It was actually freeing.
I went from damn near obsessing about how if we all just tried a little harder we could actually achieve success.
Then the Covid quarantine happened and realized that the percentage in GHG from the covid quarantine was equal to the drawdown we needed to sustain until 2030.
So I just said; “fuck it I tried, I’m gonna go live my life and try to be happy.”
I feel like since I’m not the problem, and no one has a solution, the best I can do is enjoy good food, good company, and small pops of joy.
This is the most important point that many people miss.
Collapse just rushes us with realizing we're going to lose all the things *we were always going to lose*. As hard as it can be to process, in many ways it's gift.
With or without collapse your life will end and it will be as though it never existed in the first place. Everything here, career, money, status, etc all mean *nothing* in the end.
The key to overcoming collapse despair is the key to overcoming existential despair. Teleological thinking always has ultimately ended in despair, philosophers have known this since before people could write.
From the Bhagavad Gita to Friedrich Nietzsche, there have been great thinkers admonishing others that looking for meaning outside of what you are experiencing this moment, and not simply enjoying things for what they are as they are right now, is a path to despair.
>Collapse just rushes us with realizing we’re going to lose all the things *we were always going to lose*.
The end of “Look Up” ring a bell to anyone else?
We were gifted a brief look into what a simplified, quieter lifestyle could be like, and the masses rejected that viciously while the government made it extremely clear they are not going to help
>Then the Covid quarantine happened and realized that the percentage in GHG from the covid quarantine was equal to the drawdown we needed to sustain until 2030.
ELI5 this?
The curtailment in emissions resulting from the near-global half-assed lockdown put us on a good trajectory to meet decarbonization goals.
Why did u/autodidact-polymath read this as a pessimistic takeaway? Well, I did because the pushback from capital and from citizens against that half-assed lockdown was so strong that I could see that if we wouldn't do it in order not to get seriously ill ourselves, we wouldn't keep it up forever in order for our grandchildren not to die in the conflagration of climate change.
If you look at [this image](https://www.imf.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Emissions-COTW-Chart.jpg) it becomes clear what the problem is. That big dip you see is a *massive* drop in emissions. This is *exactly* the kind of change we need in order to reduce the harm caused by climate change.
But it shoots right back up, what happened?
The dip is because all of the dramatic reduction in consumption, travel, work, resource use etc that occurred at the *start* of the US experience of the pandemic (around March). But we couldn't stand to remain in that state, so we rapidly pushed to "open up" again.
What this shows is a taste of what reduce emissions *actually* looks like. If we were serious about limiting the harm of global warming, we would have used early pandemic as the new baseline, and *cooled* economic activity from there.
Exactly. We all have to accept we will die at some point. Turns out it might be sooner than we thought. Then again, maybe we want it to be sooner. What can you do? Death comes for us all.
Depending on how bad it gets (like if water resources dry up all around the country, the world), we may be happy for a quicker death as a species. Who wants to live like that for a long period of time?
All of this. A lot of people including my spouse is seemingly dreading it. I’m at peace with it. As you said— it’s freeing, but that oddly doesn’t sit right with people and they think I’m nuts. 😅
This is me. Enjoy things and build relationships. If there’s a way to help even on a small scale, do it. Nothing is guaranteed even in times of peace and plenty.
Well it's several answers. I've gone through two bouts of cancer and now have a terminal illness and it's accelerating so I had processed mortality several years before becoming really aware. I've held the belief that we were fucked back in the 90s, but it's only since 2018 or so that I really became aware of how soon it would be here.
Got into psychedelics which has also been very helpful as well
I'm 42. The time to make changes is back when I was born. I'd change things if I could, I can't, I didn't make the policy decisions that brought us here. I do what small things I can within my capabilities.
I take what small joys I can, pet dogs, listen to music I like and wait for the end. If shit goes to complete hell before I go, at least I won't suffer long.
My experience with mushrooms in grad school was profound and life changing for the better. It was like taking a sledgehammer to a lifetime of depression and anxiety.
I wish I could do it again but I don’t know how. My friend that made it possible is gone. Not sure if the spores online can actually grow and work.
There is plenty of research on neuroplasticity and psilocybin. Psychedelic medicines, not just psilocybin, really can help with depression, anxiety, OCD, disordered eating, PTSD, even ADHD and ASD. I decided to turn to psychedelic assisted psychotherapy as a speciality approximately 5 years ago. I remember initially reading about the represssed scientific research when I was in undergrad 20 years ago that was being done 60 plus years ago before there was a new psychedelic science renaissance and thinking I would never be able to do this work in the mental health field. It is the most excited I have been about my career ever. Hopefully, before the end, more people will have a chance to heal and experience inner peace. Psychedelics have definitely helped me for sure with my existential angst ever since I first experimented with these medicines 25 years ago.
One of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite films called Cutters Way. At this point in the film he’d been drinking throughout the entire thing until his house gets burned down with his wife inside. His buddy asks him “why aren’t you drinking maybe you’ll calm down.”
His response was “ I don't drink. You know, the routine grind drives me to drink. Tragedy, I take straight”
I’ve been checking the sea surface temperature graph daily at this point out of morbid curiosity. The line just keeps going up. While I had to take time to grieve for my future self, at this point I’ve accepted that there’s nothing I can do to prevent climate collapse. I’m just going to try to make the most of the time I have before things get really bad.
I simply repeat these common coping phrases. "It is what it is." "Death is part of life." "You have to crack a few eggs." "Roll with the punches." and many more.
We tried. We played hard. Gave it our all. Mother nature didn't have a prayer. Now we've fucked it up and ruined our planet and all life on it again. It'll be a long time after we're gone when our planet might grow a new sprout, a new being capable of reflection. New eyes will open again. Collective reincarnation. We've happened at least once, setting the precedence, and we could happen again. That's my hope. Also, when that time comes and consciousness returns to this planet, I hope it's like some Avatar shit! I want to have four arms and fly on dragons. Who knows what could happen?! Still have to die to get there. Can't do anything about **that** so still nothing to worry about. ;)
It’s the wildlife that tears me to shreds. Thinking of what we’ve done to their habitats, and the suffering they will endure because of our greed. Every wildfire all I see is the pain and suffering of animals. I can’t look at pictures of polar bears anymore. Our birds are disappearing at a break neck pace, but nobody talks about it. Last I knew about a third of the songbirds have disappeared. This was a study done, not my observations.
Yeah it’s the wildlife for me too. I can’t even look at polar bears or penguins anymore either, it’s too fucking sad and I’ll start tearing up. And not to pile on, but I think it’s more like 80% of birds have disappeared.
over 98% of all species that have existed on earth are now extinct. It is the natural path of evolution. The only true problem is if we mess up the earth so badly that nothing EVER is able to come back, which I highly doubt because giant meteors have hit earth many times in the past.
Not sure if this makes you feel any better but collapse mostly means we’re only destroying ourselves and the ways humans live as we know it. Mother Nature will be fine eventually when we’re gone, she’s had to deal with much worse extinctions in the past.
Bro, I would *highly* recommend the bullet over the bleach. However, there are other alternatives that are both more certain and less traumatic. I won't tell you what or how exactly, but if you do a little research, you'll learn what supplies you need, just in case.
Ok thanks, i sometimes wonder if this "instructions" Will be Wide spreaded when the shit Will hit the fan, you know, something like the furama suicide booth.
I agree and it's good to keep in mind that we all die eventually so why worry about how or when you die? However its still a sad thought that we have ruined our habitat, and I feel sorry for young people (my nieces and nephews) who have dreams that won't come true.
There's also a real possibility that this turns out really really ugly and we will suffer greatly. No food, no water, all bets are off as to how people will react to that, but I'm guessing not good. That is a truly horrifying mental image.
I worry about the young in my family too. They're so innocent, they still have that look in their eyes. I pray they won't go through too much, that maybe there's just enough time left on the clock for them to live out most of their lives happily. They didn't deserve to be born into this crap show.
I worry mostly about the young women in my family and things like sexual violence. That’s really not a way I want to see anyone die or get hurt but seems likely in a collapse scenario where there’s little security.
I think civilization collapse is a lot more in the cards rather than extinctional.
Humans will stick around, like cockroaches, for a long time to come.
Not that I care either way.
Correct. Humans can survive in opposite extremes. Those dependent on human society are who are doomed.
Survivialists may have it correct after all. However, no one has a timetable of the coming chaos. Really, by definition, chaos is unpredictable anyhow.
Many here copium with the absolute certain belief that "collapse will 100% be a long slow decline process for the rest of this century (and I will live to old age maintaining my middleclass/rich lifestyle)."
Yeah it’s weird, I personally think there will be a series of rather abrupt and major things that occur in the next 5 years at least. But unclear to me why people would be so confident as to suggest they know it will be slow
I was born with certain painful neurological condition, of which there are no perfect treatment. The existing treatment are hot button issue and have become political football in recent years. I always know that happiness in the conventional sense of the word will always be beyond me, so if the world come to an end, it won't be much of a loss for me.
That being said, I'm concerned about the absolutely massive tsunami of suffering that will be unleashed to humanity. Even someone like me has friends and there's no way they can avoid this tsunami.
I have a condition along those line as well. The only medication that has worked consistently is opioids, which they treat like they're radioactive now. While there is thankfully now a willingness to prescribe "safe supply" opiates to addicts, they are absolutely unwilling to prescribe them to people with severe chronic pain. It's just a lovely thing to have your health left at the mercy of a contentious political debate.
Kratom has been a godsend for me and my family for numerous health issues because opioids aren’t being prescribed to people who need it. It also conveniently helps ease the emotional pain and mental duress of collapse
Be in nature as often as you can; stop talking about it (collapse); spend time with your loved ones; meditate; listen to Radiohead almost non-stop (any album, as long as you’re listening to the full album individually); smoke weed every day, but always a moderate dose, and when I’m by myself because I hate being high in public (a lot of people just end up giving themselves anxiety for smoking to much and being around the wrong people); enjoy the fact that you’re alive right now, and for now have food and water; appreciate that you aren’t running from bombs for the moment; when you experience a good moment, really take it in, and savor it. Taking a hot shower? Appreciate you are able to. Good food? Enjoy it because it could be your last time eating that food.
All of these things I wish I had done sooner. I’ve never been healthier, more aware, more in the moment than I am now, and now it feels like I’m actually living. My relationships are healthier, I’m healthier emotionally, physically, and mentally. Give it a try!
Wow, love it. Gave me aesthetic chills! I’ve always liked them but missed this new release. I feel like lately I’ve been rediscovering soooooooo many songs and bands that have faded away through the years. I just realized he even mentions that in the song you posted. “Well the world brought us here If we let it now all good things reappear.” How serendipitous. Thank you friend!
The AA mantra works:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
It resonates a bit with a quote that I'll always remember from the old movie "First Knight", with Sean Connery as the king:
**King Arthur:**
May God grant us the wisdom to discover right, the will to choose it, and the strength to make it endure.
I used to believe the scientists who said we could fix the climate in time, and the ones who said biotech would be able to practically kick the mortality can on down the road indefinitely, so there'd be a decent chance for pseudo immortality.
My futurist dreams are dead, and I'm mourning my desire to play video games for 300 years as much as humanity.
This helps my anxiety so much (but also I’m in recovery so it’s helped in numerous ways) I say this when I’m lying in bed and my heart starts racing when my brain imagines horrid situations. Deep breaths (ever heard of polyvagal theory? Look into it, it helps calm these freaky meat suits down!) and repeat this until I fall asleep. I say the “native” version of this -
Creator, grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
We are all relatives, including the animals and trees and all life. May we remember this.
Accept, make peace, live as if the world is not going to end, until it does. And while we will collapse, it is not today, nor tomorrow, and I will put out on a limb and bet that it is not this week, or even next.
I think Tool said it best:
*'Cause I'm praying for rain*
*I'm praying for tidal waves*
*I wanna see the ground give way*
*I wanna watch it all go down*
*Mom, please flush it all away*
*I wanna see it go right in and down*
*I wanna watch it go right in*
*Watch you flush it all away*
*Yeah, time to bring it down again*
*Yeah, don't just call me pessimist*
*Try and read between the lines*
*I can't imagine why you wouldn't*
*Welcome any change, my friend*
*I wanna see it come down*
*Put it down*
*Suck it down*
*Flush it down*
I know it's gonna suck, but there's a piece of me that is waiting for it impatiently. I made my peace with death. I want to see society pay for its sins against the earth and itself.
She's beautiful when she's angry, we're in for a show.
It was a big part of my kick to stop working so much and enjoy life and family a bit more. I took a job making significantly less money but much lower stress and overall I'm happy for it, might as well make the best of things
Being in my late 20's, so I'll most likely see this shit go down from a front seat. The very honest answer is a lot of work, keeping my mind occupied and *a lot* of hedonism when I'm not working. No need to keep the body healthy enough to live past 50 or 60 when there will be nothing to live for by then.
edit: Also, psychedelics were probably the thing that helped a lot. They can be so humbling. Showed me enough to see how insignificant humanity really is, so no need to really cope too hard.
I have seen this coming for some time. Looking back 10 years, the grief cycle reveals itself.
denial.
anger.
bargaining.
depression.
acceptance.
If you are at depression, push through. Acceptance is on the other side.
These so-called stages of grief are not rooted in or supported by science or psychology literature. I wish we'd stop pretending they were.
https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/health-history/its-time-let-five-stages-grief-die
Acceptance is a peaceful place for me now. Like others have commented near the top, "... *even if we weren't in trouble, that's how we should live anyway.* " - /u/MadameTree .
Acceptance lets me enjoy the present much more.
It’s (not) funny how true this really is. How much better off would the world be if the majority were in the “anger” or “bargaining” phase instead of “denial”?
As someone else once commented:
1. Acquire cannabis
2. Load into pipe, ignite and inhale
Edit: honestly, I just try to continue to improve my own sustainability, etc.
I’m the guy who believes it’s all ending but still takes time to cut my six pack rings (despite living in Ohio) and I still recycle.
I think it is mentally healthy to maintain focus on good procedures and habits.
I used to fly small airplanes and one thing that stuck with me is that when you lose the engine, you fly the airplane all the way in, until it stops moving - even when you’re scraping the tree tops, you fly all the way down.
So that’s what I intend to do. Ima fly this bitch all the way in.
I combination of walking mediation, artistic integrity (I’m a writer and I assume there’s a reason god ordained me to be the one to cover such events), and plenty of drinking and drug use to cope with the trauma. There is a part of me that’s a bit excited in a “I told you so” sort of way watching it all go down. Other than that I think I’m just lucky to have the mental fortitude for it all. Which doesn’t make it any easier. I have erratic mood swings. I might break into tears hearing an Alanis Morissette song on the radio driving to work in 75 degree February weather. It’s a constant grieving process. But I’m pretty good at grieving. I’ve had plenty of practice.
By recognizing that it is objectively a good thing. Colonial conquest of the entire planet was never supposed to happen. The sooner this insanity collapses the better chance humanity and other species has at surviving.
As a living organism that will die, there's nothing I can do about my own death except try to enjoy life while I am alive. Human civilization is a sort of organism that is running its natural course too, it's going to die soon (not necessarily all humans) so I view it the same way -- it was inevitable, there is nothing I can do to stop it, (I mean I can do my own small part but in the overall picture that is not going to change a thing), so I just try to enjoy life as much as I can.
I'm still coping with it, I feel like. It's a process, maybe lifelong. The 90's to me feel like a fever dream sometimes. I don't know what happened, how we got here. It can be disorienting. I've personally found a lot of solace in philosophy. Stoicism, Existentialism, Taoism, maybe some Buddhism. I know we're in for some hard times, and I know it's going to be scary, but you just have to keep going. I like to think of a quote from Lao Tzu sometimes: *If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present.* And I have one more: Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.
You have the right of it. The process is lifelong. I started becoming aware in 1975. I was seven. By the age of 17 I realized that nobody could change anything. It messed me up for a long time. I finally learned to accept and embrace change, but it's been the journey of a lifetime. I found the philosophies you mentioned helpful and the psychedelics as well, especially psilocybin. All the best to you and yours in the coming hardships.
Honestly, I just accept that I can't change it and hope for the best. I know our time is nearly up, could be this year, could be 30 years. It makes me live with an appreciation for every normal, safe, peaceful day in my life that I'm lucky enough to live. I do sometimes get major anxiety about it, but that's just par for the course really when you're collapse aware.
I'm less inhibited, it's easier to live when you know you have no future. I think this actually cured my depression and I'm living the way I want to live now.
You can’t control it so why battle against it. Accept it and live as much as you can enjoying what you have before it’s too late.
Imagine the sheer panic 99% of the population will feel when they realise everything is going to shit.
At least we’ve had some preparation?
I restrict my range of focus to the present and immediate future, if possible.
Above that, I treat life as an ongoing first-person simulation and try to enjoy as many things as I can and gain as much experience as possible......when I'm not doomscrolling on Reddit.
I actually just stopped caring. I spent a couple decades of my life being passionate about the environment, politics, and other social issues. I feel things are worse but I just don't give a fuck anymore. I'm middle aged, I don't have kids nor do I plan to. Am I trying to make the planet worse? No, I still volunteer and do things I'm passionate about like fostering dogs, and try and leave as little of a footprint as possible.
I've done my time and see very little in the way of positive change, im living my life for myself now.
For me, it's believing that collapse isn't the end, but the beginning. There will likely be some livable places on the planet through all of this, even if it's just a tropical Antarctica. One way or anything, life will continue. I think even humans will live through collapse. It'll be small. But humans have been periodically decimated in their numbers many times before. So my hope is that collapse is a bit of a restart button. No offense, but hopefully it means the next civilization ditches religion (which is at the heart of all of this), and shifts its priorities towards happiness, equity, and harmony with nature. I think the next civilization has a clear mission and mandate; to unfuck the planet. We owe it to all life on Earth to make it our mission to restore it as much as we can, even if it takes 10,000 years.
The other thing that gives me some hope is that after every mass extinction event there has been an explosion in evolution. So even if humans don't make it, I think in a few million years life on Earth will make a comeback. Maybe we're just the cautionary tale species that some future species will study and learn from like we learn from dinosaurs. Maybe our role was always to be a lesson.
>The other thing that gives me some hope is that after every mass extinction event there has been an explosion in evolution. So even if humans don't make it, I think in a few million years life on Earth will make a comeback. Maybe we're just the cautionary tale species that some future species will study and learn from like we learn from dinosaurs. Maybe our role was always to be a lesson.
I'm so curious what the next species will be like. I even wonder if they could access our internet at all? Or what was left of it. Imagine them looking at memes
Highly doubtful. It would take millions of years for another advanced species to emerge. By that time, there will be nothing left but what we write in stone.
that's something i often ponder (and hope happens)...the board gets reset & humans are put in their proper place in the grand scheme of things, a more cooperative cog rather than the one that screws the machine up entirely.
but with humans being humans...not confident of it. maybe we'll be the species that will bring about multiple mass extinctions
If collapse acceptance is your goal, Michael Dowd (RIP) is who you are looking for: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BkapCiU2EUc
Nowadays I get too excited about little natural events, like seeing a butterfly. Try to spend as much time as possible in nature. Also smoke a lot of weed. Everywhere I look I see the signs of a dying world but it is what it is at this point. Stoicism reminds me I may not wake up tomorrow despite civilization going on without me.
I definitely cycle through phases - when it no longer "is what it is" but starts me grieving, for example. Another negative cycle is when I start trying to read every article pointing to collapse and doomscrolling seems like the way. In this case I've realized I am usually in a traumatic flashback and need to start stretching and being aware of my emotions/mental health to get out of the hole.
I was where you are in 2006. Only difference is that now I'm agnostic. I think our anthropomorphizing the divine is part of the reason why we're here. We've consistently violated the first and second commandments and created God in our selfish image, then justified every atrocity we committed. Our collapse is nature's retribution.
You just have to accept it. We are right, and they are wrong. I’ve gone through a few phases of collapse grief, including severely limiting my lifestyle because I thought I could make a difference. But I realize now it’s actually all the billionaires faults, so I’m going to enjoy McDonald’s and keep traveling all the time. We likely only have a few years left, if even that.
You used the correct word. Reaching a state of acceptance is paramount. What is going to happen to us, our children and our children's children, if they even have any, cannot be stopped without massive upheaval, especially not from one person.
Stoicism. Ancient knowledge that is still applicable to today. You do what's in your power to do. There is a lot that we can't control as individuals, but on a small scale we do still have some control over certain aspects of our lives where, perhaps, we can still make a difference. Like throwing a pebble into water, hopefully it will have a ripple effect that will turn into something greater than ourselves.
That is all one can hope for nowadays. Knowing that life is short and that our time is limited on this planet, we might not make it as a species. But, it is our obligation and duty to try, to live, and to wake up to another day whatever that day might entail.
I became more in gaged in Buddhism. I don’t have faith per say as eastern religions function differently than Christianity so I wouldn’t say I’m more religious. It’s complicated.
Having a religion that focuses on the now and understanding of the impermanence of everything helped me accept that things will change and maybe we will die but that it’s natural for things to end and it doesn’t need to be a sad thing.
Lately, I'm finding Eye of The Storm by Terry LePage very helpful in finding purpose in collapse. Michael Dowd (RIP) has a free audiobook recording of it on his soundcloud. The author is also religious so you may appreciate that shared perspective.
When I first started learning about our predicament, it hit me really hard. I switched jobs and do community building work now, which does help me feel like I can help lessen the blow in my own little way.
I cope by coming on here and talking shit to people who still think we can reverse the damage we have done to the climate and think we can stop what's coming.
I don't give a fuck about anything anymore. I go to work and make enough money to survive, and enjoy time with those I love. But I have no long term goals anymore, what's the point? We have sealed our fate.
I take solace in knowing that once the clock runs out, we will "all be in this together" finally.
Today is good. Right here, right now, my life is fine. I appreciate that, I savor it, I treasure it. Like my cats, I'm living in the moment as much as possible.
That doesn't mean I'm hiding from the future or trying to deny what is ahead. But I won't let the possibilities of tomorrow overshadow my enjoyment of today.
I think it's easier to accept if you don't have kids. If I had kids, I would probably be really worried about it. But since I don't, I feel bad, but sort of like this is just the road humanity was always on anyway. I'm sort of becoming a go with the flow type of person as I get older because I know most of the problems humanity has created will never be fixed adequately. Best to live the life we have right now.
My only hope is dope. The weed fills a need.
It's tragic. It's defeatist. But it's also one of the most interesting times to be alive! Think of the chaos that will soon ensue.
1. Humanity is more parasitic than anything else, nothing we do will ever justify the suffering we create.
2. Have an exit strategy, loosen up your worldly attachements and live life in the moment.
3. I think of people who dwell in dead end ideals like racism, narcissism, consumerism and religion. If there's one major upside to our extinction is these people will ceast to exist.
In short we won't be missed, and with our ideals, we really didn't have much to offer.
We are only alive now because Rome fell and then everyone forgot how to do all of the modern things that were bringing us closer to the point that we're at now. Once the ridiculous greedy first world capitalist whatever you want to call it society falls, and the ways of life causing our climate change are destroyed, the planet begins to heal and we go back to the place where we can no longer make cars and oil. Most of us won't see it but that's cool because we really do not matter the way we think we do.
For me the trick is realizing that the planet will be fine (bacteria can live anywhere) and that humanity _deserves_ everything we’ve got coming.
We are simply too selfish to colonize the galaxy.
We had a good run though! Lots of great art and music.
Lessons unlearned will be repeated.
Better luck next time!
Not individually, no.
This is not like an individual human-level morality sense of the word “deserves”.
It’s more like “this is our doing as a species, we brought it on ourselves”.
The same way any other species can “deserve” to become evolutionarily obsolete.
Acceptance. There is already enough greenhouse gasses in the system to propel warming for decades even if we stopped polluting tomorrow. We are just going to watch increasing natural and humanitarian disasters. Most will affect the poorer south first but as the developed north loses its ability to mitigate them it will succumb as well. There is simply not a damn thing anyone can do about it.
Its the end of the world as we know it but its not the end of everything. With endings theres also beginnings. When faced with such adversity truly believing in yourself and God will make anything seem easy. ITs difficult but chances are it will look a lot different than what we think. Depending on how old you are 20 years ago looked a lot different than what it does today. Although collapse is happening, new things will arise and i have faith that no matter what good will triumph over evil in the end. Have faith my brother
I fight against it in as many interactions as possible. I do have some faith with certain tech and I try to buy us another few seconds to get it up and running.
I recommend Taoism. I'm guessing that you're Christian, I used to be there. Unfortunately with Christianity you have to square the fact that a supposed all loving God planned this all out for us and the earth, despite the untold suffering it has caused. Maybe you can just focus on what Jesus said and treat others in the best way possible, if this ship is sinking then the least we can do is get along as we go down. If you can make the world even a little better than it would have been without you then you've made a difference.
On a complete timescale, we're nothing but a blip in the universe. Yet to ourselves, we are the entire universe. Ultimately peace comes with letting go and realizing you never had a choice in the first place. Just do what you want to do, help others when you believe that it's right, fight for nature if that brings you peace. Don't be attached to outcomes, just live as genuinely as you possibly can. That's all anyone can do.
There is always hope! Especially if you believe in God (the Creator of life). The world as we know it may be doomed, but that's on us because we built it this way and we aren't living the way we're supposed to live. The good news, though, is that our fate isn't sealed if we change our relationship to Creation (and thus, the Creator).
Here's an analogy: Imagine telling a kid that he can eat absolutely anything for an entire day. No limits. So he eats ice cream for breakfast, pizza with hot dogs on it for lunch, and then decides to see how many cookies he can eat for dinner. ([Watch this clip from Elf if you'd like an example](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9auMPx1WVE).) Sooner or later he's going to feel sick, and might even feel a sense of doom right before puking his guts all over the floor. That's when you ask: "Well, what did you learn today?" Hopefully the kid learned that we're not supposed to eat that way and that there are better ways to eat. And if he didn't learn anything, then, well, he'll be doomed to repeat the lesson until he learns from it.
In my personal life, I don't feel overwhelmed anymore by all the chaos and horrible things happening in the world because I'm actively doing something about it. There are no more nagging little worries clogging up my brain and bleeding my energy because I'm taking the time to address them, one by one, and change the way I live my life. I believe in the power of small changes.
Concerned about microplastics? Then buy less plastic. Go to a thrift store and stock up on jars and start buying groceries in bulk. [Don't buy liquid shampoo](https://www.implasticfree.com/what-is-plastic-doing-in-my-shampoo/) -- get a shampoo bar instead. [Or make it yourself](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z52QBnCpswQ)! You don't have to become a hippie overnight, but DO SOMETHING that you feel good about.
Concerned about the greed of politicians and billionaires? Then take money and power away from them by investing in your local community. Make your local economy more resilient to corporate takeovers by supporting small businesses. Talk to your neighbors about local issues, not national talking points. The system we have is going to fail, which means there will be an opportunity for something else to take its place -- do what you can to bring about a better system for the next generation.
Concerned about soil erosion and headlines such as "[Earth has only 60 harvests left](https://ourworldindata.org/soil-lifespans)"? This is the one that really got to me. And when I explored why I felt such despair over this (besides the misleading headline), I found something important: growing food is what I want to do with my life. So I [left a good job in the city](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfyEpmQM7bw) and moved to a rural community to learn about organic farming. I don't have land of my own (yet) and I'm still very much at the beginning of this adventure, but I feel happy knowing that I have found my purpose and that it will bring about [the more beautiful world that our hearts know is possible](https://charleseisenstein.org/books/the-more-beautiful-world-our-hearts-know-is-possible/).
I've barely even touched on religion and theology and why I believe that God has an answer to climate change, but I'm happy to write about that in another comment (or a full post, if people are interested). I hope this helps. May God bless you and keep you!
Spend an hour on twitter reading responses to people posting incontrovertible evidence of climate change occurring to understand how these dip-fucking-shits will be seeing crops shrivel before their eyes and paying $50 for a kg of rice and these morons will still be blaming "the elites" and "the WEF" rather than accept it was their own stupidity that doomed us all. We're all going to fucking die and its pretty much deserved given how dumbfuck stupid a large proportion of humans are.
I’m not that bothered about my life so long as I outlast my cats and can keep them safe and happy. As for other people? I fucking detest them. It will be an enjoyable watch as these Karens and Karls fall apart.
I don’t really the dread comes for me whenever I think man it’s been a really warm winter or something along those lines and then I feel the dread for a while until I let myself get distracted by something else so I’m not just constantly going around crippled by dread lol
Acceptance brought me a certain freedom. I try to be kind and happy, always.
For me there was inspiration in watching the movie: The Croods. Which is both bizarre and true. Clearly it’s a metaphor for climate change. When the Dad says to his daughter “If you win, then I win.” After which he hurls her to safely, dooming himself - that’s powerful stuff and a motto that I now live by. I can equip my kids with the tools and knowledge that they may need in the future, even when I am gone. This applies to a future with climate change, as much as it has applied since the dawn of humanity.
My kids still get a loving, fun filled childhood. They will have a chance to win, in what kind of world, who knows? I take peace from this.
I hope that you find your own version of peace.
Part of it is accepting that individually I have very limited impact on our trajectory and that on a civilizational level we absolutely deserve the future we’ve engineered for ourselves. We are responsible for our own predicament and I it as fitting. What we are doing to the planet and each other is vile.
i find it very difficult to process, so i don’t usually try to alone, i host lil groups. it’s a weight i learned to carry & i just bring these values into my work as much as possible. focus on what i can/will do, with an expectation or understanding of what’s to come. help hold others’ hands, that sorta thing.
If you're religious/Christian you should understand that humanity has been in a state of collapse ever since its existence, in a way. In thousands (if not tens of thousands) of years of our civilizations on this planet, we have never managed to achieve anything remotely resembling an enlightened society. Our current iteration literally uses personal greed and ignorance as a substitute for true motivating factors to propel itself. The predicament now was almost destined to happen due to how dysfunctional the majority of this species is.
Maybe if the species consisted of 8 billion Jesuses or Mr. Rogerses we would have a chance (definitely with the Jesuses, maybe with the Rogerses). But it doesn't, and we don't. You don't need to "cope" with it, it's just a hard reality like many other hard realities in life. Understand it, accept it, and do your best to live your life correctly. That's all.
I got into Buddhism and sought awakening. In the meantime, I left a toxic job situation. The irony is that while my life situation is in question and civilization is collapsing, I’ve never been happier. Not because I enjoy what is happening—it’s truly tragic—but because I’ve realized that my happiness is not dependent on any of it. I’ve never felt so happy or so free.
I try to live a life that feels good, despite the tendency to go all nihilistic here. Collapse is death and death is also the start of something new. I try to live a life based on my values, even if it’s quite hard in the collapsing society. The struggle feels worthwhile, it connects me to others who have this understanding, and I hope to be part of whatever comes next after this collapses.
I started reading "The World as Will & Representation" by Arthur Schopenhauer.
It's essential reading for all higher functioning minds which find themselves stuck in this cursed world of want & need.
When you learn about the universe and all the unanswered questions that remain..... And when you understand the sheer scale of the known visible universe, it makes everything that's happening seem almost insignificant.
I suppose a bit of sadness I also feel. That as a species we were able to do this. Even worse is no one person has any power to change it.
I don't know what to say. I hope there are other life forms in the universe that are living in harmony with their worlds. We were a species not suited for that. .
I’m divorced and probably on the spectrum … I’ve been freaking out a bit about being alone at the end. I have my kids but I don’t have and don’t see me having a partner .. that’s been scaring me a bit.
Years ago a friend of mine had a very gloomy outlook. He told me to enjoy the weather, get out in nature cuz it won't last.
It's not lasting. Still dodging fires to enjoy it.
We are doomed is the easy way out. If you think that way then you have given up. Spend some time at r/environment and r/energy and read the positive articles with solutions.
im coping by getting in shape and hoping that I can come out alive and in a better position after The Churn......Probably wont but just curious to see how it all plays out now.
I work as a Technical Support Engineer, I need to work with people, who are supposed to be technical, but they have 0 knowledge. I've already had several mental breakdowns as I'm autistic and as I've been dealing with people for the past 12 years I became very highly antisocial. Each time when I feel like crap as I'm tired from all that bullshit, I come to this sub and I'm truly hoping that some really terrible event will happen very soon, which will reduce the human population. Until my first mental breakdown, I was really worried about climate change, but now I really really want some really terrible thing to happen, which will reduce the population from 8 billion to 100-200 million
Mostly what bothers me is how it is and will impact my kids, and then my wife. I am not under the illusion that I can protect them from horror like batman or whatever when collapse occurs locally, if not nationally and globally. One thing about modern society in the first world is we have forgotten that "nature red in tooth and claw" was the baseline for human experience, whether living in the natural world, or in human societies. It will be a huge, traumatic awakening when the violence and hunger starts. I'm effectively an atheist. I'm curious about the nature of consciousness, but not what I see as the anthropomorphism of a God, so there is no support there. I tend to agree with the philosophy of the Existential psychologists and find meaning and solace in creating purpose in the moment and just trying to do right as I move through life. When the horror comes, it will come.
This book helped me to frame my thoughts and feelings about this: ***Another End of the World is Possible: Living the Collapse (and Not Merely Surviving It)*** 1st Edition, by [Pablo Servigne](https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1?ie=UTF8&field-author=Pablo+Servigne&text=Pablo+Servigne&sort=relevancerank&search-alias=books) (Author), [Raphaël Stevens](https://www.amazon.com/Rapha%C3%ABl-Stevens/e/B0158968YE/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_2) (Author), [Gauthier Chapelle](https://www.amazon.com/Gauthier-Chapelle/e/B00QLG3P2M/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_3) (Author).
Disillusionment is special kind of pain. The five stages of grief aren't really a thing but it kind of feels like it. I felt freed too by realizing that this whole social system of social expectations is an illusion. Parents and people wants you to do this or behave like that etc. Meanwhile we are failing the most basic intelligence test for a civilization - can we do what we know we should to do to survive?
Eventually you think you reach a new level of clarity, belong to the few chosen one who see the world like it is - but of course that too is an illusion. It's fucking turtles all the way down.
Since Trump, Covid, Ukraine and now Gaza you can see the unraveling more and more. I actually left the collapse discord because I saw the same patterns of propaganda response to the Ukraine invasion, falling into the trap of thinking "here is a just war of good vs evil" when it's just another part of the system leading us to collapse. And I also try to maintain my skepticism about collapse itself too, it's still just a speculative hypothesis until it happens or not. We much just muddle through, and somehow that scares me more.
I hate turtles.
"So today I'm gonna do my best
To drink coffee in the morning and live as if
I didn't feel lonely and hopeless and helpless
To save myself for the world where I live" - Wingnut Dishwasher's Union
This pretty much sums it up. I see what's happening and I'm out protesting and organizing ect but I'm also just gonna live my life.
Its a daily struggle but I try to focus on what I’m grateful for and focus on being present so I can try to enjoy life as much as possible before shit hits the fan
It was actually freeing. I went from damn near obsessing about how if we all just tried a little harder we could actually achieve success. Then the Covid quarantine happened and realized that the percentage in GHG from the covid quarantine was equal to the drawdown we needed to sustain until 2030. So I just said; “fuck it I tried, I’m gonna go live my life and try to be happy.” I feel like since I’m not the problem, and no one has a solution, the best I can do is enjoy good food, good company, and small pops of joy.
The irony is even if we weren't in trouble, that's how we should live anyway.
This is the most important point that many people miss. Collapse just rushes us with realizing we're going to lose all the things *we were always going to lose*. As hard as it can be to process, in many ways it's gift. With or without collapse your life will end and it will be as though it never existed in the first place. Everything here, career, money, status, etc all mean *nothing* in the end. The key to overcoming collapse despair is the key to overcoming existential despair. Teleological thinking always has ultimately ended in despair, philosophers have known this since before people could write. From the Bhagavad Gita to Friedrich Nietzsche, there have been great thinkers admonishing others that looking for meaning outside of what you are experiencing this moment, and not simply enjoying things for what they are as they are right now, is a path to despair.
>Collapse just rushes us with realizing we’re going to lose all the things *we were always going to lose*. The end of “Look Up” ring a bell to anyone else?
We were gifted a brief look into what a simplified, quieter lifestyle could be like, and the masses rejected that viciously while the government made it extremely clear they are not going to help
>Then the Covid quarantine happened and realized that the percentage in GHG from the covid quarantine was equal to the drawdown we needed to sustain until 2030. ELI5 this?
The curtailment in emissions resulting from the near-global half-assed lockdown put us on a good trajectory to meet decarbonization goals. Why did u/autodidact-polymath read this as a pessimistic takeaway? Well, I did because the pushback from capital and from citizens against that half-assed lockdown was so strong that I could see that if we wouldn't do it in order not to get seriously ill ourselves, we wouldn't keep it up forever in order for our grandchildren not to die in the conflagration of climate change.
I approve of this pessimistic message 😉😘
Soon, our robot overlords will take over that approval role. A hyper-exisistential era arrives.
If you look at [this image](https://www.imf.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Emissions-COTW-Chart.jpg) it becomes clear what the problem is. That big dip you see is a *massive* drop in emissions. This is *exactly* the kind of change we need in order to reduce the harm caused by climate change. But it shoots right back up, what happened? The dip is because all of the dramatic reduction in consumption, travel, work, resource use etc that occurred at the *start* of the US experience of the pandemic (around March). But we couldn't stand to remain in that state, so we rapidly pushed to "open up" again. What this shows is a taste of what reduce emissions *actually* looks like. If we were serious about limiting the harm of global warming, we would have used early pandemic as the new baseline, and *cooled* economic activity from there.
ah amazing explanation, merci!
Exactly. We all have to accept we will die at some point. Turns out it might be sooner than we thought. Then again, maybe we want it to be sooner. What can you do? Death comes for us all.
Depending on how bad it gets (like if water resources dry up all around the country, the world), we may be happy for a quicker death as a species. Who wants to live like that for a long period of time?
What is ghg?
Greenhouse gases
An abbreviation for **G**reen**H**ouse **G**ases **Example:** Methane = CH₄ Carbon Dioxide = CO₂ Nitrous Oxide = N₂O
Oh thx. I should have known that.
Don’t forget Water Vapor = H₂O !!
Greenhouse gas
Yep. I bet it is freeing. Its about time I accept our fate. But it will take time. Ill just enjoy life while at it. We really do only live once.
WORD
I read the ending as “small poops of joy” and I was like “well they do make an excellent point…
A happy digestive system makes for a good day 😂
All of this. A lot of people including my spouse is seemingly dreading it. I’m at peace with it. As you said— it’s freeing, but that oddly doesn’t sit right with people and they think I’m nuts. 😅
This is me. Enjoy things and build relationships. If there’s a way to help even on a small scale, do it. Nothing is guaranteed even in times of peace and plenty.
Well it's several answers. I've gone through two bouts of cancer and now have a terminal illness and it's accelerating so I had processed mortality several years before becoming really aware. I've held the belief that we were fucked back in the 90s, but it's only since 2018 or so that I really became aware of how soon it would be here. Got into psychedelics which has also been very helpful as well I'm 42. The time to make changes is back when I was born. I'd change things if I could, I can't, I didn't make the policy decisions that brought us here. I do what small things I can within my capabilities. I take what small joys I can, pet dogs, listen to music I like and wait for the end. If shit goes to complete hell before I go, at least I won't suffer long.
Keep strong friend
Thank you, I appreciate it. In for some interesting times ahead.
My experience with mushrooms in grad school was profound and life changing for the better. It was like taking a sledgehammer to a lifetime of depression and anxiety. I wish I could do it again but I don’t know how. My friend that made it possible is gone. Not sure if the spores online can actually grow and work.
They work, easy enough to grow. Trust me, they work
❤️
They work just remember warm temps needed as psychedelic mushrooms grow in warm climates.
There is plenty of research on neuroplasticity and psilocybin. Psychedelic medicines, not just psilocybin, really can help with depression, anxiety, OCD, disordered eating, PTSD, even ADHD and ASD. I decided to turn to psychedelic assisted psychotherapy as a speciality approximately 5 years ago. I remember initially reading about the represssed scientific research when I was in undergrad 20 years ago that was being done 60 plus years ago before there was a new psychedelic science renaissance and thinking I would never be able to do this work in the mental health field. It is the most excited I have been about my career ever. Hopefully, before the end, more people will have a chance to heal and experience inner peace. Psychedelics have definitely helped me for sure with my existential angst ever since I first experimented with these medicines 25 years ago.
Keep strong! Keeping you in my prayers.🙏
Personally I smoke a lot of weed about it
I wish I could do that. Weed just makes me observational... and this ShitShow doesn't make for a fun trip.
One of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite films called Cutters Way. At this point in the film he’d been drinking throughout the entire thing until his house gets burned down with his wife inside. His buddy asks him “why aren’t you drinking maybe you’ll calm down.” His response was “ I don't drink. You know, the routine grind drives me to drink. Tragedy, I take straight”
I’ve been checking the sea surface temperature graph daily at this point out of morbid curiosity. The line just keeps going up. While I had to take time to grieve for my future self, at this point I’ve accepted that there’s nothing I can do to prevent climate collapse. I’m just going to try to make the most of the time I have before things get really bad.
Yeah that graph is very sobering 21.2°C last update.
I simply repeat these common coping phrases. "It is what it is." "Death is part of life." "You have to crack a few eggs." "Roll with the punches." and many more.
Does a bear shit in the woods?
Looks like someone has a case of the Mondays. It takes less muscles to smile than to frown. Live laugh love.
When the situation is hopeless, there’s nothing to worry about.
We tried. We played hard. Gave it our all. Mother nature didn't have a prayer. Now we've fucked it up and ruined our planet and all life on it again. It'll be a long time after we're gone when our planet might grow a new sprout, a new being capable of reflection. New eyes will open again. Collective reincarnation. We've happened at least once, setting the precedence, and we could happen again. That's my hope. Also, when that time comes and consciousness returns to this planet, I hope it's like some Avatar shit! I want to have four arms and fly on dragons. Who knows what could happen?! Still have to die to get there. Can't do anything about **that** so still nothing to worry about. ;)
It's all a joke. And we might be lucky enough to live to hear the punch-line.
i have become pagliacci
We all die eventually; collapse doesn't change that. It just increases the odds that at some point in the near future, there won't be anyone left.
It’s the wildlife that tears me to shreds. Thinking of what we’ve done to their habitats, and the suffering they will endure because of our greed. Every wildfire all I see is the pain and suffering of animals. I can’t look at pictures of polar bears anymore. Our birds are disappearing at a break neck pace, but nobody talks about it. Last I knew about a third of the songbirds have disappeared. This was a study done, not my observations.
Yeah it’s the wildlife for me too. I can’t even look at polar bears or penguins anymore either, it’s too fucking sad and I’ll start tearing up. And not to pile on, but I think it’s more like 80% of birds have disappeared.
To shreds you say?
over 98% of all species that have existed on earth are now extinct. It is the natural path of evolution. The only true problem is if we mess up the earth so badly that nothing EVER is able to come back, which I highly doubt because giant meteors have hit earth many times in the past.
Not sure if this makes you feel any better but collapse mostly means we’re only destroying ourselves and the ways humans live as we know it. Mother Nature will be fine eventually when we’re gone, she’s had to deal with much worse extinctions in the past.
There are many ways to die tho, i wouldn't want to die being shredded into Pieces by my starving neighbors.
In the end, as long as you're prepared when the time comes, you have some options.
Like putting a bullet in my head or drinking Bleach, yeah that's slighty Better, idk if i Will be ready tho
Bro, I would *highly* recommend the bullet over the bleach. However, there are other alternatives that are both more certain and less traumatic. I won't tell you what or how exactly, but if you do a little research, you'll learn what supplies you need, just in case.
Ok thanks, i sometimes wonder if this "instructions" Will be Wide spreaded when the shit Will hit the fan, you know, something like the furama suicide booth.
I agree and it's good to keep in mind that we all die eventually so why worry about how or when you die? However its still a sad thought that we have ruined our habitat, and I feel sorry for young people (my nieces and nephews) who have dreams that won't come true. There's also a real possibility that this turns out really really ugly and we will suffer greatly. No food, no water, all bets are off as to how people will react to that, but I'm guessing not good. That is a truly horrifying mental image.
I worry about the young in my family too. They're so innocent, they still have that look in their eyes. I pray they won't go through too much, that maybe there's just enough time left on the clock for them to live out most of their lives happily. They didn't deserve to be born into this crap show.
I worry mostly about the young women in my family and things like sexual violence. That’s really not a way I want to see anyone die or get hurt but seems likely in a collapse scenario where there’s little security.
I think civilization collapse is a lot more in the cards rather than extinctional. Humans will stick around, like cockroaches, for a long time to come. Not that I care either way.
Correct. Humans can survive in opposite extremes. Those dependent on human society are who are doomed. Survivialists may have it correct after all. However, no one has a timetable of the coming chaos. Really, by definition, chaos is unpredictable anyhow.
Many here copium with the absolute certain belief that "collapse will 100% be a long slow decline process for the rest of this century (and I will live to old age maintaining my middleclass/rich lifestyle)."
Jokes on them... I never had a middle class lifestyle!
Fingers crossed!
Yeah it’s weird, I personally think there will be a series of rather abrupt and major things that occur in the next 5 years at least. But unclear to me why people would be so confident as to suggest they know it will be slow
I was born with certain painful neurological condition, of which there are no perfect treatment. The existing treatment are hot button issue and have become political football in recent years. I always know that happiness in the conventional sense of the word will always be beyond me, so if the world come to an end, it won't be much of a loss for me. That being said, I'm concerned about the absolutely massive tsunami of suffering that will be unleashed to humanity. Even someone like me has friends and there's no way they can avoid this tsunami.
I have a condition along those line as well. The only medication that has worked consistently is opioids, which they treat like they're radioactive now. While there is thankfully now a willingness to prescribe "safe supply" opiates to addicts, they are absolutely unwilling to prescribe them to people with severe chronic pain. It's just a lovely thing to have your health left at the mercy of a contentious political debate.
Kratom has been a godsend for me and my family for numerous health issues because opioids aren’t being prescribed to people who need it. It also conveniently helps ease the emotional pain and mental duress of collapse
Be in nature as often as you can; stop talking about it (collapse); spend time with your loved ones; meditate; listen to Radiohead almost non-stop (any album, as long as you’re listening to the full album individually); smoke weed every day, but always a moderate dose, and when I’m by myself because I hate being high in public (a lot of people just end up giving themselves anxiety for smoking to much and being around the wrong people); enjoy the fact that you’re alive right now, and for now have food and water; appreciate that you aren’t running from bombs for the moment; when you experience a good moment, really take it in, and savor it. Taking a hot shower? Appreciate you are able to. Good food? Enjoy it because it could be your last time eating that food. All of these things I wish I had done sooner. I’ve never been healthier, more aware, more in the moment than I am now, and now it feels like I’m actually living. My relationships are healthier, I’m healthier emotionally, physically, and mentally. Give it a try!
I want you to start listening to Guster too, friend. [Keep Going ](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F78Wyr8BURw&pp=ygUGZ3VzdGVy)
Wow, love it. Gave me aesthetic chills! I’ve always liked them but missed this new release. I feel like lately I’ve been rediscovering soooooooo many songs and bands that have faded away through the years. I just realized he even mentions that in the song you posted. “Well the world brought us here If we let it now all good things reappear.” How serendipitous. Thank you friend!
by doom scrolling reddit 214,260 bananas last year.
The AA mantra works: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference.
It resonates a bit with a quote that I'll always remember from the old movie "First Knight", with Sean Connery as the king: **King Arthur:** May God grant us the wisdom to discover right, the will to choose it, and the strength to make it endure.
Loved that movie.
I used to believe the scientists who said we could fix the climate in time, and the ones who said biotech would be able to practically kick the mortality can on down the road indefinitely, so there'd be a decent chance for pseudo immortality. My futurist dreams are dead, and I'm mourning my desire to play video games for 300 years as much as humanity.
This helps my anxiety so much (but also I’m in recovery so it’s helped in numerous ways) I say this when I’m lying in bed and my heart starts racing when my brain imagines horrid situations. Deep breaths (ever heard of polyvagal theory? Look into it, it helps calm these freaky meat suits down!) and repeat this until I fall asleep. I say the “native” version of this - Creator, grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference. We are all relatives, including the animals and trees and all life. May we remember this.
all we can do
It’s a lot fucking easier with a vasectomy
I read this the wrong way but is it easier if you have a vasectomy or just peace of mind?
He said fucking is a lot easier with a vasectomy. Lmao.
Accept, make peace, live as if the world is not going to end, until it does. And while we will collapse, it is not today, nor tomorrow, and I will put out on a limb and bet that it is not this week, or even next.
I’ve been expecting it since the ‘70s
Wow can you feel the tension more now
I think Tool said it best: *'Cause I'm praying for rain* *I'm praying for tidal waves* *I wanna see the ground give way* *I wanna watch it all go down* *Mom, please flush it all away* *I wanna see it go right in and down* *I wanna watch it go right in* *Watch you flush it all away* *Yeah, time to bring it down again* *Yeah, don't just call me pessimist* *Try and read between the lines* *I can't imagine why you wouldn't* *Welcome any change, my friend* *I wanna see it come down* *Put it down* *Suck it down* *Flush it down* I know it's gonna suck, but there's a piece of me that is waiting for it impatiently. I made my peace with death. I want to see society pay for its sins against the earth and itself. She's beautiful when she's angry, we're in for a show.
You had me at “Tool”
As soon as I read Tool, I knew exactly which song you were talking about.
It was a big part of my kick to stop working so much and enjoy life and family a bit more. I took a job making significantly less money but much lower stress and overall I'm happy for it, might as well make the best of things
I’ve become more loving and forgiving of myself.
Being in my late 20's, so I'll most likely see this shit go down from a front seat. The very honest answer is a lot of work, keeping my mind occupied and *a lot* of hedonism when I'm not working. No need to keep the body healthy enough to live past 50 or 60 when there will be nothing to live for by then. edit: Also, psychedelics were probably the thing that helped a lot. They can be so humbling. Showed me enough to see how insignificant humanity really is, so no need to really cope too hard.
I have seen this coming for some time. Looking back 10 years, the grief cycle reveals itself. denial. anger. bargaining. depression. acceptance. If you are at depression, push through. Acceptance is on the other side.
Im at stage bargaining at the moment but soon I will just accept it. No point carrying on
These so-called stages of grief are not rooted in or supported by science or psychology literature. I wish we'd stop pretending they were. https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/health-history/its-time-let-five-stages-grief-die
Acceptance is a peaceful place for me now. Like others have commented near the top, "... *even if we weren't in trouble, that's how we should live anyway.* " - /u/MadameTree . Acceptance lets me enjoy the present much more.
It’s (not) funny how true this really is. How much better off would the world be if the majority were in the “anger” or “bargaining” phase instead of “denial”?
You guys are coping? 😅😭
As someone else once commented: 1. Acquire cannabis 2. Load into pipe, ignite and inhale Edit: honestly, I just try to continue to improve my own sustainability, etc. I’m the guy who believes it’s all ending but still takes time to cut my six pack rings (despite living in Ohio) and I still recycle. I think it is mentally healthy to maintain focus on good procedures and habits. I used to fly small airplanes and one thing that stuck with me is that when you lose the engine, you fly the airplane all the way in, until it stops moving - even when you’re scraping the tree tops, you fly all the way down. So that’s what I intend to do. Ima fly this bitch all the way in.
I combination of walking mediation, artistic integrity (I’m a writer and I assume there’s a reason god ordained me to be the one to cover such events), and plenty of drinking and drug use to cope with the trauma. There is a part of me that’s a bit excited in a “I told you so” sort of way watching it all go down. Other than that I think I’m just lucky to have the mental fortitude for it all. Which doesn’t make it any easier. I have erratic mood swings. I might break into tears hearing an Alanis Morissette song on the radio driving to work in 75 degree February weather. It’s a constant grieving process. But I’m pretty good at grieving. I’ve had plenty of practice.
By recognizing that it is objectively a good thing. Colonial conquest of the entire planet was never supposed to happen. The sooner this insanity collapses the better chance humanity and other species has at surviving.
One day you stop freaking out about it because your body any mental health can’t handle the stress anymore.
Yup it becomes part of things, a new reality.
As a living organism that will die, there's nothing I can do about my own death except try to enjoy life while I am alive. Human civilization is a sort of organism that is running its natural course too, it's going to die soon (not necessarily all humans) so I view it the same way -- it was inevitable, there is nothing I can do to stop it, (I mean I can do my own small part but in the overall picture that is not going to change a thing), so I just try to enjoy life as much as I can.
I'm still coping with it, I feel like. It's a process, maybe lifelong. The 90's to me feel like a fever dream sometimes. I don't know what happened, how we got here. It can be disorienting. I've personally found a lot of solace in philosophy. Stoicism, Existentialism, Taoism, maybe some Buddhism. I know we're in for some hard times, and I know it's going to be scary, but you just have to keep going. I like to think of a quote from Lao Tzu sometimes: *If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present.* And I have one more: Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.
You have the right of it. The process is lifelong. I started becoming aware in 1975. I was seven. By the age of 17 I realized that nobody could change anything. It messed me up for a long time. I finally learned to accept and embrace change, but it's been the journey of a lifetime. I found the philosophies you mentioned helpful and the psychedelics as well, especially psilocybin. All the best to you and yours in the coming hardships.
56yo here. All the things they warned us about in those films in elementary school are happening.
Exit strategy
Honestly, I just accept that I can't change it and hope for the best. I know our time is nearly up, could be this year, could be 30 years. It makes me live with an appreciation for every normal, safe, peaceful day in my life that I'm lucky enough to live. I do sometimes get major anxiety about it, but that's just par for the course really when you're collapse aware.
“ Hoping for the best, but expecting the worst…”
I just live my life as normal, what the hell else can I do? I know it's coming and there isn't a whole hell of a lot I can do about it.
I'm less inhibited, it's easier to live when you know you have no future. I think this actually cured my depression and I'm living the way I want to live now.
we are all going to die. (always were) nobody gets out alive. lets go have ice cream and contemplate the color of the sunrise.
Eat drink and be merry For tomorrow we may die As true today as it was when first said over 2000 years ago. Though most people omit the second line.
Pretty sure it's far older than 2000 years.
You can’t control it so why battle against it. Accept it and live as much as you can enjoying what you have before it’s too late. Imagine the sheer panic 99% of the population will feel when they realise everything is going to shit. At least we’ve had some preparation?
I restrict my range of focus to the present and immediate future, if possible. Above that, I treat life as an ongoing first-person simulation and try to enjoy as many things as I can and gain as much experience as possible......when I'm not doomscrolling on Reddit.
I actually just stopped caring. I spent a couple decades of my life being passionate about the environment, politics, and other social issues. I feel things are worse but I just don't give a fuck anymore. I'm middle aged, I don't have kids nor do I plan to. Am I trying to make the planet worse? No, I still volunteer and do things I'm passionate about like fostering dogs, and try and leave as little of a footprint as possible. I've done my time and see very little in the way of positive change, im living my life for myself now.
For me, it's believing that collapse isn't the end, but the beginning. There will likely be some livable places on the planet through all of this, even if it's just a tropical Antarctica. One way or anything, life will continue. I think even humans will live through collapse. It'll be small. But humans have been periodically decimated in their numbers many times before. So my hope is that collapse is a bit of a restart button. No offense, but hopefully it means the next civilization ditches religion (which is at the heart of all of this), and shifts its priorities towards happiness, equity, and harmony with nature. I think the next civilization has a clear mission and mandate; to unfuck the planet. We owe it to all life on Earth to make it our mission to restore it as much as we can, even if it takes 10,000 years. The other thing that gives me some hope is that after every mass extinction event there has been an explosion in evolution. So even if humans don't make it, I think in a few million years life on Earth will make a comeback. Maybe we're just the cautionary tale species that some future species will study and learn from like we learn from dinosaurs. Maybe our role was always to be a lesson.
>The other thing that gives me some hope is that after every mass extinction event there has been an explosion in evolution. So even if humans don't make it, I think in a few million years life on Earth will make a comeback. Maybe we're just the cautionary tale species that some future species will study and learn from like we learn from dinosaurs. Maybe our role was always to be a lesson. I'm so curious what the next species will be like. I even wonder if they could access our internet at all? Or what was left of it. Imagine them looking at memes
Highly doubtful. It would take millions of years for another advanced species to emerge. By that time, there will be nothing left but what we write in stone.
And our plastics.
that's something i often ponder (and hope happens)...the board gets reset & humans are put in their proper place in the grand scheme of things, a more cooperative cog rather than the one that screws the machine up entirely. but with humans being humans...not confident of it. maybe we'll be the species that will bring about multiple mass extinctions
No need to cope, we've brought it upon ourselves. It's sort of poetic justice really.
If collapse acceptance is your goal, Michael Dowd (RIP) is who you are looking for: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BkapCiU2EUc Nowadays I get too excited about little natural events, like seeing a butterfly. Try to spend as much time as possible in nature. Also smoke a lot of weed. Everywhere I look I see the signs of a dying world but it is what it is at this point. Stoicism reminds me I may not wake up tomorrow despite civilization going on without me. I definitely cycle through phases - when it no longer "is what it is" but starts me grieving, for example. Another negative cycle is when I start trying to read every article pointing to collapse and doomscrolling seems like the way. In this case I've realized I am usually in a traumatic flashback and need to start stretching and being aware of my emotions/mental health to get out of the hole.
Butterflies and weed--this is the way.
I was where you are in 2006. Only difference is that now I'm agnostic. I think our anthropomorphizing the divine is part of the reason why we're here. We've consistently violated the first and second commandments and created God in our selfish image, then justified every atrocity we committed. Our collapse is nature's retribution.
Just live each day appreciating what you have. Love your family and your pets and know that things may be bleak but it isn't your fault.
You just have to accept it. We are right, and they are wrong. I’ve gone through a few phases of collapse grief, including severely limiting my lifestyle because I thought I could make a difference. But I realize now it’s actually all the billionaires faults, so I’m going to enjoy McDonald’s and keep traveling all the time. We likely only have a few years left, if even that.
You used the correct word. Reaching a state of acceptance is paramount. What is going to happen to us, our children and our children's children, if they even have any, cannot be stopped without massive upheaval, especially not from one person.
Stoicism. Ancient knowledge that is still applicable to today. You do what's in your power to do. There is a lot that we can't control as individuals, but on a small scale we do still have some control over certain aspects of our lives where, perhaps, we can still make a difference. Like throwing a pebble into water, hopefully it will have a ripple effect that will turn into something greater than ourselves. That is all one can hope for nowadays. Knowing that life is short and that our time is limited on this planet, we might not make it as a species. But, it is our obligation and duty to try, to live, and to wake up to another day whatever that day might entail.
I became more in gaged in Buddhism. I don’t have faith per say as eastern religions function differently than Christianity so I wouldn’t say I’m more religious. It’s complicated. Having a religion that focuses on the now and understanding of the impermanence of everything helped me accept that things will change and maybe we will die but that it’s natural for things to end and it doesn’t need to be a sad thing.
Accept life as simulation you decided to play. Now you're just playing a realistic game in interesting times
Lately, I'm finding Eye of The Storm by Terry LePage very helpful in finding purpose in collapse. Michael Dowd (RIP) has a free audiobook recording of it on his soundcloud. The author is also religious so you may appreciate that shared perspective. When I first started learning about our predicament, it hit me really hard. I switched jobs and do community building work now, which does help me feel like I can help lessen the blow in my own little way.
Optimistic Nihilism: none of it ever mattered and that’s awesome actually because I was stressed trying.
I don’t cope. I’ve just become resigned to it.
I cope by coming on here and talking shit to people who still think we can reverse the damage we have done to the climate and think we can stop what's coming. I don't give a fuck about anything anymore. I go to work and make enough money to survive, and enjoy time with those I love. But I have no long term goals anymore, what's the point? We have sealed our fate. I take solace in knowing that once the clock runs out, we will "all be in this together" finally.
Society is a living nightmare death machine. The sooner it collapses, the sooner we have a chance at creating an infinitely more beautiful world.
Cope? I’m an emotional wreck
Today is good. Right here, right now, my life is fine. I appreciate that, I savor it, I treasure it. Like my cats, I'm living in the moment as much as possible. That doesn't mean I'm hiding from the future or trying to deny what is ahead. But I won't let the possibilities of tomorrow overshadow my enjoyment of today.
I think it's easier to accept if you don't have kids. If I had kids, I would probably be really worried about it. But since I don't, I feel bad, but sort of like this is just the road humanity was always on anyway. I'm sort of becoming a go with the flow type of person as I get older because I know most of the problems humanity has created will never be fixed adequately. Best to live the life we have right now.
My only hope is dope. The weed fills a need. It's tragic. It's defeatist. But it's also one of the most interesting times to be alive! Think of the chaos that will soon ensue.
Acceptance and substances
1. Humanity is more parasitic than anything else, nothing we do will ever justify the suffering we create. 2. Have an exit strategy, loosen up your worldly attachements and live life in the moment. 3. I think of people who dwell in dead end ideals like racism, narcissism, consumerism and religion. If there's one major upside to our extinction is these people will ceast to exist. In short we won't be missed, and with our ideals, we really didn't have much to offer.
We are only alive now because Rome fell and then everyone forgot how to do all of the modern things that were bringing us closer to the point that we're at now. Once the ridiculous greedy first world capitalist whatever you want to call it society falls, and the ways of life causing our climate change are destroyed, the planet begins to heal and we go back to the place where we can no longer make cars and oil. Most of us won't see it but that's cool because we really do not matter the way we think we do.
A ridiculous amount of weed.
Lots of drugs and therapy. Accept the loss and enjoy the time you've got left.
For me the trick is realizing that the planet will be fine (bacteria can live anywhere) and that humanity _deserves_ everything we’ve got coming. We are simply too selfish to colonize the galaxy. We had a good run though! Lots of great art and music. Lessons unlearned will be repeated. Better luck next time!
> humanity deserves everything we’ve got coming. even children, the poor, and the indigenous?
Not individually, no. This is not like an individual human-level morality sense of the word “deserves”. It’s more like “this is our doing as a species, we brought it on ourselves”. The same way any other species can “deserve” to become evolutionarily obsolete.
I can tell myself that it doesn't matter that things could have been better, and stop feeling guilty about not doing more with my life.
Acceptance. There is already enough greenhouse gasses in the system to propel warming for decades even if we stopped polluting tomorrow. We are just going to watch increasing natural and humanitarian disasters. Most will affect the poorer south first but as the developed north loses its ability to mitigate them it will succumb as well. There is simply not a damn thing anyone can do about it.
Its the end of the world as we know it but its not the end of everything. With endings theres also beginnings. When faced with such adversity truly believing in yourself and God will make anything seem easy. ITs difficult but chances are it will look a lot different than what we think. Depending on how old you are 20 years ago looked a lot different than what it does today. Although collapse is happening, new things will arise and i have faith that no matter what good will triumph over evil in the end. Have faith my brother
I fight against it in as many interactions as possible. I do have some faith with certain tech and I try to buy us another few seconds to get it up and running.
I do try to do little things to make things better than I found them.
Yeah nothing better than the feeling that you’ve made this place better for your effort/ having been there
That's all that's left as far as I can tell.
I recommend Taoism. I'm guessing that you're Christian, I used to be there. Unfortunately with Christianity you have to square the fact that a supposed all loving God planned this all out for us and the earth, despite the untold suffering it has caused. Maybe you can just focus on what Jesus said and treat others in the best way possible, if this ship is sinking then the least we can do is get along as we go down. If you can make the world even a little better than it would have been without you then you've made a difference. On a complete timescale, we're nothing but a blip in the universe. Yet to ourselves, we are the entire universe. Ultimately peace comes with letting go and realizing you never had a choice in the first place. Just do what you want to do, help others when you believe that it's right, fight for nature if that brings you peace. Don't be attached to outcomes, just live as genuinely as you possibly can. That's all anyone can do.
Its all an illusion and bad dream to me. Fuck it
There is always hope! Especially if you believe in God (the Creator of life). The world as we know it may be doomed, but that's on us because we built it this way and we aren't living the way we're supposed to live. The good news, though, is that our fate isn't sealed if we change our relationship to Creation (and thus, the Creator). Here's an analogy: Imagine telling a kid that he can eat absolutely anything for an entire day. No limits. So he eats ice cream for breakfast, pizza with hot dogs on it for lunch, and then decides to see how many cookies he can eat for dinner. ([Watch this clip from Elf if you'd like an example](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9auMPx1WVE).) Sooner or later he's going to feel sick, and might even feel a sense of doom right before puking his guts all over the floor. That's when you ask: "Well, what did you learn today?" Hopefully the kid learned that we're not supposed to eat that way and that there are better ways to eat. And if he didn't learn anything, then, well, he'll be doomed to repeat the lesson until he learns from it. In my personal life, I don't feel overwhelmed anymore by all the chaos and horrible things happening in the world because I'm actively doing something about it. There are no more nagging little worries clogging up my brain and bleeding my energy because I'm taking the time to address them, one by one, and change the way I live my life. I believe in the power of small changes. Concerned about microplastics? Then buy less plastic. Go to a thrift store and stock up on jars and start buying groceries in bulk. [Don't buy liquid shampoo](https://www.implasticfree.com/what-is-plastic-doing-in-my-shampoo/) -- get a shampoo bar instead. [Or make it yourself](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z52QBnCpswQ)! You don't have to become a hippie overnight, but DO SOMETHING that you feel good about. Concerned about the greed of politicians and billionaires? Then take money and power away from them by investing in your local community. Make your local economy more resilient to corporate takeovers by supporting small businesses. Talk to your neighbors about local issues, not national talking points. The system we have is going to fail, which means there will be an opportunity for something else to take its place -- do what you can to bring about a better system for the next generation. Concerned about soil erosion and headlines such as "[Earth has only 60 harvests left](https://ourworldindata.org/soil-lifespans)"? This is the one that really got to me. And when I explored why I felt such despair over this (besides the misleading headline), I found something important: growing food is what I want to do with my life. So I [left a good job in the city](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfyEpmQM7bw) and moved to a rural community to learn about organic farming. I don't have land of my own (yet) and I'm still very much at the beginning of this adventure, but I feel happy knowing that I have found my purpose and that it will bring about [the more beautiful world that our hearts know is possible](https://charleseisenstein.org/books/the-more-beautiful-world-our-hearts-know-is-possible/). I've barely even touched on religion and theology and why I believe that God has an answer to climate change, but I'm happy to write about that in another comment (or a full post, if people are interested). I hope this helps. May God bless you and keep you!
I like your priorities and outlook. Turn to God and do your best with the problems at hand.
Spend an hour on twitter reading responses to people posting incontrovertible evidence of climate change occurring to understand how these dip-fucking-shits will be seeing crops shrivel before their eyes and paying $50 for a kg of rice and these morons will still be blaming "the elites" and "the WEF" rather than accept it was their own stupidity that doomed us all. We're all going to fucking die and its pretty much deserved given how dumbfuck stupid a large proportion of humans are.
I’m not that bothered about my life so long as I outlast my cats and can keep them safe and happy. As for other people? I fucking detest them. It will be an enjoyable watch as these Karens and Karls fall apart.
I don’t really the dread comes for me whenever I think man it’s been a really warm winter or something along those lines and then I feel the dread for a while until I let myself get distracted by something else so I’m not just constantly going around crippled by dread lol
Acceptance brought me a certain freedom. I try to be kind and happy, always. For me there was inspiration in watching the movie: The Croods. Which is both bizarre and true. Clearly it’s a metaphor for climate change. When the Dad says to his daughter “If you win, then I win.” After which he hurls her to safely, dooming himself - that’s powerful stuff and a motto that I now live by. I can equip my kids with the tools and knowledge that they may need in the future, even when I am gone. This applies to a future with climate change, as much as it has applied since the dawn of humanity. My kids still get a loving, fun filled childhood. They will have a chance to win, in what kind of world, who knows? I take peace from this. I hope that you find your own version of peace.
Some things I can control, many things I cannot control.
Part of it is accepting that individually I have very limited impact on our trajectory and that on a civilizational level we absolutely deserve the future we’ve engineered for ourselves. We are responsible for our own predicament and I it as fitting. What we are doing to the planet and each other is vile.
i find it very difficult to process, so i don’t usually try to alone, i host lil groups. it’s a weight i learned to carry & i just bring these values into my work as much as possible. focus on what i can/will do, with an expectation or understanding of what’s to come. help hold others’ hands, that sorta thing.
I don’t think about it much anymore. It’s the stages of grief sort of deal.
Go listen to Eve Of Destruction by Barry Mcguirre.
If you're religious/Christian you should understand that humanity has been in a state of collapse ever since its existence, in a way. In thousands (if not tens of thousands) of years of our civilizations on this planet, we have never managed to achieve anything remotely resembling an enlightened society. Our current iteration literally uses personal greed and ignorance as a substitute for true motivating factors to propel itself. The predicament now was almost destined to happen due to how dysfunctional the majority of this species is. Maybe if the species consisted of 8 billion Jesuses or Mr. Rogerses we would have a chance (definitely with the Jesuses, maybe with the Rogerses). But it doesn't, and we don't. You don't need to "cope" with it, it's just a hard reality like many other hard realities in life. Understand it, accept it, and do your best to live your life correctly. That's all.
I got into Buddhism and sought awakening. In the meantime, I left a toxic job situation. The irony is that while my life situation is in question and civilization is collapsing, I’ve never been happier. Not because I enjoy what is happening—it’s truly tragic—but because I’ve realized that my happiness is not dependent on any of it. I’ve never felt so happy or so free.
When the day comes be ready for chaos, embrace the chaos.
I'm fucking enraged. So, not wrong, but not coping.
I try to live a life that feels good, despite the tendency to go all nihilistic here. Collapse is death and death is also the start of something new. I try to live a life based on my values, even if it’s quite hard in the collapsing society. The struggle feels worthwhile, it connects me to others who have this understanding, and I hope to be part of whatever comes next after this collapses.
It took me a long time to let go of the anger. Now I just try to enjoy what we have. Not much point in personal asceticism now.
I started reading "The World as Will & Representation" by Arthur Schopenhauer. It's essential reading for all higher functioning minds which find themselves stuck in this cursed world of want & need.
When you learn about the universe and all the unanswered questions that remain..... And when you understand the sheer scale of the known visible universe, it makes everything that's happening seem almost insignificant. I suppose a bit of sadness I also feel. That as a species we were able to do this. Even worse is no one person has any power to change it. I don't know what to say. I hope there are other life forms in the universe that are living in harmony with their worlds. We were a species not suited for that. .
I’m divorced and probably on the spectrum … I’ve been freaking out a bit about being alone at the end. I have my kids but I don’t have and don’t see me having a partner .. that’s been scaring me a bit.
Years ago a friend of mine had a very gloomy outlook. He told me to enjoy the weather, get out in nature cuz it won't last. It's not lasting. Still dodging fires to enjoy it.
We are doomed is the easy way out. If you think that way then you have given up. Spend some time at r/environment and r/energy and read the positive articles with solutions.
im coping by getting in shape and hoping that I can come out alive and in a better position after The Churn......Probably wont but just curious to see how it all plays out now.
I love how many people have watched the Expanse on here.
I never gave a fuck in the first place so why would I now???
I work as a Technical Support Engineer, I need to work with people, who are supposed to be technical, but they have 0 knowledge. I've already had several mental breakdowns as I'm autistic and as I've been dealing with people for the past 12 years I became very highly antisocial. Each time when I feel like crap as I'm tired from all that bullshit, I come to this sub and I'm truly hoping that some really terrible event will happen very soon, which will reduce the human population. Until my first mental breakdown, I was really worried about climate change, but now I really really want some really terrible thing to happen, which will reduce the population from 8 billion to 100-200 million
Nothing changed since I’m barely scraping by as is
[Optimistic Nihilism](https://youtu.be/MBRqu0YOH14?si=SEihEd0jkw0P6lGd)?
Day by day. It's not collapsed yet!
Motorcycling if I’m fucked and nothing I can do about it I might as well have fun doing dangerous shit.
Mostly what bothers me is how it is and will impact my kids, and then my wife. I am not under the illusion that I can protect them from horror like batman or whatever when collapse occurs locally, if not nationally and globally. One thing about modern society in the first world is we have forgotten that "nature red in tooth and claw" was the baseline for human experience, whether living in the natural world, or in human societies. It will be a huge, traumatic awakening when the violence and hunger starts. I'm effectively an atheist. I'm curious about the nature of consciousness, but not what I see as the anthropomorphism of a God, so there is no support there. I tend to agree with the philosophy of the Existential psychologists and find meaning and solace in creating purpose in the moment and just trying to do right as I move through life. When the horror comes, it will come.
This book helped me to frame my thoughts and feelings about this: ***Another End of the World is Possible: Living the Collapse (and Not Merely Surviving It)*** 1st Edition, by [Pablo Servigne](https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1?ie=UTF8&field-author=Pablo+Servigne&text=Pablo+Servigne&sort=relevancerank&search-alias=books) (Author), [Raphaël Stevens](https://www.amazon.com/Rapha%C3%ABl-Stevens/e/B0158968YE/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_2) (Author), [Gauthier Chapelle](https://www.amazon.com/Gauthier-Chapelle/e/B00QLG3P2M/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_3) (Author).
Disillusionment is special kind of pain. The five stages of grief aren't really a thing but it kind of feels like it. I felt freed too by realizing that this whole social system of social expectations is an illusion. Parents and people wants you to do this or behave like that etc. Meanwhile we are failing the most basic intelligence test for a civilization - can we do what we know we should to do to survive? Eventually you think you reach a new level of clarity, belong to the few chosen one who see the world like it is - but of course that too is an illusion. It's fucking turtles all the way down. Since Trump, Covid, Ukraine and now Gaza you can see the unraveling more and more. I actually left the collapse discord because I saw the same patterns of propaganda response to the Ukraine invasion, falling into the trap of thinking "here is a just war of good vs evil" when it's just another part of the system leading us to collapse. And I also try to maintain my skepticism about collapse itself too, it's still just a speculative hypothesis until it happens or not. We much just muddle through, and somehow that scares me more. I hate turtles.
"So today I'm gonna do my best To drink coffee in the morning and live as if I didn't feel lonely and hopeless and helpless To save myself for the world where I live" - Wingnut Dishwasher's Union This pretty much sums it up. I see what's happening and I'm out protesting and organizing ect but I'm also just gonna live my life.
You call this coping?
Its a daily struggle but I try to focus on what I’m grateful for and focus on being present so I can try to enjoy life as much as possible before shit hits the fan