For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by how people lived their everyday lives throughout different periods of history. And being a do-it-yourselfer, I couldn’t resist trying out some of the skills from the past. I attempted to dig my first tiny garden when I was eight. When the world trade center went through the attacks of 9-11 and America went to war, my Jr. High self began to read books about WWII. Later, I became obsessed with Ireland, even teaching myself to step-dance through a VHS.

If I could publish my books using a typesetting machine, I probably would. But as modern life demands, I began my publishing journey in 2011 with a company that was less than ideal. However, as God works all things together for good, the experience inspired me to begin teaching myself about the publishing industry. I began learning how to design physical layouts for books and teaching myself the ins and outs of grammar and style. I will still pick up books at the store just because they have beautiful covers and proceed to admire the page layouts inside.

In August of 2022, I moved all the way from the Texas Coast to Ohio to further my skills in the publishing world for a two-year apprenticeship. Adapting my life here has been a challenge but is helping me see which skills everyone uses. (Even people who can only grow things in small pots and spend their lives surrounded by concrete sidewalks.) It’s also forced me to ask questions I have never asked before like, “How exactly do I dress for -2 degree weather? How cold is too cold to cross a large parking lot? And is a Buckeye a candy or a nut? I am confused.”

You may not have moved across the country, but I’m sure that you are currently having to adapt your lifestyle to the modern challenges of life. Whether it’s combatting prices at the grocery store, making things last longer at home, or looking into the future and wondering if things will ever get better, we’re all facing some pretty tough days. But history is full of stories about this cycle of better, then worse, then better. We’re in a dip, my friend, but history indicates that it will not last. Still, for now, we have to live through it and as some challenges ease, others will come.

The important thing is to be flexible, optimistic, and willing to do things differently than we have formally done them. That’s where this blog comes in. While I have a passion for all elements of history and may share some stories that may not apply to your life today-such as the proper burning time for homemade torches, we’ll also be exploring historical skills that you can put into practice to stretch your funds, get creative in the kitchen, and keep your everyday life on track. Because history is useless if we do not apply its lessons.

So welcome, my friend. Join me as I share some handy tips I have learned and explore historical skills. We may even uncover some fascinating stories from former lives, finding out that people weren’t so very different than us.