Words That Come To Mind.

"Action is the antidote to despair." In enough ways, life really is what you make it. I've experienced that. I want to experience more of it. I am. I have redirected some of my anxious energy. Still working on that.

I said something on Facebook that really encouraged somebody recently...

"My lifestyle is all about motion in good directions right now. I think focusing on end-goals is discouraging when you consider all the data. You can always move in a good direction. Till you can't move anymore."

Near-Term Extinction & The Natural World: Be With The Dying.

Natural world still being killed by the society I am a part of. Still hurts. I still cry some days. Can only hold a stone face for so long.

A friend of mine died of cancer not too long ago. A couple of years I guess. It was really rough. Saw him like three days before he passed. He used to be such a strong guy. Solid, hardworking, outgoing, creative... and there he was in that bed, skinnier than me for a change. Weak, making strange faces, talking like he was more drunk than I'd ever seen him. That's saying a lot 'cause he could drink, man. Yet I was still there. Hardly able to look at him. Being with him. Talking as much as I could without bursting into tears in front of him. Even though it was a difficult meeting, I'm glad I had that last chance to be with him and I believe my friend was glad about it also.

The natural world is dying/being killed. We are in the midst of an unprecedented (anthropogenic) mass extinction. Humans are most certainly not immune, which would not bother me so much if I did not have children. I have been getting back into the wild more as autumn thickens. Getting my boys out into the wild more. Had a problem with that for a while. Didn't want to look at the stained creek, the woods which will eventually succumb to rampant desertification as civilization does its best to kill everything that matters to non-extremophiles... I am getting better at being with the dying. I appreciate it and I like to think that it appreciates me as well.

None of this extinction business is easy. My guess is that as things run their course, the only organisms left will be the ones that thrive in conditions impossible for 99.9% of life on Earth. Extremophiles. Those things that live on crazy chemicals and love crazy temperatures. Maybe they will get a chance to develop into something with intelligence like ours. But does that even matter? What good are intelligence, free will, self-awareness and all that if we can't avoid creating things like Fukushima, methane clathrate release and blah, blah, blah?

Maybe I've said all I can say for now. I will continue to be with the dying...

Debris Hut Workshop This Weekend.

EVENT PAGE!! ...See you this Saturday if you can make it. HOORAY!

It must be the seasonal change. I miss all things primitive. Coming home, sweet wilderness...

Okay! Fall/winter teaching season coming up. Planning a small group (15 or so) weekend primitive wilderness skills camp for October, but I do (and actually prefer) one on one tutorial settings. Or anything in between. More groups can be formed as needed if you like learning in groups and this first one fills up. Aiming for mid-October and looking for an event host. (I'll teach hosts for free.) Stay tuned/holla: jasonhogans (at) gmail (dot) com. 313-two/five/eight-1401.

LOVE.

The deepest love is not concerned with outcomes. It keeps going no matter what goes on around it. Love on, lovers.

Limits To Prepping: Inevitable Human Extinction.

Hmm,

When I started this blog, I thought I'd be helping people to "make it through the bottleneck" and build new culture on the other side. I don't feel like this is possible anymore. I think the bottleneck is too tight. I'm not saying this to be a downer. This is self-therapy and an attempt to help anyone who is dealing with the possibility of inevitable short-term human extinction.

Why do I now feel that humanity won't make it through the collapse of industrial civilization?...

1. Fatal release of nuclear, biological and chemical threats when the specialists stop showing up for work, or when the grid fails long enough to thwart containment of NBC threats.

2. Runaway climate change will make Earth uninhabitable as tipping points are crossed and feedbacks go into overdrive.

3. We are in the middle of the latest mass extinction. Yeah, it's pretty much caused by human activity. An ecological holocaust is now taking place. Hundreds of species go extinct EVERY DAY and we humans are but a strand in the delicate web of life! We are SO not immune to this phenomenon.

So why do anything? Why not drink yourself into oblivion or shoot your brains out? Transition Towns, permaculture, prepping and primitive skills education are totally worthless in helping us survive these ultimate near-term challenges. They are too large. There's no place for humans on a biologically bankrupt, toxic, overheated planet. None. Transhumanoid borgbots might have a great time here, but not humans. TOAST. Uh oh!!

I'll tell you why I still do what I do...

'Cause it feels good. 'Cause I notice that I get excessively sad when I'm inactive. 'Cause I enjoy the company of others doing the same stuff. 'Cause everybody dies anyway and like I said before, ALL SPECIES will eventually be toast when the Sun goes goofy in a few billion years or whatever. It's all temporary. All you ever really have is this moment. I'm serious! The past doesn't exist and neither does the future. Society's concept of time messes with our souls. I do what I do because it feels lame to go along with the customary flow. I don't like feeling lame! I am fulfilled by what I do. No, it won't save the world. It still fulfills me. My own quiet non-rebellion of simple, earthy living. As much as I can. More feels better. Dominant culture still gives me the creeps. I can't go whole hog with it even though it surrounds me, permeates me, affects me in more ways than I understand.

Does this make any sense? Hope so. Comments are appreciated. Might update/follow this post up later. Take care.