Ontario we are in the middle of a provincial election. It is a new shorter version. Voters have 28 days to decide who to vote for. I'm coordinating, through my workplace, a project that is intended to increase the turnout at the polls on June 3, of people who live on low incomes. This is an exciting project and we began our research almost a year ago. In fact, it was while I was conducting a search of already published material that I became reaquainted with Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Simply put, Maslow say that we cannot evolve as human beings until our basic needs of food, shelter and clothing are met.

As I was also researching survival skills, during this same period, I could not help but notice a similarity between Maslow's Theory and the basic needs for survival; shelter, water, food. This reinforced the work that I was doing on food security and self-reliance. Knowledge is the essence of being self-reliant. Self-reliance requires confidence and knowledge builds that confidence. You need to become, not an info-junky, but someone who has an active curiosity and constantly strives to enhance their knowledge base. You have to learn to value the little tidbits of data that float your way and to do so while swimming in an information stream. You may find it difficult to understand what it is you need to know and be tempted to try and collect everything. You may drown while doing so.

If you already are a proficient gardener and capable of producing your own food, you may find that you can complement this skill by developing your awareness of spices. Spice has many HTM"> uses, besides adding zest to your food or enhancing the flavour of baked goods. That bottle of tumeric that's been hiding at the back of your spice cupboard will make a natural dye.

Knowledge is a life long experience and the bits and pieces you pick up may one day save your life or at least make it a lot more fun as you learn how to be self-reliant and still enjoy living within a friendly community.

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