Love in a Time of Crisis
2022 Aug 27
Us human beings are most fully seen at times of crisis. Here we are drowning in a sea of dire warnings and stories of imminent peril in every direction. Globally and personally, for our loved ones, for ourselves, for the creatures of this world, all struggling to survive, we see our full range of reactions.
Now, this isn’t going to be a story of me being heroic, but it is going to be about not panicking. I wrote of it elsewhere in a sort of story-come-poem called ‘the golden fleece’. The tl;dr of it is that the protection I had put in while rock climbing all fell out! Suddenly faced with a death fall, the range of human reactions flashed through my mind and something happened that had never happened to me before. Something very basic and clear took over and everything became very simple. “Climb as perfectly and as correctly as you possibly can and NOTHING ELSE!” It was utterly exhilarating looking back on it, that time of clarity, but its relevance to our collective situation is why I bring it up.
People’s psychology, en-masse, when a crisis looms, has been seen over and over again. There are plenty of historical accounts to look over. It seems to me that the threats and challenges we face, climate crisis and economic threats in particular, have shocked us into repeating these dramas. Giving way to these reactions is the single biggest threat!
Demons are real, let me tell you. I know you know, but look, these demons need naming. Terror, rage, despair, guilt, blame, worry, these are the actual demons. They can take us over. When they are in charge we give away our ability to ‘climb as perfectly and correctly’ as we can and have the power to lead the world into disaster. That’s why they are demons, they lead to disaster.
Terror, and the rest of the gang, are what lies behind all these conspiracy theories, all these grifters and false prophets popping up. These are the real puppet masters to be afraid of. Not ’them’, whoever we take ’them’ to be, not the communists, the fascists, the immigrants, the ‘woke’, the ‘un-Godly’, not the capitalists, the executives, the politicians, the activists. We can all find a witch to burn. Finding out who is to blame isn’t really the priority when the crunch comes. If I had spent my time in recriminations about why all my gear had fallen out, I’d be dead. Arguing, instead of acting, isn’t clever.
Mother Nature still loves us! We can show that we love her back by not panicking. By refusing to give way to the demons. By being clear and stalwart now the crisis unfolds around us. Do we have any solutions? Yes! I’ve lost count of all the brilliant ideas that are out there and being acted on. There are many things that need to change, and change fast, and thus we are called on to change.
‘Head in the sand’, ‘steady as she goes’, ‘business as usual’ are reactions of paralysis. If I had frozen up on that rock climb, I wouldn’t be here to write this.
Are we not rudely awoken from a dream, a dream of endless growth, endless fun and plenty? These are fantasies out of marketing departments. The world of the adverts isn’t real folks! If you’re anything like me, then you’ll simultaneously think ‘obviously!’ and also go on acting in the same old way as though it is real, as though we can have endless pleasant and enticing wonderments with no stresses, no difficulties, no responsibilities.
First things first then, the current lot of ’leaders’ have demonstrated beyond any possible doubt, that they must go! They must take their power games and begone. Off to your private paradises with the lot of you! Citizen’s Assemblies are a front-running idea to get a bit of common sense back in the driver’s seat. Well, let me not waste your time with another list of Things That Must Be Done, I’m not qualified. There are plenty of people who ARE qualified though. They are scientists and permaculture people, not bible-bashers and snake-oil salesmen. They are teachers and doctors, not rabble-rousers and ‘influencers’. They are engineers and designers, not polemicists and demagogues. They are those who refuse to lose their heads. Those who refuse to panic.
For the love of Mother Earth, be strong and don’t give way to demons. Do what must be done. If there are no solutions and nothing can be done, then it will be time to learn something. If a thing really is inevitable then what would be a groovy way of accepting it? If we ‘climb perfectly’ who knows?
