How We Live with Collapse

We have invited our members to share the story of their collapse journey, their creativity, and their wisdom. We hope these stories might assist you on your own collapse journey.

These stories contain the opinions of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Collapse Club members or conveners.

Child standing at edge of water on beach with trash everywhere.

Cognitive Dissonance and Collapse Acceptance

By David McHugh • April 28, 2025

This article explores the cognitive dissonance created by the psychological tension between participating in industrial civilization, all the while, believing in its inevitable downfall (destruction) and how communities navigate and accept this emotionally painful experience.

Acceptance, Courage, Wisdom

By Susan Porter • April 21, 2025

I have attended Al-Anon meetings for 29 years and I still use this prayer to help me keep a balanced attitude. Can I also use this simple prayer to help me cope with the collapse of civilization? Is it even possible to have “serenity” in these changing times?

Small and large starfish next to each other on beach.

The Kids Are Alright

By David Baum • March 31, 2025

In a recent Collapse Club meeting, I had the chance to hear from some “young people,” which in this context means people in their mid-30s. This is a different demographic than the mainstream of our participants, who tend to be in their 50s and older.

Photo of young people dancing at a concert.

Response from a Collapse Aware Young Person

By Shyla • February 22, 2025

This article on young folks, from an old folks’ perspective, doesn’t capture my experience or that of my peers. My crew & I, young and old, are grieving the losses but more interested in creating what we can from the shell & bones of collapse. We don’t have the luxury of dying before it happens, unless we die by suicide or natural disaster, so we’re skill-building on how to build community and coalitions of like-minded people; adapt to & filter out fast-moving news streams; breathe through & transmute pain; serve as death doulas, nurses, Community Health Workers (CHWs), facilitators, and artists; continue to sing & dance together like humans always have.

Photo of large, old tree stump with sapling spouting out of the middle of it.

Why Young People Will Not Be Joining Us

By Robert Mitchell • February 16, 2025

Having participated in groups like Collapse Club and Death Cafe, and having run my own group Planet Titanic Human Extinction Café, it’s hard not to notice how few people under the age of 30 join us in these forums. After all, like us, many if not most of them are aware of the societal collapse and human extinction which are close at hand.

Searching for THE ANSWER

By Zoe Leach • January 31, 2025

I was born in 1985, at 345.72 ppm of carbon to two middle-class artist parents. As a child of the nineties, I remember learning about the Amazon rainforest and being totally captivated by it, and then feeling the concomitant horror when I learned about the slash and burn agriculture that was destroying it. I wanted to stop this destruction, but of course was helpless to do so.

photo of a dandelion letting go of it's seeds in the wind

Giving-Up verses Letting-Go

By David McHugh • January 6, 2025

In the world we call Collapse, there are few distinctions more confused and misunderstood than the difference between 'giving-up' and 'letting-go.' These phrases may seem similar at the surface, but represent fundamentally different approaches to life's challenges, personal growth, and emotional healing.

From Devastation to Balance

By Susan Porter • December 29, 2024

I like to think of the process of collapse acceptance as five stations on a spiraling path from fear and grief to love in action.

Teddy bear sitting alone on a bench next to a Christmas tree

Social Isolation During the Holiday Season

By David McHugh • December 23, 2024

I do sometimes feel lonely in my Collapse Awareness, but this year I hope to feel more connected to my fellow sojourners, as we approach the festive season.

Photo of protesters holding a sign saying

Why I Am Still A (part time) Climate Activist

By Teresa Persighetti • December 16, 2024

I was one of the 67% of the UK population who voted in the 1975 referendum to stay a member state of the European Union, remarking at the time that “When everything starts to break down, we may as well all go down together.”

We'd Love to Share Your Story - Please Write for Us!

At Collapse Club, we gain so much by sharing our stories and by hearing the stories of others on this journey.

We would love to share the story of your collapse journey on our blog so others may know they're not alone. We also welcome poetry and other creative writing, art, photography, etc.

If you would like to participate in our community this way, here are a few guidelines to help with writing your story:

- Minimum of 300 words, maximum of 1500 words.

- Here are some questions to get you started. You may wish to answer some, all, or none of them. Remember, a "story" has a beginning, a middle and an end.

What was your first indication that the world was in crisis?
When did you become aware that the "crisis" was actually a collapse of civilization?
What feelings did you have when you gained this awareness?
How did this knowledge affect your life?
Did you use any resources to cope? What did you do? Therapy? Spiritual practice? Activism?
Did you join a support group? If so, what was your experience there?
How have Collapse Club meetings helped you? Have other meetings helped you?
How do you feel now about collapse? Does it still upset you or do you feel at peace with it?
Have you found a mission or purpose in life? What is yours to do now that you have accepted collapse is happening?

- Please send your stories or art to susan@collapseclub.com. Thanks!

All blog posts are published under a Creative Commons license (see link below). By submitting material to Collapse Club, the author agrees to have their work posted for public viewing on this website.

This work is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International