Sanity 101: Living Fully in an Age of Decline (Basic Training) Essential Wisdom for Hard Times

[@DeLeukeNamenWarenOp]

Hi Michael, I found your videos a couple of months ago already, but never got around to write a reply. But after watching your videos, there’s still a big question gnawing at me, and I hope you can find the time to provide an answer. I have always known, since I was a child (born in the 70’s) that I would witness the end of the world. But I never had the heart to tell anyone for fear of being branded crazy. But it’s simple: the resources we use are finite, and we use them up faster and faster. That cannot end well, even a child can figure that out. So when asked about the future, I always told people that I’m convinced I won’t get old, I won’t make it to 60, maybe not even 50 years old. What I _meant_ to tell them is that NONE of us will make it to 2035, or maybe even 2025… So, your videos do provide help for me. If only for knowing I’m not the only “crazy one” or “doomer” out there. And the psychological processes you describe are very recognizable, although I experience them as cyclic: I keep going through stages of hope, denial, anger, acceptance, grief and then start all the way back at hope again… But I’m guessing that cyclic thing could be normal, instead of a simple linear progress. But one big question remains for me. It’s not about the end or death per sé, because everything must come to an end, but about the “getting there”, the dying part, or put in other words: HOW you die. How do you prepare for that? How do you prepare for the chaos that ensues when the majority finds out we’re all screwed and that nothing can be done anymore? The protests, the riots, the outbursts of violence? How do you prepare for the day the food runs out? To quote Joel from ‘The Last of Us’: “Then you’ll see what people are _really_ capable of…” How do you prepare for the day those roving bands come by looking for your last supplies? They could shoot you in the head and take them, but I’d wager that would make you lucky: they could have completely other things in mind… How do you prepare for that? How do you prepare to die of hunger or thirst? Can you even prepare for this, I wonder? Be what it may, I would still like to express my heartfelt gratitude towards you. I’m glad that you speak out about this, and speak so publicly about it. It helps to know I’m not alone with these thoughts. Thanks for that :)

[@aq3681]

Thats the question for me as well...

[@bee6195]

I needed this. Thank you. I've been struggling for some time to make my way to acceptance, but have been hampered by the feeling that "acceptance" is somehow disrespectful- that the sheer breadth of catastrophe we've created deserves something more from me. But this helped me more fully realize that since I am unable to change anything about our trajectory, the least I can do is fully appreciate what I have now. That I can allow my grief to lead me to gratitude.

[@thegreatstory]

Thanks, Bee! "Since I am unable to change anything about our trajectory, the least I can do is fully appreciate what I have now. Then I can allow my grief to lead me to gratitude." Perfect!!

[@jenmorricone4014]

Thank you for a wonderful comment Bee. It made my day better.

[@nsbd90now]

This is it. I debated for a while whether to just lose myself in the bottle, but decided to get back to regular exercise and practicing a musical instrument. Though I do struggle with it all, that's for sure.

[@xikano8573]

@nsbd90now Same! Hang in there, friend.

[@Leander290]

I have been coming to a similar set of conclusions as presented in this video. Only, in my case, it took far longer than a few years. I pursued many intellectual, spiritual and personal dead-ends. The conflict I have felt in "letting go" of trying to "fix" some of the individual aspects of the overall permacrisis has been considerable. Lately I have been experiencing this "calm gratitude" thing. It has a joyful and sometimes euphoric quality for me that I feel most acutely while out cycling or hiking in nature. Prior to this new phase my life got to a point where nothing much at all could ever feel satisfactory, peaceful or worth pursing. I didn't know what to do but I knew I was exhausted, so I quit my job and spent a few months doing nothing. While I was unemployed I started to fully accept what was happening and change my values accordingly. Having a break allowed me the time to find a more ethical job than anything I could get for many years. For now, at least, I am enjoying what is good while not resenting so much what is bad. I am feeling so lucky to have meaningful experiences and connections with everything. I've been focusing on improving my relationships via forgiveness, healing, love and LOTS of dialogue. I have less and yet I give away more. I am, surprisingly, quite happy.

[@mollym7759]

I do notice that you repeat slides and info in your lectures but I actually super appreciate it. Repetition is so important for people to be able to take in important information. It can take a while before the ideas, especially challenging ones, sink in. Just to say, I appreciate your work and the style you tell it in.

[@thegreatstory]

Thank you, Molly!

[@selenefee7801]

I have listened to many of Michael's videos and podcasts. Listening to this on is the first time I have deeply heard " awareness is hell. Only acceptance leading to trust transforms life" getting to acceptance, when I have lived out my story that knowledge and awareness will motivate me, seems so tough. Letting go of the illusion and the depressing reality is somehow on the otherside of grief, I suspect. I burst on crying when I heard Michael say "acceptance is key". It's like I've been pickin at a scab wound, and watching it bleed over and over meanwhile ignoring all the aspects of life I can be grateful for. It would be wonderful to have a support group born out of this body of work so generously shared and crafted by Michael and his wife. I'm in awe at the generosity.

[@thegreatstory]

@@selenefee7801 What a soul-nourishing treat to just now read this comment of yours, Selene, aloud to Connie...thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU! End-of-year love and blessings, ~ Michael (P.S., I hope to do just what you suggest in early 2023. Check in here every couple of weeks: postdoom.com/discussions/

[@nickkacures2304]

@@thegreatstory once I have watched this twenty times can I fathom the implications of this video as I am in my 1st run through as I’m txting this in horror and relief at the same time I wonder the what if’s like what if I moved to Australia or New Zealand 🇳🇿 or something what can I do to get out ahead of this collapse

[@nickkacures2304]

So we’re not going to all drive our new electric vehicles to paradise on electricity from wind and solar stopping only to recharge at a solar covered recharging station and maybe take a minute to have a nice organic salad and lab grown steak 🥩

[@dhonig301]

We are both blessed and cursed with the knowledge of our own mortality. From a hospice perspective, I prefer to know and understand our predicament, which puts me in position to fully appreciate each day as a true miracle and not take it for granted. My circles prefer not to know, as doom is scary, instead they prefer the hopium the media serves daily on the boob tube.

[@thegreatstory]

Yup. Very common. Delighted to have you as part of the post-doom, no gloom tribe!

[@TheDoomWizard]

We needed this.

[@thegreatstory]

Thanks, Regan.

[@deblock2233]

Just having discovered you and your work, I am overwhelmed by numerous contradicting emotions upon watching Sanity 101. This is without any doubt the most insightful, supportive and helpful video on dealing with our current predicament that I have ever come accross. I am immensely grateful for your work and for you putting it out here. After years of suffering in my attempts to deal with it all, I can now finally see how to find peace and meaningfulness in all this. Thank you so very much!

[@marirose9648]

Thank you!!! ❤❤❤ this video is such a gift in a time of need. I’ve been in such a hopeless space not because of our doom because I feared the insanity would go on for much too long. I’ve been aware of collapse for many decades now and feel ready to go at any time. Interestingly enough, I feel impatient for the collapse. You have really helped me see that I’m just on the flipside. Now my goal is to be more present, more loving and more conscientious of what I bring to the living planet. Thank you!!! I will listen again soon and probably again and again.❤

[@susanliebermann5721]

Michael, this is a brilliant presentation. You are a global treasure! Thank you for collecting the pertinent facts and guiding us skillfully through acceptance and into gratitude and service.

[@thegreatstory]

Your kind and generous comment means a lot to me, Susan. Thank you, dear one!

[@artmeditationvista1526]

I am so grateful you have made this astonishing philosophy available! It is truly life saving work! I have made so many philosophical mistakes that your body of work is helping me be conscious of and to get in better alignment with the universe!

[@marktaylor3489]

Thanks, Michael. In Buddhist psychology there is the concept of 'Radical Acceptance', which is not the acceptance of passivity in adversity, but rather of seeing clearly and taking action in response to things as they are. Given the circumstances we confront -- are swimming in the midst of -- false hope will and does kill and is a suffering multiplier. I see every environmental group missing the opportunity and turning from the obligation to speak honestly about what is upon us and the entire world of beings. Spiritual communities should be taking the lead in the kind of work and reckoning you are describing, Michael, but -- along with the rest of our institutions -- they are unwilling to step into the work that needs doing.

[@thegreatstory]

Thanks, Mark!

[@thegreatstory]

@Corrie Wow, I am seriously interested in that, Corrie! Make sure you let me know when it's available, please.

[@thegreatstory]

@Corrie Yes, please: MichaelBDowd(AT)geeemale

[@emilegirard912]

Michael, I know we’ve never met but I just want you to know that I genuinely love you. Thank you for these videos, from the bottom of my heart.

[@thegreatstory]

What a treat to read this comment, my friend! I just read it aloud to my beloved bride, Connie, and she said, "Oh, that's so great, dahlin!" Thanks! End-of-year love and blessings, ~ Michael

[@Jodamo]

Was bringing out the weed just as your 2nd pause break came on. Perfect timing 😂

[@thegreatstory]

Indeed...good for you!

[@Jodamo]

Thank you for your work here. 🙏

[@nsbd90now]

It's always 420 when you're living through a collapse!

[@Anthropoid333]

Thank you once again Michael. You are a incredible human. I respect and appreciate all you are doing for the "aware". ❤

[@TennesseeJed]

I ain't so convinced that having sanity is useful in this crazy world.

[@thegreatstory]

Interesting point, Jed! 🙂

[@TennesseeJed]

@@thegreatstory thanks for the episode and trying to keep us on track, kind Reverend!

[@janklaas6885]

Baruch the spinosa a great dutch philosopher was banned by the jews because he claimed that god is nature, he was a jew himself kzbin.info/www/bejne/rWbThJ5-fbd1fbc

[@LivingintheTimeofDying]

Comprehensive and compassionate. I agree with a comment above “ you are a global treasure” 🙏🏼 thanks for the shout out re megs interview also. talk soon.

[@thegreatstory]

Thank you, Michael! Yes, let's talk in the next week or two. Big new year cyberhug!

[@josiefretwell1229]

I appreciate the concept of sweet grief, and am working on developing my own definition and examples of it. The heartbreak of the beauty of the world is a good starting point for me. To feel the sweet grief of experiencing it, and accepting it doesn’t belong to me and never has.

[@Andrew-ez9cp]

Thanking you for your time and vidios it's been a journey of Education for me and a comfort I'm living my life now not wasting it thank you.

[@activistmalpractice]

The denial piece is HUGE. We're seeing it not just with ecological collapse but the pandemic (close to 500 deaths a day in the richest country in the world, yet the pandemic is "over"?)

[@tommiest3769]

Ahh. I can see very well how one of the 10 certainties has been playing out. Tipping points are almost always framed in the mainstream media as having not occurred yet and as still avoidable even though I remember reading in the literature that by 2015 many of the tipping points would be reached.

[@selenefee7801]

Thank you Michael. Need this

[@thegreatstory]

You're most welcome, Selene. IMHO, we all do! 🙂

[@GregoryJWalters]

Exceedingly Methodologically Clear and Compelling presentation. Excellent Synthesis of many commentators, but offered in a singularly unique way. Much appreciated. Thank you for keeping on, keeping on! ❤

[@larryyank3566]

Thanks Mr. Dowd. Your my new Bill Pierce. 👍 Regards, Viet vet VFP

[@xikano8573]

Reminds me of the Dennis Leary's bit in "No Cure For Cancer": " 'This is the Captain speaking...light em up, we are going down...' " As tears are rolling down my eyes...

[@thegreatstory]

Thank you for this moving comment! I had to search, but found it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fXmshWWlp5J5b9E

[@xikano8573]

@@thegreatstory No, thank you for such a moving presentation. The timing of it was perfect. 🙏🏽

[@andrewz4537]

I greatly appreciate what you are offering. My concern: You highly recommend so many books, interviews, videos that I have no idea where to start. I suppose it could be anywhere and/or based on where I am currently. You supported CCL when we talked. I've stepped down as a chapter leader, needing to move on. I find studying Shantideva deeply has greatly enhanced my awareness, acceptance, and sense of amusement with what's going on around us all..

[@sultanbev]

Regarding books, William Catton's Overshoot is the starting point.

[@thegreatstory]

@@sultanbev I agree with Bev! Here's my attempt to create a "what to read first" list. SEE here: thegreatstory.org/sustainability-audios.html#canon But since most of the audio files have migrated to Soundcloud, you'll need to LISTEN here: soundcloud.com/michael-dowd-grace-limits/sets

[@chrisp5413]

Another great video Michael. Just wish you would spend some time on phase change and latent heat. Have tried looking it up and it seems like rocket science. My tiny brain does not comprehend. And thank you for this channel. You are a blessing. Your post doom interviews have given me so many people I would have never known about. Tom Wessels being my favorite.

[@thegreatstory]

You could do worse than start here: kzbin.info?search_query=%23blueoceanevent

[@LeighOrfsThunderstormResearch]

Wonderful. I'll be checking out your other material as well. You've clearly articulated my own feelings as an atmospheric scientist.

[@michaeldowd8631]

Thanks!

[@mikeharrington5593]

I accept the overall predicament of multitudinous interconnected long term threats to our survival, but as an individual I break it down into individual problems that I assess will affect me personally in the near term. Of these, I shrug aside those I deem to be outside of my control & I try to concentrate only on those problems for which I perceive my actions can have a positive difference. Its not a solution but rather a mindset to make my own local transition as comfortable as possible, whilst accepting that the big picture is outside of my control - & does bring with it potentially lethal scenarios for myself & a host of other life forms. Such mindset is inherently selfish & despite having children likely to be affected I can't get worked up about things outside my control. Perhaps it's a form of apathy but the reality is that there are no silver bullets & I don't carry a magic wand either.

[@thegreatstory]

I don't share your critical assessment. I see your approach as neither "selfish" nor "apathetic"; rather, practical and, indeed, wise.

[@nickkacures2304]

This video is devastating it certainly popped all my optimism and hope for a technology fix and catapulted me into seeing for the first time with unfettered vision the future and it’s one of retreating from a dysfunctional dystopian world 🌎 where can I go with my wife daughter and dog after I sell everything and I mean everything and watch this slow motion collapse

[@EmeraldView]

It's slow motion, but the pace is quickening. That's how exponentials work. At the very end it will go fast.

[@Starchild670]

You can't shit where you sleep, in a nutshell.

[@thegreatstory]

Indeed. But the main point of this video is how to have a high quality of life and high quality contributions to others in a world where we shit where we slept and it's now a mile high.

[@JMoroccoMisterBoy]

Tks. much.

[@michaelhusted4974]

My hobby is researching climate change, related problems of overshoot of the human endeavor including the apparent reaching of peak oil extraction. Our modern civilization is in trouble. Fossil fuels will gradually increase to exorbitant rates. The economy runs on energy, not money, video by Art Berman - The Real Energy Paradigm.

[@nickkacures2304]

I have finally and belatedly come to the conclusion that you have expressed it’s so hard to feel this helpless for humanity I always have thought we would come to our senses and the technology would come riding in to the rescue but now I see it Co2 in the atmosphere gas already set in motion a sea level rise of between 35’ and 80’ feet and almost every scientific prediction of ice loss sea level rise flora and fauna extinction and climate change is woefully underestimated and with humanity at a crossroads choice of denialism or insanity not a snowballs chance in Hades of getting through this without the collapse of civilization

[@EmeraldView]

@@nickkacures2304 I've been a Tecno-optimist my whole life. In ways I still imbibe a bit of that Hopium. But my rational mind sees the writing on the wall now. I don't want to read it but I already have. I can't un-read it. I understand why people want to remain ignorant.

[@nickkacures2304]

@@EmeraldView Wow Horton hears a Who Moment!!! I was venting into the universe when I texted that series of rawness thanks for replying I was heartened and buoyed by your message .

[@peterclark2374]

Hello Michael and Connie. I hope all is going well for you. Your channel is quiet. I see that Michael has booked a zoom message on Feb 12, so that is a good sign. Be well.

[@thegreatstory]

If by "booked a zoom message" you mean the zoom sermon I had been scheduled to deliver tomorrow (Feb 12), that just a few minutes ago got moved to April 30th. I may record a short (15-min or so) video in the next week. Started thinking about it yesterday and it's got some juice for me.

[@MarneeMadsen]

Appreciate your work. Unsure as to you hedging on how some life may persist as nuclear waste has yet to be successfully contained for any extended periods (per Kevin Hester) and in light of loss of habitat, ionizing radiation, extreme heat. If you trust the data and biologists, ecologists it feels like you are holding out, dare I say 😂, a bit of hope when all things point to the end of all living things for millions of years. Cheers.

[@thegreatstory]

Humility is not hedging, nor is it hope. I fully expect dozens, if not hundreds, of nuclear meltdowns, and most surface life to be lost in the coming decades. The bottom line is that I trust Gaia (G🌎D) more than I do the opinions of even the most brilliant of humans, and, yes, that includes men I love and admire like Kevin Hester and Guy McPherson.

[@EmeraldView]

@@thegreatstory I think at least some bacteria will survive. Maybe in millions of years complex life will evolve again.

[@Joeyjojoshabbadoo]

Sanity is right....

[@bradleywinter2803]

"only producing cones when artificially watered." Holy shit man!! Is that true?

[@thegreatstory]

That's my wife's hypothesis. Here's her video blog on the subject: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rqalhZWoYrGZbNE

[@bradleywinter2803]

When ya throw a ball in the air, it's not a fact that it will come down. But, it is very, very likey.

[@thegreatstory]

Indeed! Thanks for catching me on that one, Bradley! 🙂

[@robertlussier2944]

When do you figure acceptance will start to set in for the masses? I'd like to apply the 100th monkey theory here, but it's just more hopium.

[@EmeraldView]

I suspect most won't. They'll deny it's the end to the very end. And they will deny having played any role in it. They will deny that they were wrong (willfully ignorant) of the problem they were being warned about. And it will be 'something else' that was the problem, someone else to blame (not them who voted their whole lives for the greedy, the selfish, the deniers of reality).

[@gganu1234]

well let's see here...need for healthy food? Nope, i grew up on McDonalds and mac n cheese. Need for attachment with Mom during first years of life? Nope, Mom's needed to work....I was a "latchkey kid" = neglect. Need for meaningful work? Nope, i was constantly in fear of being fired and sat in front of a computer feeling worthless. Need to be heard? Nope, I sat in the timeout chair in kindergarten because I was a "bad" kid. Need to feel secure about the future? Nope, Unions have been decimated...no job security means were all at risk of becoming homeless. Autonomy over work? Nope, either do what the boss says or get fired! Autonomy is laughable in a capitalists economy where exploitation is required. Intimate communication with the world? Nope, statistics show that people today feel more alone and disconnected. Need for sense of place and home? Nope, Only for those with money have shelter....Homelessness statistics leave out those without a stable place to live. The true number of people who are houseless is much higher than the phoney statistics on homelessness.

[@AlignmentCoaching]

I heard Greer call Biden a an olde sock puppet prior to his taking office. He also seemed to defend Trump. I hope he’s shifted his thinking.

[@csmith4993]

Yeah, because things have gotten so much better under the totalitarian Biden regime SMDH

[@1080-v4v]

When we are severely delusional we are unable to discern what is real and what is not real. To suggest that we can know or understand reality is ludicrous to the extreme.

[@nickkacures2304]

Watching this is giving me the feeling Like that of a rat looking for a mooring line to shore to jump onto from a burning 🔥 and sinking ship for that one last chance at escaping the now very real danger of demise.I have always held out hope that I could move to a northern cold 🥶 state and escape the encroaching collapse at least I would have clean water and not have to live in the scorching heat down south by living near Lake Superior but now that I have been living here for more than 20 years I am meeting other climate refugees from other states like a couple from Paradise California who left California with just the shirts on their backs and a puppy after losing everything to the paradise fire 🔥 it’s not my escape pod next to Lake Superior alone I see my area high on many lists of climate safe areas to move to escape from the worst of this collapse

[@EmeraldView]

And in the end no place will be safe. We really f'cked this up. I don't know what I was thinking, believing humanity would save itself.

[@nickkacures2304]

@@EmeraldView thanks

[@richdiana3663]

Hard times or End Times, you decide.

[@thegreatstory]

No decision. It's both for most mammals, humans, and other animals (and plants).

[@newsfrombeyond6160]

It is a bit dissapointing that apparently you don't live the way you preach: you use electricity!

[@thegreatstory]

You're a goofball, my friend! Yes, of course I use electricity...and LOVE it! As my great mentor Thomas Berry used to say, regularly, "I drove a car here to tell you how bad cars are." (If every human being stopped using electricity tonight, it would not change the fact that we're all toast.")

[@newsfrombeyond6160]

@@thegreatstory Hmm. Interesting. You enjoy using electricity but you want all others to feel guilt when they do that? Why is it important for you that people beat themselves for something they can not do anything about? Moreover, you as a priest should know that we are eternal beings having a material experience for a while. All is well, even when this particular chapter in the forever continuing creation ends. Consciousness never dies.

[@richdiana3663]

Religion has very little to do with reality.

[@thegreatstory]

Yup, certainly the otherworldly, superstitious way most literate religions are interpreted today, I would agree. My "religious naturalism" worldview and community are quite a different bird, however. In case you're interested... FOR THOSE NEW TO ECO-THEOLOGY or RELIGIOUS NATURALISM... (A) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_naturalism (B) religiousnaturalism.org/what-is-religious-naturalism/ (C) religiousnaturalism.org/recommended-books/ (D) Scroll down to a few of my VIDEOS on the subject: postdoom.com/resources/ (E) huumanists.org/blog/201608/video-religious-humanists-year-michael-dowd-and-connie-barlow

[@QSauce]

I hope you're vegan

[@thegreatstory]

Nope. Too late for that... way, WAY too late, in fact.

[@AndreasDelleske]

Well then.. and I say this with only some sarcasm.. let's accept fascists to end it. Maybe they learn something, too?

[@thegreatstory]

Oh, make no mistake...it will end with or without fascists. But, yes, there existence is largely unstoppable, unfortunately.

[@jimicunningable]

This is another great video, thank you very much Michael. It's funny you mention PK Dick, his short story: "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldrich" predicted our near future incredibly well. So did Burough's John Carter of Mars, for that matter...