I never thought I’d be sitting here in 2026 thinking about whether I should be preparing for war.
It sounds like something from a history book. Something my parents or grandparents might have talked about. Not something that would ever really enter my everyday life.
And yet, here we are.
There’s been a lot of talk recently about the UK preparing for the possibility of war and making sure ordinary households are prepared for serious disruption. We’re hearing about emergency supplies, resilience, power cuts, cyberattacks and even plans for how the country would function during a major conflict.
And honestly I’m feeling a bit unsettled.
I’m not particularly interested in panic buying or turning my home into a bunker. I don’t want to spend my days scrolling through frightening headlines and imagining every possible disaster.
But I do think there’s something quite sobering about being told that perhaps we should be prepared.
Prepared for, exactly?
A war actually reaching the UK?
Long-term power cuts?
Problems with food supplies?
Cyberattacks taking down essential services?
Being unable to access money or communicate with family?
Nobody seems to have a crystal ball. And perhaps that’s the point.
Being prepared doesn’t necessarily mean believing that war is coming. It can simply mean accepting that the world feels less predictable than it once did.
I remember a time when the biggest things I worried about were bills, work, getting through the week and whether I’d remembered to put the bins out. Oh hang on that’s right now,
Now I’m being encouraged to think about whether I have enough bottled water and food in the cupboard if something goes seriously wrong.
It feels surreal.
There’s also something particularly strange about being my age and suddenly hearing conversations about things I genuinely thought belonged to another generation.
We grew up hearing stories about the war from our parents and grandparents. We saw old photographs, heard about rationing and blackouts, and perhaps listened politely to stories that felt impossibly distant.
Now those words don’t feel quite so distant. I can be sensible without becoming frightened.
Maybe I’ll put a few extra tins in the cupboard. Make sure I have a torch that actually works. Keep a power bank charged. Check that I know how to contact family if the phones go down. Hmmmm ok that’s going to be a real hard one because we all rely on our mobile phones.
That’s not preparing for the apocalypse. That’s just being a little bit sensible.
Because ultimately, I don’t want fear to take over my life.
I want to carry on enjoying the ordinary things sitting looking out at my fave programs on Netflix, drinking coffee, creating content, laughing at ridiculous things online and complaining about work. My favourite hobby.
Life is still happening. And I think for our kids etc we just be sensible but keep prepared.
We can acknowledge that the world has become more uncertain without allowing that uncertainty to steal today from us.
So yes, I’ll probably make sure the cupboards aren’t completely empty. Ok, I’ll be honest I’m going to ram them either way cat food as they come first.
But I’m not buying a bunker. I live in a top floor flat. So I’ll probably be the first 🎯
And if anyone sees me panic-buying 47 tins of baked beans, please remind me of this blog post. It’s only the cats I should be worried about.
Because apparently we’re preparing for war…
………F*ck that!!!!
Isabelle Cheren 