How do you cope with power cuts?

[David Roberts]

Sometimes, when the power goes out that's the time when another light goes on. That's when I turn to nature to provide assurance of a much deeper sense of connectedness between living 'things'. Sometimes there's a storm brewing (which is usually the cause for the power outage) so I try to ensure I'm observing from a safe place - but it's always rewarding to notice how the storm is often bringing much needed precipitation to the plant and animal life, distributing nutrients through the soil, and flushing away waste and detritus. I can't help but feel enriched and cleansed myself by simply observing, and so in some way participating in, this phenomenon ...I, in turn, feel a sense of connectedness to the grand scheme of things as a result. When the house lights come back on, and my computer reboots, I might return to attempting to connect with others in the way I've become accustomed, but it is often with a new-found awareness that my own personal storm has passed, and the need to 'connect', based on my own fears and insecurities, has transformed into the desire to spread the word that all is okay, the storm has passed, and all's right with the world. If I still feel troubled by whatever circumstances motivated me to seek connection with others, I find that by having allowing myself a little 'breathing room', I'm able to much more clearly define what the nature of my problem is.

That's not to say that I'm immune to personal crisis .... no, not by a long shot .... but I have learned, in my 67 years (and I'm a very slow learner) that some things that appear as crises, are actually an opportunity to become a little more self-reliant, and I can trust in myself to get through. I also recognize that there is a big difference between turning to living 'things' in nature for support or comfort, and turning to other humans for the same, especially when there's an expectation from others to perform or behave in particular ways (and given the fact that our entire social system seems to be based on values we don't necessarily adhere to.) But we must always remember, I think, that we are guided by our own light internally, and we must be cautious to disallow anyone to disempower us. It is also crucial to know who we can turn to for guidance in times of despair.

Reading what I have to say here, you might imagine that I'd have no difficulty expressing myself publicly, but the reality is I get all 'tongue-tied' trying to convey my thoughts in speech, and the thoughts often go by much more quickly before the words have even begun to form, so I'm quite a 'goofus' socially. Thanks for hearing me out. I hope I've been of some help.

 

[Suzanne]

We moved home and for close on a month, we did not have Internet connection and, we're we lived before, our connection frequently cut off and at first, it was torture, but, gradually, we began to appreciate things better ie having time to do other things, that being online takes away.

If I still lived in my own country, I would not be online quite so much, because I am a book reader and so, would visit my library as often as possible. But, I do not live in my own country and thus, my Internet IS my library. So despite seeing the benefits of not being online, I can cope well without them, rather than forsake my Internet usage.

If however I had no choice, I have activities that easily occupy my mind and thus, not suffer boredom and because we come from a generation when Internet was not around, it is not impossible for me to deal with the lack of this amazing Internet lol

Having said that, please do not turn off my life

 

[Coupe]

By "power cuts" do you mean ALL the electricity going out - like, even all the lights? Because in that case, I usually turn on all the flashlights and light all the candles I can find, or I just seize the opportunity to have a nap until all the lights come back on again.

 

[tree]

David Roberts Some leds to brighten your birthday.

 

[Judge]

I big deal lately with an early snow. Yet while the media talks about it happening, they nor the utilities company is ever specific about what electrical grids the power outages are occurring in.

 

[Aspieistj]

I am always very disturbed. I worry about things like being too hot or cold, freezing pipes, fire, lack of communication, food spoiling, the inconvenience of not being able to cook, I have no water (I'm on a well and can't even flush the toilet) and I am afraid to use candles so then I worry about running out of batteries. Finally, because I can't do anything but sleep without electricity, I am furious. I can't stand to read with a flashlight or on my Kindle without having some electric, ambient light in the room. I have extremely poor cell phone reception in my area--way out in Mennonite farm country. I am not one to miss the "good old days" without all my modern conveniences.

 

[FreeDiver]

Back in to 1980's. I lived in Idaho and we would get power outages all the time. We had a generator we could run when we needed it. But during daylight times. we would just leave the generator off and just enjoy the silence of not having anything running in the house. If a power outage occurred at night during a lightning storm. We would leave the generator off and just watch the fireworks.

 

[Marmot]

I am indifferent to power outages & blackouts but this is because I live an insanely simple lifestyle: I use less than 3.0kW of electricity / day, I heat & cook on a wood stove, I don’t need AC in the summer, my internet & cell phone is broadband (which works just fine with a UPS powering the router) and I’ve installed a gravity fed cistern to keep the water flowing even when the well goes out.

But I live in the mountains, and mountain people are weird like that……