Collapse Now, or Enjoy the Rush?

The post on my daily routine will have to wait. For a variety of reasons, it isn't worth talking about yet, as my day to day life is rather unstable currently. I have a friend crashing at my place for a little, since his rent expired before his new lease starts, the oven broke, and I'm still finding a routine for class. This post will take a slightly different topic, while once things settle down I'll describe my daily routine.

This post, as the name may imply, intends to discuss a slightly odd topic. Simply put, there is a tension between two ideas, two ways of reacting to knowing we live in a declining civilization. Those two can be called "Collapse Now", and "Enjoy the Rush". Collapse Now means simplify life, prepare for the decline, and figure out what can be done to make life more like it will be later. It is a very wise approach, since it saves a lot of effort later.

Enjoy the Rush means the opposite. It means to take advantage of those aspects of industrial society that exist but won't later, to enjoy today and not worry about tomorrow. It is, logically, a terrible idea. However, it has a strong emotional appeal. There are many things that are not possible in a non-industrial society. These include easy long-distance travel, tourism, a wide range of goods and services, and more.

I understand the appeal of enjoying the rush. To provide just one example, I rather like coffee. Coffee doesn't grow here, and can't. It's a tropical crop, and so there is no way to grow it here. It's a challenge to me, because it suggests I should give it up. Yet, I resist the idea. It's hard to do. I'm not an addict, and actually I rather like the mind altering effects of it, so whenever I do use it too much, I stop. I intentionally avoid it, precisely so that when I do use it, it has a larger effect. This has always been how I handle it: I have coffee, get a rush, and then don't have more for a while.

If I have to much, the crash is awful. It's possible, however, to get the high without the crash. It's possible with alcohol to drink, enough it alters your mind, but not enough for a hangover as well.

I recently had the idea to extend this to industrial civilization: it's like a drug. Like any drug, there's a range of how much people take, the effects are strongest when done in moderation, it can be addictive, and withdrawal can be difficult.

The metaphor isn't perfect, but it's enough for my purposes now. It's enough to describe what is now in my plan. I will take the perks of industrial society, consider them, and if worth while, use it. But only if worth while. This means that while I try to simplify and reduce dependency in my life in general, in certain contexts I won't. These contexts will fit the following two rules, however:

1: I must want to do this, and plan it out, at least three months in advance. This will eliminate temptation to declare something spur of the moment and thus defeat the purpose of collapsing now, which is more important to me.

2: I must do it in a collapsed way, if possible. This means, for example, visiting East Asia, something I really want to do, is only valid if it's done in a way that doesn't add too much pollution, is sustainable (or could be), and fits with the requirements of collapsing now.

I want to be successful at collapsing now, however, I realize it will be hard. Therefore, I will also, from time to time, allow myself to "enjoy the rush" industrial civilization gives. I intend to take it for granted that it will become harder to do later, as society falls further towards collapse, so for now, this is nothing more than an idea. I would love to hear input on it, if anyone has anything to add.

PS: I want to thank the four other people who showed up for the Ottawa/Gatineau Green Wizards Group. It was a good start up meeting, and as it turns out I already knew one of them: a former professor of mine showed up. Quite the coincidence, but not a bad one.

Day to Day Life, I: mornings

I'm going to say right now that in a lot of ways collapsing now is a lot easier than I was expecting. While giving up home internet has required, and will continue to require, a lot of changes to my life, not all positive, overall, the inconveniences are minor compared to the benefits I find I'm getting. For example, needing to plan when to ask people if they're free instead of just being able to do it at anytime, but much better sleep.

This will be the first of three posts, describing how I'm currently living. Given that I'm busy with school, and figuring out what I can cook, I'm going to let myself adjust to this level of living, then move forward. In related news, my parents have given me an old 1950s/1960s cookbook with a lot of our family favorite recipes in it. I'm playing with quite a few of them, and have discovered quite a few wonders. Homemade noodles and bread, mayonnaise, a wide range of salad dressings, and even a fudge recipe are all in here. This is probably the best housewarming gift they could have given me.

I have a fairly small apartment, but since it's just me it's great. The only thing I'd change is I'd love to have a larger kitchen. Otherwise, it's more than enough space. I have my bed, an old thing from the '90s, a table, chairs to entertain guests, a good number of kitchen tools including pots, pans, a spatula, forks knives and spoons. Since I'm in walking distance of almost everything I need, I'm happy. The three exceptions are family, a good grocery store, and my volunteering. I've already sorted out all three: I can bus to the grocery store easily enough, pick up what I need, head home. This will only happen once every few weeks, since I don't need much. I've also set up my schedule such I will head home to family, spend some time there, and then head off to volunteer. Since I chose to join this scouts group because it was in walking distance of my home before I moved, this works well.

The rest of the post will focus on the morning routine I seem to have settled into. It's fairly different from what I had before, but I'm happy with it, more so than I was expecting. I like routine, and whenever anything disrupts that I tend to become unhappy. However, I'm enjoying my apartment and my new routine, which works out something like as follows.

I get up around 6 or 7 am. This is not because I have to, but rather because my body clock is set that this is my wake up time. I used to get up much later, at closer to 9 or 10 if left to my own devices, but this wake up time is now when I get up. I feel refreshed, happy, good to go for the day. I have become a morning bird, as opposed to the night owl I used to be. I think it has to do with no longer having screens before I god to bed, I used to be online fairly late, but now I can't be on the internet past 10 pm since the library I go to closes.

When I get up, I stretch, meditate, and make breakfast. My breakfast so far has been pancakes or eggs. Whichever it is, I spend a few minutes making it, since I keep my fridge stocked with pancake batter for the mornings. The recipe I use tastes a little bland, so I've been adding a little sugar (less than teaspoon per pancake) and butter, but now I've started using fruits in it instead. Now that I got it, I also sometimes make a cup of tea as well.

After a leisurely breakfast I grab some clothes for the day, take my towel I hung up to dry, and take a shower. I get dressed in not new, but still clean, clothes, do the dishes, and then I'm ready to go well before I need to be. The earliest I ever need to be anywhere is for 8:30, and the farthest place I need to be for a set time is still only a half hour walk away, so I'm always ready to go before I need to be. I'm using this time to read, and sometimes write a little, which I never used to be able to do in the mornings. Once my classes really start again I hope to use it as productive time to study and finish those assignments I can do without internet.

At about 8, or later when I don't have things I need to do, I head out to meet the day. If I don't have anything I need to do in the mornings, I've taken to exploring the area around me: there's a nice trail near where I live that I've stumbled upon. I don't know where it goes, but it's nice to walk on it and listen and watch the wildlife.