All of this makes enormous sense to me. The body’s registering of seasons that are shorter or longer, colder or hotter, the rising of landfills, days when haze makes breathing difficult, and above all of that, the way we invest more energy in doing the same old things. Working longer hours, buying air conditioners, caving to the commodification of everything - meals that come in kits, exercise that needs to be tracked, and endless consumption alongside its externality, pollution. Yesterday a lovely young man came to my house too do some repair and I traded a dryer that I no longer use because I hang my laundry. He is young, a single father, and he works in the construction industry doing odd jobs. He's bright, kind, and motivated but he has only a high school education and two young daughters who rely on him for everything. When I think about our changing world, I think about people like him. How will they become stewards? How do we go from the theoretical to the practical? Is it inevitable that people will die? I love reading your column because it gives me hope… I do wonder what this looks like on the ground. We're talking about the brutality of the end of our world. And we're also talking about a new one, but what happens – literally – in between? You may have already written about this and I just missed it. I feel a formless grief almost every day because my body knows something nearly unbearable is coming. I think we should be talking about it... But what about those for whom this will all sound fantastic and impossible?
Your repairman is, in all likelihood, ahead of most of us: he's faced his limitations/needs/responsibilities = his reality, and adapted to them. That, unfortunately, is far removed from the behavior/thinking of the vast majority of the public.
As I move through this process in my own life, one of my chief longings, wishes, stirrings of the imagination is to find a way to come together with those accepting collapse at least, and those too who simply need the good company of those unfraid to say it, in order to feel empowered to admit themselves - and to voice and hear, in a style similar to oral traditions - everyone’s experiences. To feel physically held… to rediscover community. Which for me is do key to moving from grief to rediscovering joy.
I wonder too at the cathartic nature
These human places hold. For a person to stand and say, look my awareness of collapse involves others…
& this is the piece i am holding. This is the sand falling through my splayed hand… these are the people in my world who I am holding as my acceptance of collapse awakens in them their own ability to recognise the signs & begin to move through their own denial & drop into their own grief.
Collapse happens in a way that the ripple is felt often in relationship. Most are in denial and so it’s the one who dares to say, my god: the BS, I can’t do it anymore!
And this movement, this change… impacts all.
What I sense is so needed is that those for whom their awareness directly impacts others, can find ways to places where they feel seen & known. As you write: this process is ultimately empowering. As one moves from denial and impotency to active engagement with their life. And still, right now mothers & fathers are holding their grief and acceptance of collapse & our children are asking us in all the way they ask us: but mama, is everything going to be okay? And my god!! Depending on your bandwidth on any given day, that’s a mighty question to be presented with from the very people we do want to say: my darlings! Yes!
As well as this, you have people holding this space for their teams, their communities. Their spouses etc etc etc. what would it be to have a space, where people
Can gather and be seen and known and felt in real time & that this very tangible field created by those in acceptance of & in exploration about how to be of course ends up attracting all those sitting on the fence…
I must say: the power of the human voice to call out & be heard & the joy that’s always been a part of who we are as a species: to gather, to make meaning, to express what is gives me much hope, as I work through this process in my own life.
Last night, I attended a party of friends of my mother - everyone stood & sung & my god were they joyful! My own daughter, just 13, the youngest there stood beside me as we belted out the songs around the piano in their home. Whilst it’s true we were not there to sing to the truth of collapse, nevertheless, we were there to sing…
And these days, song in all its forms is very close to the beat of my heart. As I allow myself to move from denial to engagement with what is, I find my own tool to do so is to sing. Sing as I walk the dogs. Sing as I cook. Sing as I put my children to bed. Sing….sing… sing…
So until I can manifest my own in person around the campfire, Ray Bradbury style, if we’re going to go down, let’s at least do so clutching what’s precious to us, as we attempt to make way for new shoots to appear, as these decaying systems finally succumb to the myth they always were, may I say thank you Ernesto, for providing an online ‘around the campfire’ so to speak place, where some of us may wander to remember what we’re living for on the other side of denial. For me, as I meander & at times get lost in my own grief I am beginning to feel once again that sense… of joy. And of the great gift to be alive & given this human life.
Grief is a spiritual process. Knowing that there will be much more to grieve and that we have to let go, there is no way forward without committing to a spiritual practice. We are spirit incarnate. The only reason we have a body mind is to facilitate a temporal experience. But there will be more to grieve than our personal losses. Time to get serious about the time we have left here.
For a much deeper dive into this topic, take a look at the following website. This has the date 2022 in it. Since then many things have changed, but mostly for the worst. The new 2026 forcast is about to be released. The major change is that ALL the estimates of catastrophic collapse have moved closer in time.
I appreciate articles like this (AI influenced, or not). There is a message here that is bigger than our feelings about the “quality” of the writing. Things are changing. People are woefully unprepared for what’s coming. 2026 is most likely going to be a huge wake-up call for many. The folks who are sounding the alarm are attempting to be of service, and I recognize and appreciate that gesture. Not everyone here is looking to make a buck. Some just care… and are trying to find ways to break through the noise. Thank you, Ernesto, for raising a lantern to illuminate the darkness. I see you.
The ideas articulated here are brilliant but there is a nagging question :
Have you been using ChatGPT to generate or articulate these thoughts? The use of negation in sentence construction shows up quite a lot throughout this article. Not sure if AI, or just AI-influenced
Actually, a third option for the poll:
I have been aware of collapse for some time, and I am taking steps. (I hope I am not too far behind.)
That is completely spot on Bruce - unfortunately sub Sec office only two options of answers to the poll
All of this makes enormous sense to me. The body’s registering of seasons that are shorter or longer, colder or hotter, the rising of landfills, days when haze makes breathing difficult, and above all of that, the way we invest more energy in doing the same old things. Working longer hours, buying air conditioners, caving to the commodification of everything - meals that come in kits, exercise that needs to be tracked, and endless consumption alongside its externality, pollution. Yesterday a lovely young man came to my house too do some repair and I traded a dryer that I no longer use because I hang my laundry. He is young, a single father, and he works in the construction industry doing odd jobs. He's bright, kind, and motivated but he has only a high school education and two young daughters who rely on him for everything. When I think about our changing world, I think about people like him. How will they become stewards? How do we go from the theoretical to the practical? Is it inevitable that people will die? I love reading your column because it gives me hope… I do wonder what this looks like on the ground. We're talking about the brutality of the end of our world. And we're also talking about a new one, but what happens – literally – in between? You may have already written about this and I just missed it. I feel a formless grief almost every day because my body knows something nearly unbearable is coming. I think we should be talking about it... But what about those for whom this will all sound fantastic and impossible?
Your repairman is, in all likelihood, ahead of most of us: he's faced his limitations/needs/responsibilities = his reality, and adapted to them. That, unfortunately, is far removed from the behavior/thinking of the vast majority of the public.
Yes, I get that…he’d be better off than someone who warms the seat in a finance office.
As I move through this process in my own life, one of my chief longings, wishes, stirrings of the imagination is to find a way to come together with those accepting collapse at least, and those too who simply need the good company of those unfraid to say it, in order to feel empowered to admit themselves - and to voice and hear, in a style similar to oral traditions - everyone’s experiences. To feel physically held… to rediscover community. Which for me is do key to moving from grief to rediscovering joy.
I wonder too at the cathartic nature
These human places hold. For a person to stand and say, look my awareness of collapse involves others…
& this is the piece i am holding. This is the sand falling through my splayed hand… these are the people in my world who I am holding as my acceptance of collapse awakens in them their own ability to recognise the signs & begin to move through their own denial & drop into their own grief.
Collapse happens in a way that the ripple is felt often in relationship. Most are in denial and so it’s the one who dares to say, my god: the BS, I can’t do it anymore!
And this movement, this change… impacts all.
What I sense is so needed is that those for whom their awareness directly impacts others, can find ways to places where they feel seen & known. As you write: this process is ultimately empowering. As one moves from denial and impotency to active engagement with their life. And still, right now mothers & fathers are holding their grief and acceptance of collapse & our children are asking us in all the way they ask us: but mama, is everything going to be okay? And my god!! Depending on your bandwidth on any given day, that’s a mighty question to be presented with from the very people we do want to say: my darlings! Yes!
As well as this, you have people holding this space for their teams, their communities. Their spouses etc etc etc. what would it be to have a space, where people
Can gather and be seen and known and felt in real time & that this very tangible field created by those in acceptance of & in exploration about how to be of course ends up attracting all those sitting on the fence…
I must say: the power of the human voice to call out & be heard & the joy that’s always been a part of who we are as a species: to gather, to make meaning, to express what is gives me much hope, as I work through this process in my own life.
Last night, I attended a party of friends of my mother - everyone stood & sung & my god were they joyful! My own daughter, just 13, the youngest there stood beside me as we belted out the songs around the piano in their home. Whilst it’s true we were not there to sing to the truth of collapse, nevertheless, we were there to sing…
And these days, song in all its forms is very close to the beat of my heart. As I allow myself to move from denial to engagement with what is, I find my own tool to do so is to sing. Sing as I walk the dogs. Sing as I cook. Sing as I put my children to bed. Sing….sing… sing…
So until I can manifest my own in person around the campfire, Ray Bradbury style, if we’re going to go down, let’s at least do so clutching what’s precious to us, as we attempt to make way for new shoots to appear, as these decaying systems finally succumb to the myth they always were, may I say thank you Ernesto, for providing an online ‘around the campfire’ so to speak place, where some of us may wander to remember what we’re living for on the other side of denial. For me, as I meander & at times get lost in my own grief I am beginning to feel once again that sense… of joy. And of the great gift to be alive & given this human life.
Onwards we go!
Grief is a spiritual process. Knowing that there will be much more to grieve and that we have to let go, there is no way forward without committing to a spiritual practice. We are spirit incarnate. The only reason we have a body mind is to facilitate a temporal experience. But there will be more to grieve than our personal losses. Time to get serious about the time we have left here.
For a much deeper dive into this topic, take a look at the following website. This has the date 2022 in it. Since then many things have changed, but mostly for the worst. The new 2026 forcast is about to be released. The major change is that ALL the estimates of catastrophic collapse have moved closer in time.
https://www.joboneforhumanity.org/2022_climate_change_predictions
As much as I'm interested in this topic, I can also feel the AI influencing this article, which makes me less interested in what you have to say.
Stay human.
I appreciate articles like this (AI influenced, or not). There is a message here that is bigger than our feelings about the “quality” of the writing. Things are changing. People are woefully unprepared for what’s coming. 2026 is most likely going to be a huge wake-up call for many. The folks who are sounding the alarm are attempting to be of service, and I recognize and appreciate that gesture. Not everyone here is looking to make a buck. Some just care… and are trying to find ways to break through the noise. Thank you, Ernesto, for raising a lantern to illuminate the darkness. I see you.
The ideas articulated here are brilliant but there is a nagging question :
Have you been using ChatGPT to generate or articulate these thoughts? The use of negation in sentence construction shows up quite a lot throughout this article. Not sure if AI, or just AI-influenced
Ah! I found this: "A bioregional survival and regeneration manual for people who want to rebuild resilient local systems rooted in living ecosystems"
https://www.weltaufgang.com
Very on point.