Oh my word, yes! So much in here just fits where I am at.
"Optimism feels performative. Conversations built on continuity sound ridiculous. The future loses shape. Events in the world strike you differently. You sense fragility in systems that once seemed strong. You see the inexorable dissipation of energy². You see entropy. Everywhere.
You do not choose to abandon the worldview. It simply stops describing the world and lived reality."
"Acceptance does not remove the fear. It removes the illusion that the fear can be solved through growth and consumption."
It might sound odd, but reading this piece for me was like reaching a lush oasis after crawling through a burning desert for years. Though I've been a writer myself, one who's written not only historical fiction, but about civilizational collapse for decades, I've been personally feeling these feelings with no way, no words, to describe them or engage other people to talk about them, and it's driven me half-crazy. I've begun losing friends and business associates in the last year because I try to engage them in the conversation about collapse, one of who came out and said, "I'm sick of hearing your doom and gloom all the time" (and blocked me from her life). Thankfully my husband, and my writing partner of (both of 45 years) understand it. I can only think of a couple of other people who I can share your essay with. As you say, you can't teach it or push it on anyone. They have to come to the understanding (acceptance) themselves. But thank you from the bottom of my heart for writing and posting this. It is absolutely life-changing for me.
If we can't accept collapse as a synonym for “massive human die-off” we are not facing the full ramifications of collapse. Aside from the consequences of social breakdown and resource scarcity, the hardscrabble life ahead will be far too rigorous for most to survive. Whether we descend gracefully in a stair step fashion, or abruptly in free fall, our personal demise will most likely be short and probably not so sweet.
As a 25 year old I feel the existential dread even more. I feel totally lonely and also purposeless like I am in a paralysis mode where I am not able to get out of
That sounds really hard, and you’re not alone in feeling that way. A lot of people your age are carrying the same dread and paralysis, because the world really does feel unsteady. You’re not purposeless; you’re just overwhelmed, and that’s understandable. It can ease, and you don’t have to navigate it on your own. Take care arnav
One of the best pieces on collapse acceptance I have encountered. I could identify with so many of the elements described. Peace to fellow travelers.....
I am a teacher and also a parent to one child who will be 12 in a few weeks. I do not discuss collapse directly. Rather, I’ve talked with her about her memories of the C-19 pandemic (for her, beginning in kindergarten). We’ve discussed how our lives changed drastically and basically overnight, and how in some ways we have gone “back to normal,” in other ways we haven’t. I’ve told her quite frankly that something like that could happen again; that our lives could change in big ways that we can’t even really imagine in advance; that the future could be really different than what we might expect— so it’s important to keep an open mind and be resilient when changes happen. She is also very curious about the world and regularly asks me to read her the news headlines. So I do, and we discuss them. It’s hard to explain things like the debt ceiling and why communities might be opposed to a data center being built in their county, but I try, and she tries to understand. I follow her lead, answer her questions as they arise, and will be ready to be honest with her about collapse when she is ready to ask.
I think it’s important to have those conversations with our children. No doubt they sense the stress, the unraveling, and acknowledging it builds resiliency. Things will happen whether we’re prepared for them or not. Better to have emotionally worked thru things to handle it when it happens, than living an illusion that things will continue as they are forever.
I am glad you posted this-gives me a much greater understanding of the process and I have entered some of the final stages-lost empty saddened ,Thanx for the article
First, there is a lot in your piece that I recognise and resonates. I took up reading about and watching videos on the collapsing world just after retiring which is a sort of double whammy. Losing my working identity as well as my world view has been tough. It matters little that I was not heavily invested in my chosen profession or that I have always felt a little on the outside of this life I was born into. My inner and outer world have collapsed into a single sense of mourning.
Models of loss would suggest that acceptance is the moving on part of the process. Much of what you describe seems to be the part where the shock, disbelief, anger and bargaining have fallen away and you are left with the despair, the realisation that the loss is real and unavoidable. This is certainly where I am but undoubtably there are others - perhaps yourself included - that have found peace with this realisation.
Selfishly, I would love to have reached that position as the pain of living with sense of being out of kilter with the people around you is very real as is the knowledge that while a painful transition to another order is inevitable those who could reduce this are wilfully prolonging the pretence and will no doubt visit terrible retribution on those they feel have thwarted their dream of endless power and wealth.
I find it difficult to accept the loss to come although I take some comfort from our general inability to predict the future and that our cosmos of complexity may yet throw up something quite unexpected.
Forgive me if this sounds critical of your piece which is a valuable contribution to those in this space - it is more a chance to acknowledge some of the pain this article raises in me.
Not critical at all - just honest and very human. What you’re feeling is a real double grief, and it makes sense that it’s heavy. Acceptance isn’t a clean destination; it comes and goes. You’re not alone in feeling out of step with the world or in hoping complexity might still surprise us. Take care Richard
I remember asking my dad "how can the world's population keep on growing?" That was in about 1971, maybe 4.5 billion people ago. It was clear to me then that the narrative wasn't real. I've lived most of my life post-acceptance and it's always shaped my relationships with others and our larger culture [in US.] I've always been aware of cultural discounting and the impossibility of compound economic growth.
I've focused on manual skills, low impact living and teaching foraging, angling and hunting. In a way, current times have me feeling better about things as more people accept overshoot and collapse.
I am extremely grateful for this writing. It helps me find my center.
The beginning for me was when I realized that the animals and wildlife I love will likely not survive. My concept of spiritual reality took a major hit. I have been searching for a new way of seeing and understanding for a several years, now.
What has really shocked and dismayed me has been the cruelty of our government. I expected autocracy, I didn't expect cruelty, or the brazen revel in abuse of power. I have been torn by a need to try to fix systems that cannot be fixed, and even if "fixed" are doomed. Your writing helped me let go of at least some of this.
Some things about me make it easier, or, at least, different. The only person in my life is my adult offspring. As a reclusive introvert, I have almost no relationships.
Another thing is that many years ago I was forced to learn a regular and somewhat ruthless process of self-honesty. My survival depended upon it. Although I do it imperfectly, it was the way I learned to function. It is one of the tools that keeps me going. Facing hard or ugly truths within and without isn't new.
Lastly, I am old and not especially healthy. I thought my last years would be easier, but however difficult, it won't last forever.
Thank you again for sharing your experience so honestly.
FWIW, I like that you used "we" instead of "I." I felt closer to you because of it.
Thank you for this Adrian. It describes well what I've experienced and am still experiencing. Only recently have I made the step from awareness to acceptance. And as I was getting to the end of your essay, reading the last couple of paragraphs, I couldn't help but thinking of becoming a parent. Isn't it the same? No one can do it for you. No one can really prepare you for it. You can become aware of what it might entail, and what itay feel like. But the psychological transformation that happens once that little human enters your life is unique for each of us. And just like with parenting, once we're there, we just have to try to do our best, and surround ourselves with a supportive community.
Oh my word, yes! So much in here just fits where I am at.
"Optimism feels performative. Conversations built on continuity sound ridiculous. The future loses shape. Events in the world strike you differently. You sense fragility in systems that once seemed strong. You see the inexorable dissipation of energy². You see entropy. Everywhere.
You do not choose to abandon the worldview. It simply stops describing the world and lived reality."
"Acceptance does not remove the fear. It removes the illusion that the fear can be solved through growth and consumption."
I could quote more.
Thankyou for putting this together!
It might sound odd, but reading this piece for me was like reaching a lush oasis after crawling through a burning desert for years. Though I've been a writer myself, one who's written not only historical fiction, but about civilizational collapse for decades, I've been personally feeling these feelings with no way, no words, to describe them or engage other people to talk about them, and it's driven me half-crazy. I've begun losing friends and business associates in the last year because I try to engage them in the conversation about collapse, one of who came out and said, "I'm sick of hearing your doom and gloom all the time" (and blocked me from her life). Thankfully my husband, and my writing partner of (both of 45 years) understand it. I can only think of a couple of other people who I can share your essay with. As you say, you can't teach it or push it on anyone. They have to come to the understanding (acceptance) themselves. But thank you from the bottom of my heart for writing and posting this. It is absolutely life-changing for me.
Thanks Mark, realy appreciate this. Take care mate, Adrian
If we can't accept collapse as a synonym for “massive human die-off” we are not facing the full ramifications of collapse. Aside from the consequences of social breakdown and resource scarcity, the hardscrabble life ahead will be far too rigorous for most to survive. Whether we descend gracefully in a stair step fashion, or abruptly in free fall, our personal demise will most likely be short and probably not so sweet.
As a 25 year old I feel the existential dread even more. I feel totally lonely and also purposeless like I am in a paralysis mode where I am not able to get out of
That sounds really hard, and you’re not alone in feeling that way. A lot of people your age are carrying the same dread and paralysis, because the world really does feel unsteady. You’re not purposeless; you’re just overwhelmed, and that’s understandable. It can ease, and you don’t have to navigate it on your own. Take care arnav
Thanks Adrian man I hope it eases
Thank you for accompanying me into a state of better understanding my new self
Thank you Sean 🙏
One of the best pieces on collapse acceptance I have encountered. I could identify with so many of the elements described. Peace to fellow travelers.....
I am a teacher and also a parent to one child who will be 12 in a few weeks. I do not discuss collapse directly. Rather, I’ve talked with her about her memories of the C-19 pandemic (for her, beginning in kindergarten). We’ve discussed how our lives changed drastically and basically overnight, and how in some ways we have gone “back to normal,” in other ways we haven’t. I’ve told her quite frankly that something like that could happen again; that our lives could change in big ways that we can’t even really imagine in advance; that the future could be really different than what we might expect— so it’s important to keep an open mind and be resilient when changes happen. She is also very curious about the world and regularly asks me to read her the news headlines. So I do, and we discuss them. It’s hard to explain things like the debt ceiling and why communities might be opposed to a data center being built in their county, but I try, and she tries to understand. I follow her lead, answer her questions as they arise, and will be ready to be honest with her about collapse when she is ready to ask.
Thank you for sharing your perspective and approach to this. We will need to start having these sorts of conversations, I think.
I think it’s important to have those conversations with our children. No doubt they sense the stress, the unraveling, and acknowledging it builds resiliency. Things will happen whether we’re prepared for them or not. Better to have emotionally worked thru things to handle it when it happens, than living an illusion that things will continue as they are forever.
I am glad you posted this-gives me a much greater understanding of the process and I have entered some of the final stages-lost empty saddened ,Thanx for the article
Thanks Keith, glad this piece connected. All the best, Adrian
Thanks for this.
Feels like you wrote about my personal acceptance journey for the last 2 years specifically, though I've been aware of collapse for decades.
First, there is a lot in your piece that I recognise and resonates. I took up reading about and watching videos on the collapsing world just after retiring which is a sort of double whammy. Losing my working identity as well as my world view has been tough. It matters little that I was not heavily invested in my chosen profession or that I have always felt a little on the outside of this life I was born into. My inner and outer world have collapsed into a single sense of mourning.
Models of loss would suggest that acceptance is the moving on part of the process. Much of what you describe seems to be the part where the shock, disbelief, anger and bargaining have fallen away and you are left with the despair, the realisation that the loss is real and unavoidable. This is certainly where I am but undoubtably there are others - perhaps yourself included - that have found peace with this realisation.
Selfishly, I would love to have reached that position as the pain of living with sense of being out of kilter with the people around you is very real as is the knowledge that while a painful transition to another order is inevitable those who could reduce this are wilfully prolonging the pretence and will no doubt visit terrible retribution on those they feel have thwarted their dream of endless power and wealth.
I find it difficult to accept the loss to come although I take some comfort from our general inability to predict the future and that our cosmos of complexity may yet throw up something quite unexpected.
Forgive me if this sounds critical of your piece which is a valuable contribution to those in this space - it is more a chance to acknowledge some of the pain this article raises in me.
Not critical at all - just honest and very human. What you’re feeling is a real double grief, and it makes sense that it’s heavy. Acceptance isn’t a clean destination; it comes and goes. You’re not alone in feeling out of step with the world or in hoping complexity might still surprise us. Take care Richard
thanks, I felt as if I was totally alone out here.
Thanks Christina, there’s a few of us!
I remember asking my dad "how can the world's population keep on growing?" That was in about 1971, maybe 4.5 billion people ago. It was clear to me then that the narrative wasn't real. I've lived most of my life post-acceptance and it's always shaped my relationships with others and our larger culture [in US.] I've always been aware of cultural discounting and the impossibility of compound economic growth.
I've focused on manual skills, low impact living and teaching foraging, angling and hunting. In a way, current times have me feeling better about things as more people accept overshoot and collapse.
Thank You, I thought i was crazy to feel the way i do.
Boom! I struggled for a long time with this. I always believed we could invent our way out of this. We can’t.
But what we can do is use our innovation and “can-do” spirit to adapt to collapse and treat the most vulnerable among us with mercy and care.
Now the next step is to ask myself who am I becoming? Who am I in all of this? What can I offer? How can I help?
I am extremely grateful for this writing. It helps me find my center.
The beginning for me was when I realized that the animals and wildlife I love will likely not survive. My concept of spiritual reality took a major hit. I have been searching for a new way of seeing and understanding for a several years, now.
What has really shocked and dismayed me has been the cruelty of our government. I expected autocracy, I didn't expect cruelty, or the brazen revel in abuse of power. I have been torn by a need to try to fix systems that cannot be fixed, and even if "fixed" are doomed. Your writing helped me let go of at least some of this.
Some things about me make it easier, or, at least, different. The only person in my life is my adult offspring. As a reclusive introvert, I have almost no relationships.
Another thing is that many years ago I was forced to learn a regular and somewhat ruthless process of self-honesty. My survival depended upon it. Although I do it imperfectly, it was the way I learned to function. It is one of the tools that keeps me going. Facing hard or ugly truths within and without isn't new.
Lastly, I am old and not especially healthy. I thought my last years would be easier, but however difficult, it won't last forever.
Thank you again for sharing your experience so honestly.
FWIW, I like that you used "we" instead of "I." I felt closer to you because of it.
Thanks Margaret, I really appreciate this. Adrian
Thank you for this Adrian. It describes well what I've experienced and am still experiencing. Only recently have I made the step from awareness to acceptance. And as I was getting to the end of your essay, reading the last couple of paragraphs, I couldn't help but thinking of becoming a parent. Isn't it the same? No one can do it for you. No one can really prepare you for it. You can become aware of what it might entail, and what itay feel like. But the psychological transformation that happens once that little human enters your life is unique for each of us. And just like with parenting, once we're there, we just have to try to do our best, and surround ourselves with a supportive community.