True “Readiness” hinges on conversation, community collaboration and the capacity for service, not fear and isolation

Large-scale events, whether natural disasters or occurrences of social instability are incredible opportunities for cohesion, collaboration, unity and learning. They offer inflection points that both expose weakness and highlight avenues for progress. From a first responders perspective in large scale international disasters there is no place for focusing on the negative, divisiveness or cultural variances between groups. There is only room for finding ways to amplify impact through unconventional collaboration for the betterment of the whole community. This rings true from large scale calamities to small town emergencies.     

These events often promote an uptick in an interest for “preparedness.” The knee jerk reaction for those not readily exposed to these types of events is often predicated on a we vs. they mentality where individuals and families gather supplies and defensive equipment to protect themselves from perceived threats. The challenge is that true “Readiness” hinges on conversation, community collaboration and the capacity for service, not fear and isolation.

The mark of truly being “prepared” is harboring the capability to be of service to self, family and others in time of need. This requires the cultivation of a set of skills and a mindset. Readiness is not a purchase. It is a discipline and practice. The more competent one becomes the more the fear abates. The challenge is the path to truly living ready is not commonly pursued and is foriegn to many. Generally speaking, as a society we have become heavily dependent. Readiness in the form of individual responsibility and capability has largely fallen by the wayside as has methods for obtaining and practicing the associated skills and mindset.  

There is a stark inverse relationship between the actions of those newly interested in preparedness and those that live and work in environments more exposed to disruption. Whether living in a geography often struck by large scale natural disasters or working as a first responder or military service member there is a core tenant many in these categories will attest to. Nothing gets done alone, community and team are everything and the greatest currency is having the capacity to be of utility to your neighbors or team when it matters most. They will smirk at the notion of absconding away into a bunker to weather the zombie apocalypse with a newly established hoard of assault rifles, toilet paper and MREs.

If we wish to feel more secure, less threatened and more effective in light of adversity it requires proactive effort. The more one works to acquire the set of skills and mindset necessary to be able to contribute when the status quo is disrupted the less fear they will experience. Readiness, as counterintuitive as it may seem to many, is about preparing to run towards trouble to help vs. taking action to hide away from it. 

Learning to do things like tie knots, how to use a medical kit, what situational awareness means or how to keep calm under duress in isolation of one another are simply skills. But together they begin to arm the individual with a sense of competency, a growing desire to practice and a shifting perspective. They begin to prepare the individual to be a capable member of a team or community. In this vein Readiness is akin to a sport where the playing field is a disaster or emergency that disrupts the community. Those that train look forward to game day and those that don't lay in anxious wait.  

So here is the experiment. Can we make the hard and soft skills of Readiness more accessible? Can we pull the discipline from the perceived fringes accentuated by images of “preppers” or survivalists and militaristic factions? Can we create an environment where all facets of a local community from first responders to artists, veterans, small business owners, moms and kids can come to for mutual skillshare? Can we develop a lab that serves to proactively foster the informal relationships and community capacity that will serve all in light of disruption? Can we share this information and these skills in a manner that enables the community to realize how incredibly fun, rewarding and important it is to #MakeReady to #livecapable? 

Welcome to The Readiness Collective

There is no truth with a capital T. There are countless worthy and seasoned perspectives, teachers, organizations and resources that exist. Readiness is a fascinating beast to tackle and we are committed to always learning and exploring how to make it more of a prevalent facet of everyday society. Join us in this experiment. This is not a goal that can be tackled by any one individual, entity or organization but requires a #Collective effort.

What Is The Readiness Collective