A couple of years back, when I contemplated integrating inspirational quotes into the communication strategy of the Waking Youth podcast, one of the excerpts I curated and prepared for our Instagram profile was the following:
What gives me hope is knowing that there are people who are already awake. What I found liberating in Breaking Together is that while it acknowledges how dire things are, and how unlikely it is for those in power to change their mental models, it also encourages and empowers those of us who are awake to still create the most beautiful lives possible, at the material and spiritual level...
Dear Carlota -- I am not a doomster, but I sure as shit know what you mean! Almost a quarter of the way into a new century, and the bare beginnings of a fresh thousand-year cycle, it shouldn't surprise anyone that massive, nigh-unto-incomprehensible change is coming. We just don't know what it'll be, any more than my poor hunchbacked grandma Flossie knew what to make of the new "horseless buggies" that attended her youth at the turn of the previous century, or the rumors of these far-fetched "flying machines" that she'd heard tell of, but never seen. (I am not making this up.)
Being older than fuck now, my take is this: EVERY age is a New Age. And each is also doomed to die. It all happens in spirals and cycles. And one of the cycles I love most is the one you're experiencing now, where people go, "Why am I wasting my life on this bullshit I no longer believe in, if I ever did?" and start creating fresh links to deeper meaning. Leaving the last party, and making their own new ones.
So we'll see where this all goes -- or at least YOU will, cuz I probably got twenty years left in me, tops -- but I 100% agree that breaking together is waaaaaay the hell better than simply breaking apart. And I loved this essay. THANKS FOR SHARING!!!
Ha! Great comment, Skipp. It puts things into perspective.
I agree that every age is a new one, and suspect will agree even more as I hopefully live more decades on this floating sphere. At the same time, what seems unprecedented is the massive chaos we are unblocking in such a short time frame. Perhaps folks living through the World Wars felt similarly. The difference is that even if we stop the nonsense at some point, the feedback loops activated will continue to affect us for decades/centuries/? to come...
I wonder what you think will be the "horseless buggies" and "flying machines" of tomorrow.
More and more, I find myself imagining what life will look like in a couple of years and decades. It's hard. In that sense, I feel as clueless as your grandma Flossie! I keep switching between every-human-for-themselves dystopian scenarios to full-on utopias in intentional communities. What's particularly challenging is imagining the middle path...
GOOD MORNING! Yeah, the biggest difference between this massive chaos and all PREVIOUS chaos would seem to be the speed at which the bullshit can now be flung, and how far-reaching its splatter zone.
So, to put myself in Granny Flossie's tiny shoes, I'd guess it might be that new-fangled "A.I." gizmo all the kids are talkin' about! Extending the reach of social media, as it comes into sentience as its own new life form. The fact that we're training it with the full sum total of recorded human experience is both the good news AND the bad news. So basically, we're rolling loaded dice that are already a trillion times smarter than we are.
Is that scary? FUCK, YEAH!!! But also completely fascinating, in that it could wind up almost unimaginably wonderful, or nightmarish beyond our wildest dreams.
Which brings me to the excellent question you pose, about the possible middle path. Because that's the one we're most apt to wind up with, for both better AND worse. With some people willfully evolving themselves and society toward the next order of magnitude, While others work as hard as they can to turn right the fuck back into apes.
I mean, your guess is as good as mine, and so is everybody else's. But I do think there will always be a strong urge toward authenticity, and deep living, and that amazing art/science innovation is coming. Meanwhile, all we'll have to do is what we've always done: follow our hearts, and try not to get stomped by assholes. Because if history is any guide, there will ALWAYS BE ASSHOLES.
Like you, I waver daily between hope and despair, and back to hope. I have to believe in the possibility of humanity waking up!
What gives me hope is knowing that there are people who are already awake. What I found liberating in Breaking Together is that while it acknowledges how dire things are, and how unlikely it is for those in power to change their mental models, it also encourages and empowers those of us who are awake to still create the most beautiful lives possible, at the material and spiritual level...
I agree. We are here to live life to the fullest, which includes helping others gain knowledge and evolve.
Dear Carlota -- I am not a doomster, but I sure as shit know what you mean! Almost a quarter of the way into a new century, and the bare beginnings of a fresh thousand-year cycle, it shouldn't surprise anyone that massive, nigh-unto-incomprehensible change is coming. We just don't know what it'll be, any more than my poor hunchbacked grandma Flossie knew what to make of the new "horseless buggies" that attended her youth at the turn of the previous century, or the rumors of these far-fetched "flying machines" that she'd heard tell of, but never seen. (I am not making this up.)
Being older than fuck now, my take is this: EVERY age is a New Age. And each is also doomed to die. It all happens in spirals and cycles. And one of the cycles I love most is the one you're experiencing now, where people go, "Why am I wasting my life on this bullshit I no longer believe in, if I ever did?" and start creating fresh links to deeper meaning. Leaving the last party, and making their own new ones.
So we'll see where this all goes -- or at least YOU will, cuz I probably got twenty years left in me, tops -- but I 100% agree that breaking together is waaaaaay the hell better than simply breaking apart. And I loved this essay. THANKS FOR SHARING!!!
Yer pal in the trenches,
Skipp
Ha! Great comment, Skipp. It puts things into perspective.
I agree that every age is a new one, and suspect will agree even more as I hopefully live more decades on this floating sphere. At the same time, what seems unprecedented is the massive chaos we are unblocking in such a short time frame. Perhaps folks living through the World Wars felt similarly. The difference is that even if we stop the nonsense at some point, the feedback loops activated will continue to affect us for decades/centuries/? to come...
I wonder what you think will be the "horseless buggies" and "flying machines" of tomorrow.
More and more, I find myself imagining what life will look like in a couple of years and decades. It's hard. In that sense, I feel as clueless as your grandma Flossie! I keep switching between every-human-for-themselves dystopian scenarios to full-on utopias in intentional communities. What's particularly challenging is imagining the middle path...
GOOD MORNING! Yeah, the biggest difference between this massive chaos and all PREVIOUS chaos would seem to be the speed at which the bullshit can now be flung, and how far-reaching its splatter zone.
So, to put myself in Granny Flossie's tiny shoes, I'd guess it might be that new-fangled "A.I." gizmo all the kids are talkin' about! Extending the reach of social media, as it comes into sentience as its own new life form. The fact that we're training it with the full sum total of recorded human experience is both the good news AND the bad news. So basically, we're rolling loaded dice that are already a trillion times smarter than we are.
Is that scary? FUCK, YEAH!!! But also completely fascinating, in that it could wind up almost unimaginably wonderful, or nightmarish beyond our wildest dreams.
Which brings me to the excellent question you pose, about the possible middle path. Because that's the one we're most apt to wind up with, for both better AND worse. With some people willfully evolving themselves and society toward the next order of magnitude, While others work as hard as they can to turn right the fuck back into apes.
I mean, your guess is as good as mine, and so is everybody else's. But I do think there will always be a strong urge toward authenticity, and deep living, and that amazing art/science innovation is coming. Meanwhile, all we'll have to do is what we've always done: follow our hearts, and try not to get stomped by assholes. Because if history is any guide, there will ALWAYS BE ASSHOLES.
In the end, balance is everything.
Oh, and also: there is no end.
A beautiful wish... Yes, let's book club it. That's a wonderful idea.