Have you ever played hookie from work?

Of course you have.

You know, called in to your employer. Faked an illness or a personal problem just so you didn't need to go in that day. Its the ultimate indulgence. You even feel a little bad as you climb back under those warm covers for a few more hours of lazy sleep. Society's yoke is heavy and the opportunity to throw it off for even a day feels so good.

Maybe we should all play hookie from the World for a day or two...

Now that you have read about the Future in store for us, the Predicaments and Problems facing us, Peak Oil, how things won't go out with a bang, nor will the Temple of Science solve things, and finally how History has a guide for how this will all play out, YOU have to be asking yourself one simple question.

"What Now?"

Simple and easy, "Collapse Now and Avoid The Rush."

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I can almost hear the head scratching in perplexity, lol. The idea is simple and elegant, if you think about it.

Imagine yourself on board a cruise ship. Its a warm Summer day and the Sun shines down but there is a problem. You know the ship has a hole in the hull and will sink soon. To port a mile or so off is a tropical island. Do you wait until the ship rises stern up and sinks to get in the water OR do you jump in now and swim to shore?

Either way you are going to get wet. One is on your terms, the other on Disaster's bitch slap.

You might not like the second option. It has a tendency to throw a curve ball at you at the moment you least can field it. Why not learn to live with less when you have the resources to correct a mistake or two when they happen, rather than have them hit you when its "Do or Die"?

John Michael Greer laid out this course in his post on the Archdruid Report of June 6th, 2012.

"Collapse Now And Avoid The Rush"

Follow his logic...

1) Modern civilization only exists due to an access to huge reserves of cheap energy that we are fast reaching the limits of.
2) We can't replace that reserve with renewables or other options.
3) Since we can't replace them, we needed to learn how to live on alot less decades ago. We didn't now we're faced with an ugly future of collapse.
4) We like to imagine the Collapse will be fast and complete but in reality we are looking at several centuries of stair step decline.

and finally.
5) While the options for Civilization to handle the Collapse with some dignity are all but over, for individuals and families there is still a short window of opportunity where you can learn to manage your own personal collapse. You can learn now how to live with less or keep at it until the rug is pulled out from under you and you fall flat on your back hard.

You have a choice, just don't take too long to decide on it.

The advantage of collapsing now are many. Not the least is, its easier to learn when learning doesn't mean the difference between eating and starving. Food safety is one of the core principles of Green Wizardry and being able to learn to garden now, when a misstep is recoverable can't be over estimated. You have options while the Engine of Civilization still sputters along that you won't when it finally dies.

Learn to use that time wisely.

You can face to Long Descent all alone, or come sit with us at our fire. Here take a cup of stone soup and relax. Eat it while its hot. We are all friends here on our logs. We share a future that is going to get very bad.

Remember something important. You are not alone unless you choose to be. We are all sitting in the lifeboat together. We are all sitting around the Fire. We have a short window of time to learn what we need to. Its not alot of time, mind you. The Long Descent is upon us. Has been for year we just didn't notice.

A World Made Harsh is our future and nothing we can do will stop that.

What we can make of that Future is up to US. Between you and I, I like challenges. I like an adventure.

Don't You?

Why don't we face them together?

Wizard to Wizard.