A single-family home standing amidst the wreckage
In the news about the Los Angeles fires in January 2025, I saw an article with a particular video.
Some of you may have seen it.
“There was one house that escaped the destruction from the fires that devastated the northwestern area of Los Angeles in January of this year.
It was the home of dedicated environmentalist Karina Maher and her architect husband, Michael Kovac.
Kovac said he had designed the home to be sustainable and capable of withstanding wildfires.”
Karina Maher said:
“Seeing our house standing there, (amidst other burnt houses) there is a bit of survivor’s guilt, if you want to use that term. I mean, we’re proud and happy that our efforts paid off, but we never imagined a scene so stark.”
(From Yahoo! News)
What was the true meaning behind this news story?
I took the news quite seriously.
They did, of course, escape the devastation due to being lucky, and due to being virtuous, but I felt there was something even greater that we could learn from what had happened.
It was the fact that they had so thoughtfully built a house capable of escaping the devastation of a large wildfire.
A wildfire occurring in that area was an entirely predictable thing.
And yet, 12,000 luxury homes, all turned to ash—meaning that not one of them had seriously considered the risk of a potential wildfire, or implemented any measures against them.
Karina and Michael had been one in 12,000. The only house that had survived the fires.
You can say the same about life
When I heard this story, I thought to myself,
“This is a lesson for people who don’t take life’s future predictions, or preventing disasters or illness, very seriously.”
Perhaps there are many people who worry and think about their futures.
And yet, I believe that most of these individuals, when faced with a major earthquake or disaster, a serious illness, or the death of a spouse or family member, will write these off as having been unavoidable, inevitable.
There are, of course, unexpected events in life. The important thing, however, is thinking as far in advance as possible about what we could do to handle these events, no matter what they may be.
Thinking seriously about the future
Said Karina and Michael:
“We think the reason our home was able to escape the devastation because we used fire-resistant cladding.
Also because of our planted roof, and the sprinklers we installed that could spray fire retardant on command.
We also made sure to have a space around the house, called the ‘defensive area,’ to reduce the risk of flames spreading from building to building.”
“Building, designing the house so close to nature, and knowing the history of southern California, we were acutely aware that at some point in the house’s life, there would be a serious fire, nearby at the very least, and so we designed the house to be both fire-resilient and sustainable.
And happily, those two systems are often one and the same,” said Michael.
Living in a way that enhances your future
In this way, Karina and Michael had thought long and hard about fire prevention measures, to what seemed like an almost impossible level.
This means, in other words, that they had managed to avoid a great misfortune through their own efforts.
This way of living, that takes the future well into account, is also a way of living that allows you to protect your future self.
It is said that based on the current circumstances in Japan, about 40-50% of the population will become poor in the future.
Now might be a good time to start looking into how you would get by if pensions disappeared, or to learn a skill that could earn you a living for the rest of your life.
If you are a single woman, one option may also be to marry a man with financial means.
The students at my palm reading school have an eye towards their futures?
Another smart thing to do, which is fairly common amongst the students at my palm reading school, is to “learn palm reading at this point in life, so they can look through to the future and know about how much they will earn” throughout their lifetime.
The worst thing you can do is just sit idly by in the face of an uncertain future.
Today’s entry was about the importance of thinking more seriously about one’s future and implementing preventive measures, instead of leaving our futures up to nature or governments.
I encourage you all to take the measures you need in your own life to make your future a wonderful one.
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