“We are exactly where we have chosen to be” Vernon Howard
As the poly-crisis of civilization unfolds it is easy to ignore, deny, or try to fix it. In much of the world, there is blame on who and what actions caused our acceleration away from the stable Holocene of which humans and other life have flourished. For those that believe it is due to fate, natural cycles, or other non-anthropogenic causes; you may believe as I am not here to change confirmation bias with facts or logic.
There is blame to be given and yet at the base of it all is human behavior that has formed from thousands and thousands of years of evolution. We today and for some time have had the opportunity to do life differently but we did not choose that path. We have been warned many times for many decades by wise people and knowledge of where our actions were leading. We did not change our direction. We have evolved with amazing skills in adaptation, critical thinking, and seeking to explore our environment to meet our needs. We found what Tom Hartmann called Ancient Sunlight several hundred years ago and that accelerated our path leading us to where we are today.
We are in a time of overshoot and our future will need to change to a different model of stability without growth in most metrics that view our world as to be used for our sole benefit. This path in my opinion will be violent (humans and earth), chaotic, and will take us to a new equilibrium with earth and finite resources. There will be a new normal and I do believe humans will be part of that future even if a much more difficult existence than what most of humanity has seen.
What we can do at any point is to gain acceptance of what is coming, prepare as best we can, and value what nature has shown us that is sustainable. Local communities will become important again, family units and neighbors will become important again. Life will be simpler, our lifespan will be shorter, and the fundamentals of nature will connect us as we appreciate deeper the time we are alive. These qualities of life are intrinsic to us. We have just forgotten how the pulse of the earth works and we have forgotten how we fit it into the cycle of life. Carolyn Baker uses the phrase “living fiercely”. I like that. We do not go with fate or lack of work in what we have to do to help the earth and ourselves. We commit to new directions with goals and our connectedness to help all life and this earth.
Blogs here will continue to balance the damage we have caused and the local work we can do to help, whatever earth the future becomes, even if seemingly small.
