95 Comments

For three months each year, I live on an island ten miles off the coast of Maine where the world you are describing (in some ways) already is ~ transportation is (mostly) by foot; there is one tiny grocery store which has what it has, and we make do, or supplement our larders from our gardens or the sea. Everyone knows each other by name and while we may not all share the same world views, no one would ever let another person starve.

It is not a perfect, but what is ~ all I know is that Monhegan, its land, its people and the relationship I have developed by being a good steward in the community sustains and inspires my being wherever else I find myself, here and there.

Thank you for writing this essay.

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What a beautiful comment. Thank you for sharing (and reading.)

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I live on Whidbey Island on the other side of the country, and much of the same applies.

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I love this piece, thank you for writing it! I've been on a similar thought path for a while now, like you, initiated by the birth of my daughter in 2020. She was born right into the first UK lockdown and the combination of both circumstances made me realise not only how isolated I was (and so proudly - look what a strong, independent woman I am!) but also how important local communities truly are. I also suddenly saw society in a new way, realising how little my (very comfortable, very well paid) job really does to benefit those around me. Having gone through a certain amount of grief about the state the world is in, I've now come out the other side and am actually cautiously optimistic that if we do this properly, the future could perhaps be better rather than worse? Yes, things will be very different and most likely more uncomfortable/inconvenient in many ways. But perhaps that will mean life will be lived at a more human scale and speed? In the meantime, I am trying to keep one foot in the 'There' - my mortgage still needs paying! - but always thinking about the skills my family and local community could be developing in the 'Here' to help us adapt when the shittification really hits.

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I think keeping one foot in each is really the work right now. There is no shame in needing to still pay your mortgage etc. I certainly do! Thank you for reading and I'm so glad it resonated.

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I feel really encouraged by this, Beth x

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I like to echo what Kurt Vonnegut once said about having the one thing the wealthy don't have and will never get. Enough.

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Kurt Vonnegut was such a wise (and eminently quotable) man!

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I feel “collapse” as a concept is too vague, its ominous overtones masking the lack of concrete, lived reality in its conceptualization. It exudes a sense of helplessness, where the future is a void in time, the negation of today. I’d rather be “cusp aware” — cognizant that we are on the cusp of societal change. Trying to predict this future is a waste of energy, but taking today’s volatile ingredients and shaping it to the future we want is not.

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This last sentence is everything. ✨

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Thank you for this. So concisely put and validating. For the last 2-3yrs I have been sensing into this. I deconstructed a 6figure business and completely scaled back. Moved out of London to a smaller town and have really focused on community building and collective care. I have also retrained as a somatic therapist and really want to focus on trauma and embodiment. Supporting people in reclaiming and remembering their wholeness. I realised that all my joy comes from things that cost no money. Life is more fulfilling even though it’s scary with chronic illness and the collapse that is arriving. So many of my clients speak of chronic pain & fatigue. Our bodies mirroring the earth. I could say so much on this. Thank you again.

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Yes, I wish more people could/would view chronic illness this way -- as a mirror of the conditions we're living in.

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Mmmm yes. I have noticed my own collapse in my body. I am also curious around the rise in neurodiversity (I was diagnosed in 2022) it’s like our bodies are literally screaming no.

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How it’s been explained to me is that Neurodiversity (ND) is like asthma or diabetes type 2, you may inherit it but it’s down to environmental and lifestyle factors if it becomes apparent.

I’ve heard neuroscientists say recently that we’re at our evolutionary edge in regard to how much more information our minds can process. Plus toxins in everything, water, air and food. So it’s no wonder so much ND and chronic disease is being toggled to the on state.

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That's fascinating, and makes a lot of sense.

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With neurodivergence, it’s not necessarily that more people are acquiring neurodiverse conditions, but that people are becoming more aware of them and how they show up in different people (especially outside of the traditionally researched young white male). I agree that the way our societies are set up is what makes neurodivergence difficult, though; especially the constant sensory overload. Our nervous systems aren’t built for a world that doesn’t allow time for rest, recuperation, and taking things at our own (slower) pace.

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Oh, my gosh. Thanks for the validation here. I tried to raise this point with a former 'bible study' group, and was 're-learned up' with a 'theology' of natalism, and everyone else nodding quiet affirmation of THAT. I haven't been back. And now, I'm screaming NO. NO more of this.

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The sad part is that many people with chronic illness or disability are excluded from the community building and collective care, no matter how much they want to participate in it (and no matter how much they would have to give). Especially now that no Covid precautions are taken anymore - many people would have to choose between "community" that risks their health on the one hand, and maintaining what is left of their health but living in isolation.

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Yes I agree with this. It's really important to name this, I have spent the entire year sick and in pain because my current job which I can hopefully leave soon is not only deeply physical but also puts me in large groups of people. Sadly capitalism doesn't give me a choice, hence retraining for a job I can do at home and I feel like one of the lucky ones because I was able to do this despite the challenges.

This is my experience and also the experience of many of my friends. That being said I do see true collective care and community from the spaces I am in, just this week in a whatsapp group of queer, neurodiverse, disabled and chronically sick humans I am part of in my town, raised the money to replace the glasses of someone with cerebral palsy. The problem is that people, especially those who aren't impacted have a very idealistic version of what community actually is. Most of my community is made up of queer, neurodiverse and chronically sick humans and everyday I am in awe of the mutual aid and ability to care for each other despite the struggles of each individual and I love that no one is measured by how much or how little they can contribute or that they have to likeable/easy to receive care. I know I am fortunate to live somewhere where this has manifested as not true for so many other spaces and people but I think it's important to name that it is possible and also present.

I also think I need to name that I no longer have any faith in government or a large portion of able bodied people at this stage and it's the same for a lot of my community. We know that we only have each other and while we will continue to do our best to hold the people in power to account (and when we organise we find ways to include everyone) we also know that we want to participate in building something different.

Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha is a book that I recommend to everyone around this. And I also try to educate as much as I have capacity for.

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Hi Ami, I appreciate that you took the time to reply. It makes me so angry when people have to work in conditions that make them worse - this is certainly not necessary for society to function; as you say, capitalist society just has the wrong priorities.

But it is great that you have found real community. I lately hear this again and again - the people who truly care are the ones who have suffered or been excluded themselves. It is a bit disturbing that other people don't seem to be able to muster care (and it will also harm themselves on the long run because most of us will need support one day), but maybe that's how human brains work...

I am in a highly stressful work environment where people need to relocate frequently, and I think that's really not conducive to community spirit. People help each other with everyday problems, organise nice birthday parties etc., but when serious things happen (death of a loved one, long-term illness etc.) there is ofteb no support; I feel like difficult feelings are actively avoided. I think many people are just too overwhelmed to take the time & energy to think about others.

I do think that there is a chance that with time, people will start to remember the value of community. I try to always remind myself that opinions in society can shift, not only in one direction.

All the best to you!

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I deeply appreciate this, and it's deeply in conversation with an essay I'll be publishing in the coming days called, probably, "Collapse is Not the End," and I look forward to continuing to be in dialogue with you as we move through these times. I also gave birth in 2022, and am nourished by the sense that you and I are walking this time-path of mothering in these times together. This weekend I'm hosting a gardening party with some friends and neighbors, where they'll help weed some garden beds I haven't been able to tend since my son was born, and I'll feed them quiche and we'll trade plants. I've been nourishing bioregional regenerative culturework for nearly a decade now, but this moment is calling it all closer to home. I'm here, as much and as deeply as I can be. And I'm glad you are here too.

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Thank you for giving voice to something I’ve been struggling with. In 2022 I stepped back from a 30 year career in progressive policy advocacy with a sense of cynicism about the value of that work. As I’ve looked at getting back into the work (mostly for financial reasons and somewhat out of a sense of obligation to be part of the struggle when there is so much suffering) I’ve been fighting a deepening sense of futility and doubt that siloed solutions and short term tactics we rally around are moving us in the right direction when something much more fundamental and systemic is what is really off. We don’t really have good language for this yet in the advocacy space - or a way to measure what we are doing to contribute to shift that are happening on a “millennial timeline” as opposed to 2 and 4 year election cycles. I’ve always pushed for movement people to think about our fights on at least a 25 year timetable, but I’ll be noodling on how we can locate ourselves on a longer horizon. A fundamentally mortal conundrum.

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I recently listened to an interview with a longtime policy wonk on exactly this topic, of having a longer perspective on her work, and having a less human-centric view of the world and the future. You might find it inspiring, as I did: https://endoftheworldshow.org/episodes/when-no-thing-works-with-norma-wong 🤓🎧🙂

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Beautifully written, Rosie. I like to think of compartmentalising as the taking care of self; a sustainable practice that allows us to move forward and care for others. I also nod to the Indigenous mindset of ‘enoughness’ - take what you need, leave the rest. But also: what is enough for me? And what do I need to live well? Uncertain times always bring us back to what matters. And sometimes it’s a mindset shift that leads to a sense of hope, despite everything x

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“Be joyful though you have considered all the facts.”

Wendell Berry

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What a fantastic essay Rosie. You absolutely knocked it out of the park, articulating wonderfully things I feel so deeply in the core of my being.

It brought the ending of the TS Eliot poem, The Hollow Men, to mind:

“This is the way the world ends

Not with a bang but a whimper.”

My experience has been that reconnecting with ‘here’ is a profoundly spiritual undertaking, and not in a “woo” way. Here is in the body and the present moment, as well as in my village and my back garden.

Many ancient spiritual traditions conceive of time and epochs as a cycle of creation, decay, destruction and recreation. It doesn’t have to be as depressing as it feels to our western minds, though:

For anyone feeling despair at the current state of thee world, I can strongly recommend the online course ‘Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet’ by Plum Village. There’s also an eponymous book, by Thich Naht Hanh. The practices and community I found there have helped me come to terms with the reality of Here, and still find joy - both Here and Now.

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I also had my first (and only) child in 2022, and like you I've found that her presence and the simple hugeness of her being in this world has made it easier to come to terms with the potential of something like collapse. Even while there is an unavoidable element of fear when I think of what her world might look like 20, 30, 40 years from now, when I let my mind wander down the different potential paths I'm also increasingly able to see the potential for her life to be better than what's possible now, at least in some aspects. In a weird way I'm grateful to feel legitimized in totally sidestepping the anxious race to make sure she keeps whatever sort of educated, 'elite' status I've got so that we can all just be together in the present.

I was just thinking this morning before reading this that it feels as though I'm in two worlds almost always--one very much 'here' as you say--and the 'there' that is the part of the world we live in and my dayjob, which feels increasingly out of step and inauthentic but which we also pretty heavily rely on. I've been in knots the past 6 months or so trying to figure out what to do--and having read your thoughts is clarifying for me that what I've been struggling with is the challenge of the enormous gulf between my current here and there. Even while I think, like you, I'll go on living in both worlds, the way they're currently constituted for me is just too far apart. Lots of food for thought here!

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I think the gulf is okay. It's okay to be inauthentic in some of it — we still have bills to pay after all! The awareness of it is major, and putting words to it so you can help others understand.

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Wow, thank you for this Rosie. I have been thinking a lot about those elements of local community and place lately, and you reminded me as to why we're so quick to see them as "small" or "inconsequential" when in fact they are the backbone of everything.

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Thank you for this excellent essay I love your suggestions on things we can do, right here, right now. It requires a consciousness shift, but to me that sounds like a world I want to live in. Rooted in place, community and care.

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This is a brilliant article Rosie, bravo for your courage and honesty . You are articulating where I am in response to over 20 years of being collapse aware….and it hasn’t really happened in the UK yet.

We do have a lot of economic hardship and massive transitions in how business’s operate and employ people. Then AI, will affect this further, so old ways are collapsing and the new is emerging. None of us know what impact this will have on us individually and our societies.

What we do know is that denial or passive acceptance will not deliver the future we desire. It’s down to us to dream and create a future worth living for our children and their children.

The most important thing is the “collapse mindset “, rather than the delusional business as usual or that someone or the State can save us. A collapse mindset gives many gifts including appreciation, responsibility and daily actions to add value to your own and your communities life .

Your suggestions here are investments and growth in the fabric of life that sustains and enables survival…always has and always will, thank you.

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This truly is one of the most comforting, (comfortingly) challenging, and relevant pieces I've ever read. I feel like I should start each day for a while by reading this, it summed up so much of what I've been feeling and trying to put my finger on over the past week. Thank you so much for the time and consideration you put into writing this, it was so incredibly helpful.

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I'm so glad it felt helpful.

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Glad to read this. I have come to a similar acceptance of the time in which we live. We are making ourselves extinct, and on a biological level I believe we all know this. So we’re all desperate. Collapse, as in the Roman empire collapse under terrible leadership. We have our Nero. And human life is in jeopardy. And yet, we can’t help but try to survive and find meaning. As a member of the trans and nonbinary community, and a survivor of systemic violence, how I choose to do those things is individuated to my life. I know how the systemic changes of gay marriage, black lives matter and the #metoo movement have altered daily life. And yet…here we are in the backlash. A very volatile desperate backlash. When there’s nothing else, there is human kindness. Also, leaving the country, my favorite way of surviving.

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You’ve so perfectly articulated what I’ve been struggling to name. I’m standing in line at Chile airport where there is a deliberate slowdown by the staff as protest to being denied a (much needed) pay rise and I think “good on them” - where typically I’d be annoyed. Unfortunately, compassion is hard to come by during uncertain times such as these. Thank you for the reminder. X

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Thank you so much for this comment. I didn't put this in the piece, but customer service frustrations -- which come up a lot these days due to the enshittification of most corporate-owned businesses -- is often where I have to discipline myself the most to keep this mindset front of mind. It is not workers' fault that they are underpaid, understaffed, under-respected. We're suffering under the same conditions, in different ways. So I often need to remind myself to not be annoyed with them for meeting my expectations. Hard though!

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