Can’t tell you how much I needed to read this!! I’ve recently given birth to a precious baby girl who I love more than I knew was possible and I’m terrified. I wake up each day full of love but with a pit in my stomach of the world she’s inheriting, of the uncertainty. I have hope and I need to hear these conversations, especially since everyone around me is acting like everything is normal. Thank you for writing this!
Rachel, you aren’t alone in your feelings… even if it feels like you’re the only one in the world who is tuned in to what is unfolding. I’m so glad you read this when you needed it.
I used the phrase Bring it on when talking about collapse a few years ago and was roundly chastised for my privilege, callousness and nativity - which I did and do understand and so have not mentioned since. This is a crystal clear articulation of what I had been fumbling towards and I am so appreciative. I am fortunate to have a small group locally that do discuss adaptation to collapse so I will point them to this.
I’m so glad we were able to be clear with our intention and message here. I think in our first conversation to Gabrielle I said I didn’t want to romanticise it… but that my soul yearns for a different human experience.
Yes this tension between a yearning for corrupt and exploitative ways of living to end and the apprehension of what may happen when they do. How do we hold both? These days I feel this tension less as I see we are already in transition , as your Substack honours Gabrielle. And the more transitions and emergences we can nurture, the less we focus on what lies ahead and the more energy given to building bridges between here and now and the future we are all a part of evolving. A lot of this is learning to value what pops up in the cracks in the world and in ourselves as we no longer maintain the unmaintanable. So helpful to air all of this in community. Thank you to you both
Thank you so much Sally. It's always such an honour to hear from you and I so value your thoughts. I too feel the tension waning as I focus more on the bridge building and the fire tending and what is in front of me here and now. It's so great to be in conversation about this and I hope we continue to have these opportunities and more together 🙏
I’m so glad 🌞 it’s wonderful to be alive and bearing witness to this Great Turning, as scary as it can and will be… it feels deeply necessary as long as our hearts are open! ♥️
Perhaps selfishly, foolishly, i also look forward to meeting the inevitable. Maybe that's why I do because... why wait?
Also, because I think we've earned it. We deserve it. So there's a sense of justice in it. Like it's fair to all of the life we destroyed, that now we are also destroyed.
But no mistake about it. There will be a lot of death.
A wrathful yearning. A haunted grief. The madness between.
I've written these truths too and feel them in my bones. It is good to be reminded that I am not as alienated as it seems. And your words are recognition's arrow in the heart.
I started reading this with goosebumps and ended in tears. Yes, why I am I so afraid of collapse when I so desperately want it to happen?! This piece was absolutely perfect - and the thinking I am doing about connecting with my female ancestors who went through wars and plagues and witch burnings and all the rest … hard things are hard. These connections we are sharing on Substack are like the mycelial connections that trees share in a forest - they will help us all survive and thrive as we move through collapse. 🙏🌱🙏
Oh yes!!! Reading the stories of the women whom have gone before us is so vital in these times. I think we naturally fear the unknown and for many, our lives have been relatively formulaic and we have known what to expect. This is uncharted and dangerous territory - but a necessary part of our journey back to our humanity.
Thank you for this. As the father of a 32 yr old, I feel like an outlier here. Yet many of us feel this same complex mix of emotions — so I appreciate you both (and the comments above) articulating some of them. I’m 64, and my son and his partner are considering a family so I find this directly relevant, as well as indirectly for all the younger ones currently in our midst, and of course those yet to be born. We can let go of hope, but to what purpose? Despair doesn’t feel a better direction to apply our energy. Nor does avoidance of the issues at hand. Embracing the mystery is part of the adventure of being alive.
Thank you for reading and taking the time to reply, John.
Reading your thoughts, I've been reflecting on hope and despair. I find that both states often remove agency from our own bodies and minds - they place the power outside ourselves. What interests me more is moving beyond this binary into meaningful action.
Not necessarily action in the traditional protest sense (though that has its place), but rather living deliberately according to our deepest values - creating lives we can genuinely be proud of. It's about taking ownership to nurture the future we wish to see, starting in our own backyards and immediate communities.
I recognise, of course, that not everyone has equal privilege or opportunity to do this. Yet I believe the global mindset shift we need requires pressure from both directions - ground up as well as top down. Our individual choices and community-level changes can collectively create powerful momentum.
I wish you and your son a joyful journey into nurturing the next generation should that be the path they choose ❤️
I see genuine hearty hope potentially as the active core within actions. I think I first heard it on one of her interviews, so not sure if she coined it or another wise person but Krista Tippet uses the phrase “Muscular Hope.” Here’s a recent interview that dovetails nicely with your thoughts.
Thank you, Rachel, for putting into words what I have been feeling for some time. The extractive, exploitative capitalistic system is imploding under its own weight and the future is unknown.
However, people are starting to wake up and realize the bill of goods that was promised has not been delivered. We are tired and sick and know there is so much more to life. Reality is a construct, so many such as yourself are gathering and beginning to reconstruct a new society.
I remain hopeful in the people and our innate desire to thrive in our short lives on this beautiful planet. The new systems will be designed for the Greater Good because we are made to connect and care for one another.
A new way of thinking is emerging from what will soon be the ashes of a destructive, evil system.
While this may be wishful thinking, I’m choosing to believe we are thinking this new/ancient way of living into existence. 💕
Can’t tell you how much I needed to read this!! I’ve recently given birth to a precious baby girl who I love more than I knew was possible and I’m terrified. I wake up each day full of love but with a pit in my stomach of the world she’s inheriting, of the uncertainty. I have hope and I need to hear these conversations, especially since everyone around me is acting like everything is normal. Thank you for writing this!
Congratulations on your baby girl. We can't predict the future, but I hope you find some solace in this space. It's what we're here for!
Rachel, you aren’t alone in your feelings… even if it feels like you’re the only one in the world who is tuned in to what is unfolding. I’m so glad you read this when you needed it.
I used the phrase Bring it on when talking about collapse a few years ago and was roundly chastised for my privilege, callousness and nativity - which I did and do understand and so have not mentioned since. This is a crystal clear articulation of what I had been fumbling towards and I am so appreciative. I am fortunate to have a small group locally that do discuss adaptation to collapse so I will point them to this.
I’m so glad we were able to be clear with our intention and message here. I think in our first conversation to Gabrielle I said I didn’t want to romanticise it… but that my soul yearns for a different human experience.
Thankyou for this beautiful piece of writing and capturing the words deep within that some like myself cannot find. Xx
Yes this tension between a yearning for corrupt and exploitative ways of living to end and the apprehension of what may happen when they do. How do we hold both? These days I feel this tension less as I see we are already in transition , as your Substack honours Gabrielle. And the more transitions and emergences we can nurture, the less we focus on what lies ahead and the more energy given to building bridges between here and now and the future we are all a part of evolving. A lot of this is learning to value what pops up in the cracks in the world and in ourselves as we no longer maintain the unmaintanable. So helpful to air all of this in community. Thank you to you both
Thank you so much Sally. It's always such an honour to hear from you and I so value your thoughts. I too feel the tension waning as I focus more on the bridge building and the fire tending and what is in front of me here and now. It's so great to be in conversation about this and I hope we continue to have these opportunities and more together 🙏
Thank you for your thoughtful comment 🙏 you captured the nuance of our writing perfectly… and oompf ‘no longer maintaining the unmaintainable’
Yes the conversations are so important and so enjoyable!
Wow 🙏
Your words have opened my heart on this beautiful morning. ❤️☀️🐝
I’m so glad 🌞 it’s wonderful to be alive and bearing witness to this Great Turning, as scary as it can and will be… it feels deeply necessary as long as our hearts are open! ♥️
Holy goodness this was amazing. Amazing. AMAZING.
Eeeep! Thank you. Big smiles here too!
Thank you Stephanie!! Your comment gave me a smile 😊
Perhaps selfishly, foolishly, i also look forward to meeting the inevitable. Maybe that's why I do because... why wait?
Also, because I think we've earned it. We deserve it. So there's a sense of justice in it. Like it's fair to all of the life we destroyed, that now we are also destroyed.
But no mistake about it. There will be a lot of death.
Such achingly beautiful prose, full of despair and hope in equal measure. And most of all, realness. Thank you. 🙏 ❤️
There is a collapse community building here on Substack…would be so amazing to gather around a fire in real
life… 🥰 🔥
A wrathful yearning. A haunted grief. The madness between.
I've written these truths too and feel them in my bones. It is good to be reminded that I am not as alienated as it seems. And your words are recognition's arrow in the heart.
Right here in the unknowing with you, Gabrielle.
My god, that was beautiful to read, I have been left a little breathless. You both put into words so much of what I feel. Thank you so much.
That's beautiful feedback, thank you Laura!
I started reading this with goosebumps and ended in tears. Yes, why I am I so afraid of collapse when I so desperately want it to happen?! This piece was absolutely perfect - and the thinking I am doing about connecting with my female ancestors who went through wars and plagues and witch burnings and all the rest … hard things are hard. These connections we are sharing on Substack are like the mycelial connections that trees share in a forest - they will help us all survive and thrive as we move through collapse. 🙏🌱🙏
Oh yes!!! Reading the stories of the women whom have gone before us is so vital in these times. I think we naturally fear the unknown and for many, our lives have been relatively formulaic and we have known what to expect. This is uncharted and dangerous territory - but a necessary part of our journey back to our humanity.
🙏🙏🙏💚thank you
Beautiful, powerful words both. Thank you 🙏
Yes, thank you. It’s so powerful to find people in the world who not only share your views but want to amplify them for ‘good’.
Thank you Vicki 😊
Thank you, Gabrielle. I am totally with you.
Thank you for this. As the father of a 32 yr old, I feel like an outlier here. Yet many of us feel this same complex mix of emotions — so I appreciate you both (and the comments above) articulating some of them. I’m 64, and my son and his partner are considering a family so I find this directly relevant, as well as indirectly for all the younger ones currently in our midst, and of course those yet to be born. We can let go of hope, but to what purpose? Despair doesn’t feel a better direction to apply our energy. Nor does avoidance of the issues at hand. Embracing the mystery is part of the adventure of being alive.
Thank you for reading and taking the time to reply, John.
Reading your thoughts, I've been reflecting on hope and despair. I find that both states often remove agency from our own bodies and minds - they place the power outside ourselves. What interests me more is moving beyond this binary into meaningful action.
Not necessarily action in the traditional protest sense (though that has its place), but rather living deliberately according to our deepest values - creating lives we can genuinely be proud of. It's about taking ownership to nurture the future we wish to see, starting in our own backyards and immediate communities.
I recognise, of course, that not everyone has equal privilege or opportunity to do this. Yet I believe the global mindset shift we need requires pressure from both directions - ground up as well as top down. Our individual choices and community-level changes can collectively create powerful momentum.
I wish you and your son a joyful journey into nurturing the next generation should that be the path they choose ❤️
I see genuine hearty hope potentially as the active core within actions. I think I first heard it on one of her interviews, so not sure if she coined it or another wise person but Krista Tippet uses the phrase “Muscular Hope.” Here’s a recent interview that dovetails nicely with your thoughts.
https://youtu.be/mdnlrE2EIY0?si=xSE0BcyDVcPZ2to0
Thank you, Rachel, for putting into words what I have been feeling for some time. The extractive, exploitative capitalistic system is imploding under its own weight and the future is unknown.
However, people are starting to wake up and realize the bill of goods that was promised has not been delivered. We are tired and sick and know there is so much more to life. Reality is a construct, so many such as yourself are gathering and beginning to reconstruct a new society.
I remain hopeful in the people and our innate desire to thrive in our short lives on this beautiful planet. The new systems will be designed for the Greater Good because we are made to connect and care for one another.
A new way of thinking is emerging from what will soon be the ashes of a destructive, evil system.
While this may be wishful thinking, I’m choosing to believe we are thinking this new/ancient way of living into existence. 💕