What Are You Preparing For? Survival, Fear, or Connection?

 🕯️ What Are You Preparing For? Survival, Fear, or Connection?

by Tina Winterlik (Zipolita)

Recently, a friend of mine — in her late 70s — was visiting another friend in her 80s. This woman is very spiritual, has a guru, and apparently believes something huge is coming. Nuclear war. Civil collapse. Whatever it is, she’s stockpiling: food, water, supplies. 🥴😁🤔

I couldn’t help but think, I’ve been down this road before.

We laughed a little — she is very old, and how long does she really plan to live? Any disaster she’s preparing for will likely come faster than she expects. And honestly — if all your friends are gone, all your loved ones, what’s the point of surviving?

But then I thought — it’s not all bad. Being ready, having supplies, maybe being able to help a neighbor — that’s something. Even if she doesn’t.

This brought it all home for me, like in the movie Leave the World Behind. A family rents an Airbnb, and then a cyber-attack, followed by a mysterious disaster, shatters their world. People panic, retreat, hoard, and try to control things they really can’t. The little girl eats survival food in a bunker while the world collapses around her — and she watches reruns of Friends, the absurdity of control and normalcy clashing with reality.

That’s what prepping sometimes looks like — not courage or wisdom, but fear dressed up as control. And the truth is, no matter how many cans you have, you can’t stockpile connection, love, trust, or community.

🌱 So What’s the Point?

Being prepared is good — a little disaster, a power outage, a storm, can be managed. But the obsession with “the big end” misses the heart of living.
Survival isn’t just about food or batteries. It’s about how we relate to others while the world changes.

If you’re preparing, ask yourself:

• Are you preparing out of love for yourself and your neighbors?
• Or out of fear — fear of the unknown, fear of loss, fear of dying?
• When disaster comes, what do you actually want to survive for?

Sometimes the scariest truth is: we can’t control the world, only how we respond to it. And living — truly living — matters more than surviving.

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💭 Reflective Questions

1. Why are you preparing? Is it for fear, control, or actual help?
2. Could your time, energy, or resources be used to build community rather than just stockpile?
3. If the worst-case scenario happens, who would you want to survive for?
4. How does fear affect your decisions, even in small ways?
5. Are there ways to balance being ready with still enjoying life today?