Good morning…This update has to be a quickie. I’m getting ready to leave the Age of Limits Conference and return to Boulder, Colorado. For four days we have been gathering and conversing on land that greatly resembles that described in Jim Kunstler’s novels, but rather than being set in upstate New York, this land lies in Southeastern Pennsylvania near the Maryland state line.
From my perspective, the most powerful presentation in this conference was the one yesterday by Guy McPherson who shared the truly hard science about climate change and Near-Term Extinction (NTE). The science is more than substantial, to which some conference participants who ARE scientists could attest. The presentation was sobering and, indeed, sad as we all recognized that the only thing that can slow down irreversible climate change is the collapse of industrial civilization. For those in doubt, I encourage you to follow Guy’s other presentations on You Tube and at his blog Nature Bats Last.
Again, from my perspective, most of the presentations at the conference, as with last year’s conference, kept us in our heads with little attention if any to the heart and body. Thus, the grief observance I offered on Saturday night was attended by about 1/3 of the conference attendees and desperately needed, according to them, so that we could do something with the painful emotions that get stirred at this kind of event. In a conversation with Orren Whiddon following the conference, we agreed that I would return next year to not only present a workshop and facilitate a grief observance, but also facilitate process groups every day at the conference where participants can discuss and work through their feelings about what comes up for them in hearing some truly disturbing information. (If you’re not disturbed about the realities of collapse, you are truly not paying attention.) The most sane response to all of this is first, deep grief, and then taking action by discovering our life purpose in the face of NTE and numerous other catastrophes and offering every last gift we possess to the world for the well being (however short-lived) of the earth community
While I cherish the information which we are privileged to receive in conferences of this nature, I am adamant that if we are left with it in the absence of processing our feelings about it, we will be less likely to cultivate our own resilience in the wake of collapse and beyond.
Nevertheless, I invite you to consider attending the conference next year when a few new presenters are likely to appear. Who knows what will unfold between now and then, but if current patterns prevail, there is little reason to expect good news in the world around us. The beauty and blessing of the Age of Limits Conference, however, are the myriad opportunities it offers for connection, validation, and community building while being embraced by some of the most luscious land in the country. I would love it if you could join me there in 2014.
Today is Memorial Day, created many years ago with the intention of honoring the fallen in battle. While we hold them in our hearts alongside the horrors of war, what must also be remembered and cherished on this day is the earth community in which we are innately and organically embedded. Whatever you believe about NTE, which is really of little importance in the larger scheme of things, we are losing this planet by way of the actions of our very immature, uninitiated, unwizened species. If you can, go out in nature today and reconnect with some aspect of it. Hold it close to your heart as you would your child or a beloved. These are the good ole days, and this is as good as it is likely to get.
Hi, Carolyn, I was there at the conference and very much appreciated your workshop and the grief session Saturday night. I am glad you are planning to come back next year. One thing I think could also be added to the conference agenda would be a longer, more carefully planned session on cognitive dissonance, or, as it was named at the conference, “Surviving in a clueless society.” This session should be at least as long as the other sessions at the conference were, with an opportunity for each and every participant to speak (if they wish to) about the frustration that comes when we cannot connect with our loved ones, friends, coworkers and neighbors about a matter of such deep importance. On top of the grief we feel for ourselves, our earth, our fellow species and our way of life, there is also a great deal of sadness, anger and frustration we deal with on a daily basis in being unable to communicate these feelings to those we see every day. I envision a kind of circle, preferably led by you, in which we go around and give everyone an opportunity to share these feelings with the group, and receive validation from the group. I think this would be very helpful and healing, and I hope something like this can occur. Thanks again for your wisdom and your nurturing.
Thanks Carol. I like the idea, and I’ll pass it on to Orren and the planning committee. I do believe that our emotional and spiritual prep will assist us with containing and managing the cognitive dissonance. Again, I refer to Victor Frankl, the psychiatrist who survived Nazi death camps. The people who found meaning and purpose, even in the midst of hell, had more capacity for seeing through the lies of their persecutors and surviving the horrors perpetrated on them.
If I may quote you out of context but hopefully retain your meaning:
“…in the absence of processing our feelings… we will be less likely to cultivate our own resilience…
That is exactly what virtually the entire population of the world is stuck with, not simply the absence of processing feelings, but the complete absence of cognition or understanding of those feelings of horror, dissonance, and emptiness. It is not simply those who have accepted the evidence of collapse. The entire world is awash in the insanity of industrial greed and destruction. The public consciousness crafted by the global industrial ghoul does not square with the subconscious of the individuals. The public mindset crafted by bullshit and evilness even in all of its star spangled glory is at odds with the hearts and souls of everyone. The entire world is going mad silently except for the relatively few who are acting out.
So, where do you begin? – with those who recognize their madness?
~mike~
No Mike, you begin with YOU! Yes, we live in a psychotic and suicidal culture, but you have absolutely NO control over it. The only person you do have control over is you. I’ve learned over the years that when I keep pointing to others as the problem, I am less likely to do the inner work that is absolutely necessary for my own survival and sanity. I hear your anger, and it’s totally appropriate, but it’s even more important to move beyond it into conscious, focused, self-transformation. Millions, perhaps billions of people will never “get it,” and they will perish in one way or other. You, however, do get it, and you have a golden opportunity to prepare yourself emotionally and spiritually. The point is to seize and utilize that opportunity to the fullest extent humanly possible.
“YOU” as in me – no kidding.
After 12+ years of this madness I’m honestly amazed that the emotional toxicity has not killed me. The worst times, because I’ve always had an irrational belief that I will survive what I have always believed will be a sudden dieoff, have been trying to say goodbye to most of my relatives and that period of time when I would see in public beautiful children who I vividly imagined would be meeting very tragic ends.
But yes, these are the good ol’ days. I am privileged and blessed beyond imagination. How could I possibly ever complain? There is some pain, yes, but you know what Jung said about that and I have a few physical pains that are more contentious. I have a gorgeous dog who has invaded and taken over my life and who is my emotional therapy.
The REAL pain and the virtually unsurvivable times are ahead. That I do not have the skills to deal with what is ahead is my biggest worry.
So – save the survivors. They will need their mental health for their babies.
please excuse my self-centered post.
~mike~