Peak Oil - The Spiritual Dimension

BEFORE
There will come a time. Trust me, it will happen. Eventually, you are going to venture out of your fear. And when you do, you know what? You are going to look our human predicament straight in the eye. Suddenly see. Understand.
The universe will nudge you, you can count on that.
As the pink contact lenses fall, you will see that the collapse of our civilisation is imminent. That Hubbert's theory of peak oil is not one that suits the conspiracy moniker. You marvel at the incandescent rainbow arching across the housing bubble - filmy and taught. You cannot help but gasp: "What if, the price on my house drops by 50 percent - like they say it' s going to? Why, in just two years, I could be broke! And then what am I going to do? Especially when the US dollar becomes worthless and no one has real jobs anymore?"
But it probably wont happen like that .
Hopefully, you may get your karmic "kick in the eye" (as the zen masters put it) tomorrow or the next day - or, indeed , the day after that. Next month and you are still probably good; the skytrains (Vancouver speak for subways) will still be running, and you'll be able to get your bar of Lindt chocolate from the corner store. But take my advice: don't take too long to get with the program. After peak we are going to need you. My survival (and that of my loved ones) may depend on us forging alliances and sharing food.
AFTER
So, anyway, congratulations - or is it comiserations - are now in order. You are now fully awake. You've done the research and faced up to the facts. You concur that things are about to get really "interesting." But, then you ask yourself, "What know? Suddenly I feel like crap. Like, really, mucho crapola..."
A year ago, when I woke up to the "perfect economic storm" that lay ahead, I felt that I had been smacked right in the old breadbasket. Winded. I had no idea any of this Peak Oil stuff was going on. Man-oh-man was I the proverbial mushroom, or what? Fed on sh** and kept in the dark. Yes, me! Me, of all people - the cynical art school drop out, with his mind full of Camus and Hermann Hesse!
Up to that point I thought I knew everything. Kinda, cocky in that English working class way. A lukewarm intellectual... Turns out I knew rather little. Or put it this way, my having a vague grasp on phenomenology or Derrida suddenly did not seem very useful. Not very practical. Consequently, my moods and blood pressure went up and down for a why as I strove to adjust to a new, emerging consciousness.
I have evened out over time.
I am glad to report that one can remain sane and live under that damoclean blade. But it is tough: every now and then you have to protect yourself. On the odd occasion, I figure I am going to have to go on "news fasts" as Dr. Andrew Weil calls them. When I am extra vulnerable, I may need to protect my soul from what is going on in Sadr City, Samarra, wherever....
In the last month I have started to feel my consciousness expand. I feel as though I am beginning to digest profound truths on a soul level. Things like: The best way to be anti-war is to be pro-peace. And, ultimately, I have come to realise this: when I go into reveries about how the Bush Administration and FEMA are going to be herding debtors into work camps, I will need to stop the projector. When I start hyperventillating over imagined sortie-raids over Tehran, I will need to place my hands together and feel the life-force in my palms. I will need to bring my consciousness back to the now, to my pre-peak oil existence. As I feel the cat nuzzling my ankle, I will concentrate. I will let in all the love I feel for my family - my wife and my sons, my deceased daughter. Then, hopefully, I will feel the love pulsing through the universe.
Sometimes I feel at peace. But, unfortunately, it still somehow feels a little too transient. The monkey mind is churning and I am learning how to turn down the volume. But I am learning. A little at a time. Learning and making postive steps.
And so will you.
And just in case if you need extra sanity when adjusting to a post peak oil consciousness, go to:

peakoilblues.com

(essentially, a therapist's take on the emotional reactions to peak oil.) A handy resource - and one that I wish I had in my early "Omigod!" moments.

Let's get this love thing shaking! Time really is running out.

Neil