The Fivefold Path, Revisited.

We know that the world of “business-as-usual” cannot last. It uses too much energy. It imposes absurd and cruel demands on people and other creatures. It is built on abstract and artificial ideas that create a damaging — and ultimately fatal — separation from nature.

And yet we are forced to live in “business-as-usual,” unless we are of particularly hardy and independent stock. We have bills to pay. All our friends are here. We were raised in this world and we are used to it.

But living in this world and seeing beyond it at the same time causes a dangerous pressure in our minds. In some circles, this is called “cognitive dissonance.” In our circle, we call it “collapse awareness.” As we see things collapsing around us the pressure of our awareness increases until we feel like we must find a way out of the fake world and into someplace we recognize as real. 

In Collapse Club, we call the journey from the fake to the real ‘The Fivefold Path of Collapse Acceptance.’ We start in fear, we grieve our loss in the company of others, we surrender the life we have had, we open ourselves to new perspectives, and finally we choose a purpose for our lives in the world we have come to inhabit.

The Fivefold Path of Collapse Acceptance

1) Knowledge: Find out, freak out. (Fear)

At some point, we learn how bad the situation is. For me, it was reading Jem Bendell’s 2018 paper about Deep Adaptation that crystallized my understanding. I knew things were bad in a variety of ways — climate, war, pollution — but Jem performed the invaluable service of bringing all the threads together. He raised a flag and sent up a flare! I followed the signal into the Deep Adaptation community and from there to Collapse Club.

2) Feelings: Grieve and metabolize. (Grief)

To learn about collapse is to become conscious of a great loss, both personal and global. There are many feelings involved in grieving a loss, like sadness, anger, and anxiety. If these feelings have nowhere to go, they can be crippling. That’s why we gather in Collapse Club meetings (and other meetings), so that we can metabolize our grief together.

3) Change: Accept the loss of “normal.” (Stability)

The old world is gone. Our future self is dead. We must let go of the person we used to be and the life we used to lead, accepting that those concepts no longer apply. Once we embrace this surrender, we can stop fighting and approach our lives from a place of emotional stability.

4) Discovery: Watch for new perspectives. (Vision)

When we are no longer bound to our previous conception of our life, we can be open to new possibilities. We come to understand that even within destruction there is opportunity for growth. When the caterpillar disappears, the butterfly is born.

5) Love-in-Action: Choose what is yours to do. (Purpose)

When we give up the future and the past, we realize that we are alive in the present day. There are things we can do which are “worthwhile, no matter what” (in Matthew’s phrase). Doing our chosen tasks brings meaning to our lives in the present moment, regardless of what we may think about the future or the past.

We cannot “solve” collapse, but we can find a position within the collapsing world where we are rooted in the unique story of our life and the wisdom which flows from it. Our “cognitive dissonance” does not disappear, but it is enfolded in a larger understanding, in a bigger story.

We can find joy in the commonplace activities of every precious day. We can connect with those we love in immediate intimacy. We can glory in beauty that flows from the simple existence of things. In short, we can embody the full power of life, even in the shadow of collapse.