We Still Care – Doomster Characteristics

I made a mistake in my book Breaking Together, when I included a box on ‘doomster characteristics’. That was in Chapter 12, where I was explaining many people accept that societal collapse is occurring, or coming soon, and are integrating that into how they live positively. One of the curators of the postdoom collective, Karen Perry, pointed out to me that my box was describing benefits of being a ‘doomster’ rather than their common characteristics. That got me thinking. I realized that there are some ways of being that many collapse-accepting people exhibit, which I think are important to recognize and cherish at this time. So, I wrote it up.

Why does that matter? Might it be more intellectual blather from a guy who can’t stop writing? Well, I will come back to that 😉 But I think this discussion matters because of the importance of perceived identities in public discussion. Those professionals who oppose us waking up to our predicament have been misrepresenting our motivations and characteristics for years in ways that turn people away from exploring more. Therefore, it is useful to be clearer about what our motivations are and explain what we see as some common characteristics. As a conversation starter, I will list five of them below.

Such characteristics are why I am looking forward to spending four days with fellow doomsters in California this October. There is a depth of reflection, openness about emotions, and enthusiasm for transformative ideas, amongst those of us who gather wishing to learn how to engage positively in an era of disruption and collapse. You can hear from some such people in the video at the end of this blog. (NB: it is still possible to join us in California or online).

Five Characteristics of the Doomster: Courage, Compassion, Creativity, Criticality, Conscious Wildness.

Courage is required to be able to face the nasty situation and allow it to be true, rather than escape into delusional stories. Once accepting, there can be a degree of ego transcendence that comes from going through deep despair. The freer thoughts and behaviours that result from that shift can appear as a form of courage to others.

Compassion is also required to fully feel that pain and transformative despair about what is being lost and is about to be lost. We can ‘break open’ and ‘break together’ by becoming more loving as a result. It’s a possibility. I like to think it is more likely than not.

Creativity is within all of us, but beaten out of us by our schooling, culture, and economic systems. When we suddenly lose respect for the institutions that wreaked havoc on planet Earth, and drop our old stories of self, then so much can emerge. Caring far less about what people thought of me meant I even started to write poetry, and then sing, strum and write music. I’m hearing similar stories from others.

Criticality is that quality of rationally questioning the assumptions, beliefs and practices in society, particularly for how they maintain power hierarchies. How can one recognise that we live in an omnicidal society and not question its assumptions, beliefs and practices!? To be able to not just think the thoughts we are given by our culture and media sources, requires some help. Therefore, I devoted a whole chapter ‘critical wisdom’ in Breaking Together, and make it a central feature of the courses I teach. Without that kind of support, I wonder whether people can revert to patterns of patriarchy, misanthropy, and technological deference that are constantly promoted to us by the media and society.

Conscious Wildness is a term I’m inventing to attempt to describe the potential for something more than courage and creativity to occur once escaping the norms of modern life. There is a wildness of spirit that many of us experience. A mysticism seems to be accessible to many people who become doomsters. That is not ‘feral’ or ‘wild’ as normally understood, but is a deliberate undoing of fetters. It is the un-domestication of our minds and souls so that we experience Life as wondrous and alive. As we were raised in the captivity of Imperial Modernity, we can’t ever become truly wild or feral. But we can develop more of this ‘conscious wildness’.

If you have thoughts on these ideas, then do view the thread on it within the Deep Adaptation Facebook group. Whether there are some common values amongst doomsters is a more delicate matter – and something I will discuss another time. Despite not including my ideas on characteristics in Breaking Together, I am pleased to hear that Chapter 12 on the ‘doomster way’ has been inspiring people to consolidate their own shifts in being and doing (NB: there is a free audio). Professor Jonathan Gosling told me that the Exeter Deep Adaptation reading group now calls itself ‘Chapter 12’. Pictured above, he was visiting us at Bekandze Farm, to see firsthand the organic farm school he supported through our ongoing crowdfund (our next free course for smallholders starts at the end of the month – and we need sponsorship to keep going… hint, hint).

Reflecting on common characteristics, and the benefits of collapse acceptance identified by Karen, I remembered it takes time to change, and such change is never fully complete. In my own case, the book writing and promotion captured me in a pattern which I was wanting to leave behind, as my own collapse-acceptance had been changing me. Quitting my professorship and emigrating has been part of that. But just last week I re-committed to the practical implications of making the upcoming 2^nd leg of my international book tour my last, and withdrawing from my scholarly work and advocacy on collapse readiness and response. It means if you are in Sydney, San Francisco, Monterrey, Mexico City, Grenoble, or Berlin, this will be our last chance to engage in person. My withdrawal means, in practice, that I must become comfortable about declining, or even ignoring, the many requests I receive for interviews, speeches, project participation or advice. That doesn’t mean I don’t rate the work or the people, but that I’m moving in a different direction. Therefore, apart from the ‘Leading Through Collapse’ course, from next year forward my focus will be on spirituality, music and regenerative farming. That will also lead to changes in what I share on this blog (and how often). It doesn’t mean I no longer believe in the importance of critical education, and I will continue to support PRALER for that.

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As I ‘wrap things up’ I feel gratitude for the wisdom of the doomsters I have chatted with over the years. Many of them appeared in the Deep Adaptation Q&As, and so we made a short compilation video of that. It was good to be reminded that the majority of my guests were women, with many from around the world. I now send this video to my friends who think that the often boringly confident men (circa 90% of guests) on the Jordan Peterson and Joe Rogan podcasts are innovative and educational. Can I ask you to do the same? OK, I just did!

You might also enjoy hearing from leading doomsters about why they hang out together with me and course facilitator Katie Carr to explore how to be their best selves in this new era of disruption and collapse.

I recently appeared on a couple of podcasts hosted by women who platform really interesting guests:

Oh gosh! Finding beauty in a collapsing world. – Wild with Sarah Wilson | Acast

Breaking together –Progressive Page Turner (podomatic.com)

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