Mar 25, 2013 | Emotional/Spiritual
This essay is intended to be but a nudge in the direction of greater awareness, and not an in-depth exposition of the challenges that we face as a species. The crux of this short writing will, hopefully, direct my readers toward an awareness of one potential aspect of the solution to personal and global transformation. This facet pertains to gratitude and awareness of beauty.
Mar 24, 2013 | Emotional/Spiritual
Historically, new cultural stages emerge only when the previous worldviews can no longer solve the new problems that arise. When a new stage emerges, it is a response to the Albert Einstein quote, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” Ironically, each new emerging stage is also more complex than the previous one, which then creates an entirely new set of problems.
Mar 22, 2013 | Preparation
The Age of Limits directly addresses our developing understanding of the core issues relating to the emerging decline of the western industrialized model and the practical adaptations and preparations that apply on the personal, family and local levels. In-depth conversations with John Michael Greer, Carolyn Baker, Guy McPherson, Gail Tverberg, Albert Bates, and Dmitry Orlov–May 17-22, 2013
Mar 22, 2013 | Emotional/Spiritual
Even in this age of corporate despotism, political duopoly, communal atomization, ecocide and the attendant alienation and ennui, life can be lived with passion and grace, and, as individuals, we can take measures to promote a transformation of the prevailing order.
Mar 19, 2013 | Options/ New Paradigm
As modernity’s brief flight into the stratosphere of the industrial age begins its final descent, those who have not turned away from watching the inevitable hard landing will have few choices, but those who have chosen not to strap on the their oxygen masks and...
Mar 18, 2013 | Emotional/Spiritual
By and large, mental health professionals in the modern world are able to connect the dots between the explosion in the number of clients suffering from addictions, depression, anxiety, attachment disorders, learning disabilities, and other illnesses with world events at large. Most fall somewhere on the liberal side of the political spectrum and support efforts to maximize the quality of life for humans and the quality of the environment for all species. Yet I believe that most clinicians who are not familiar with the “Three E’s” of energy, environment, and economics as converging crises signaling the collapse of industrial civilization, will be emotionally challenged in working with a client who embraces this perspective.
Mar 15, 2013 | Ecopsychology
Animals can be superb teachers for humans preparing for the future. Carefully observing their capacity for being present in their bodies and therefore living in the moment is critical. Studying an animal’s instinct for survival and self-protection can enhance our own resilience. What is more, I have experienced that animals are extraordinary teachers, not only in life, but in death as well. Every animal with whom I have had to part has profoundly opened my heart and impacted me in ways I could not have imagined. Allow yourself to give your heart to an animal companion, and when you must part with it, allow yourself to grieve your loss thoroughly. You may be surprised at the parts of yourself that will be revealed.
Mar 11, 2013 | Climate Change/Environment
Patzek is Professor and Chairman of the Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering Department at The University of Texas at Austin. He also holds the Cockrell Family Regents Chair #11. Between 1990 and 2008, he was a Professor of Geoengineering at the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to joining Berkeley, he was a researcher at Shell Development, a unique research company managed for 20 years by M. King Hubbert of the Hubbert peaks. In November 2012, Patzek became President of ASPO, the Association for the Study of Peak Oil.
Mar 9, 2013 | Emotional/Spiritual
If you don’t already have a “spiritual” practice of some sort like I’ve mentioned above, you might want to consider developing one. I’m not necessarily talking about a belief in a formal religion or even God, although it may very well be that. I’m talking about an awareness of your place in the Universe.: how do you fit in? Who do you want to be in these changing times? What are you here to do? Is there a “big picture” for you, something larger than yourself? Maybe you’ll even find your sacred purpose and there’s something you can do that no one else can.
Mar 7, 2013 | Collapse of Industrial Civilization
What’s needed instead, as the United States stumbles toward its fourth great existential crisis, is the broadest possible selection of options that have been shown to work. This is where local communities and community groups can play a critical role, for it’s precisely on the local scale that options can be tested, problems identified and fixed, and possibilities explored most easily.